Transgender Saints and Transcending Gender

Transgender Saints and Transcending Gender

Author: Al Preston April 18, 2025 Duration: 10:07

The stories of saints in this episode are from research I did a few years ago. I'm super excited to share them! I read the translations of the medieval text, the Aelfric Lives of Saints.

Bibliography

Aelfric. Aelfric’s Lives of Saints: Being A Set of Sermons on Saints’ Days Formerly Observed by the English Church. 2 vols. Edited by Walter W. Skeat. London, England: Oxford University Press, 1966.

Anson, John. “The Female Transvestite in Early Monasticism: The Origin and Development of a Motif.” In Viator, 5 (1974): 1-32.

Aspegren, Kerstin. The Male Woman: A Feminine Ideal in the Early Church. Edited by Rene Kieffer. Stockholm. Sweden: Almqvist & Wiksell International,1990.

Bennett Judith M., Ruth Mazo Karras, ed. The Oxford Handbook of Women and Gender in Medieval Europe. Oxford, United Kingdom: Oxford University Press, 2013.

Burrus, Virginia. The Sex Lives of Saints: An Erotics of Ancient Hagiography. Philadelphia, Pennsylvania: University of Pennsylvania Press, 2004.

Coon, Lynda L. Dark Age Bodies: Gender and Monastic Practice in the Early Medieval West. Philadelphia, Pennsylvania: University of Pennsylvania Press, 2011.

Davis, Stephen J. “Crossed Texts, Crossed Sex: Intertexuality and Gender in Early Christian Legends of Holy Women Disguised as Men.” Journal of Early Christian Studies 10, no. 1 (Spring 2002): 1-36.

Kitchen, John. Saints’ Lives and the Rhetoric of Gender: Male and Female in Merovingian Hagiography. New York, New York. Oxford University Press, 1998.

Lees, Clare A., ed. The Cambridge History of: Early Medieval English Literature. Cambridge, New York: Cambridge University Press, 2013.

McNamara, JoAnn, John E. Halborg, and E. Gordon Whatley, ed. Sainted Women of the Dark Ages. Durham, England: Duke University Press, 1992.

Noble, Thomas F. X. and Thomas Head. Ed. Soldiers of Christ: Satins and Saints’ Lives from Late Antiquity and the Early Middle Ages. University Park, Pennsylvania: The Pennsylvania State University Press, 1995.

Sound Bite: https://pixabay.com/users/freesound_community-46691455/


Al Preston hosts The Holiday Pride: A Pittsburgh LGBT+ Community Museum Podcast, a series that explores the rich and often overlooked history of the local queer community. This isn't a broad overview, but a deep, personal look at the stories, people, and places that have shaped Pittsburgh's unique LGBT+ identity. Each episode functions like an audio exhibit, drawing from the museum's archives and featuring conversations with community elders, activists, artists, and historians. You'll hear firsthand accounts of pivotal moments, from the early gathering places and the fight for civil rights to the vibrant cultural expressions that define the community today. The podcast aims to preserve these narratives, ensuring they are passed on with the nuance and dignity they deserve. It’s an educational journey that connects the past's struggles and triumphs directly to the present, offering listeners a profound sense of place and legacy. Tune in for a thoughtfully produced history podcast that honors where this community has been, providing essential context for understanding its ongoing story.
Author: Language: English Episodes: 50

The Holiday Pride: A Pittsburgh LGBT+ Community Museum Podcast
Podcast Episodes
The Lives of Queer Pirates [not-audio_url] [/not-audio_url]

Duration: 6:08
This episode is part one of a small series about the Golden Age of Piracy. The other two parts are incoming on the main website! Stay tuned!
Oral History: Scott Noxon [not-audio_url] [/not-audio_url]

Duration: 22:46
Here is the second oral history from a Pittsburgh local. Scott Noxon helped run and owned a number of the bars in Pittsburgh. Here, you can hear him talk about what some of the bars were like on the inside and what datin…
The AIDS Crisis [not-audio_url] [/not-audio_url]

Duration: 14:55
This episode is a bit sadder than the others. The AIDS crisis was a very diffcult and painful time for the queer community, but it is very important to discuss.Bibliography https://www.hiv.gov/hiv-basics/overview/about-h…
Pie to the Face [not-audio_url] [/not-audio_url]

Duration: 6:12
This episode is about Anita Bryant and her war on LGBT+ rights ordinances.Sources: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5tHGmSh7f-0https://blog.history.in.gov/tag/save-our-children-campaign/https://epgn.com/2020/10/14/qanons-…
Gay Bars [not-audio_url] [/not-audio_url]

Duration: 7:27
This episode is about gay bars nationally versus how gay bars functioned in Pittsburgh. Bibliography https://www.gaycities.com/articles/52483/10-oldest-iconic-gay-bars-us/#:~:text=The%20White%20Horse%20Inn%20%E2%80%93%20…
Oral History: Chuck Honse [not-audio_url] [/not-audio_url]

Duration: 28:48
Welcome folks! This is a small portion of a longer interview Silas Switzer completed with Chuck Honse, a gay bar owner in Pittsburgh. He owned four bars. These stories are mostly about the AIDS crsis and the Pitt Men's S…
The Pronoun Dressing Room [not-audio_url] [/not-audio_url]

Duration: 6:43
Welcome folks! This episode is about pronouns and how different languages handle them.Sources: http://www.pronouns.failedslacker.com/#zoologicalhttps://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/pronounhttps://nonbinary.wiki/wik…
The Language of a Movement [not-audio_url] [/not-audio_url]

Duration: 15:38
This episode is about language and how it is used by both the LGBT+ community and the museum.Sources:https://www.etymonline.com/word/androgynoushttps://www.etymonline.com/word/homosexualhttps://www.etymonline.com/word/as…
Welcome Folks! [not-audio_url] [/not-audio_url]

Duration: 1:20
Introducing the podcast of the Pittsburgh LGBT+ Community Museum. There is a transcript for this episode! I hope you stick around!