Bonus: Cruising Podcast Swap — Les Pierres, Love, and Queer Family in the Deep South

Bonus: Cruising Podcast Swap — Les Pierres, Love, and Queer Family in the Deep South

Author: Jaimie Kelton – Queer Parenting & LGBTQ Families'. August 11, 2025 Duration: 1:08:37

While we gear up for Season 20 (September 1st!), I’m sharing something special — an episode swap with the fabulous podcast Cruising. They’re featuring one of my episodes on their feed, and I’m thrilled to bring one of theirs to you. This one’s a beautiful slice of queer history, love, and resilience.

Juanita Pierre and Leslie Martinez opened New Orleans' first Black-owned lesbian bar, Les Pierres, on the corner of Pauger St and N. Rampart St. No one can quite remember the exact date Les Pierres opened, but based on some other stories and dates, we can guess it would have been around 1980. By 1990, they had closed, but their legacy remains. In this episode, Juanita--alongside family and friends--shares memories of the bar, her love story with Leslie, and what it was like raising children as a same-sex couple in the Deep South in the 70s and 80s.

This episode features interviews with Teryl Lynn Foxx, Juanita Pierre, Mike Pierre, and Emelda Sterling.

Subscribe to Cruising on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, or wherever else you listen.



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Hosted by queer mom Jaimie Kelton, The Queer Family Podcast-LGBTQ Families & Queer Parenting Stories offers a weekly space that is both uproariously funny and deeply genuine. Each episode features conversations with LGBTQIA+ parents, hopeful parents, and their allies, delving into the specific joys and hurdles of building a family outside of traditional frameworks. You’ll hear firsthand accounts of the paths to parenthood-from adoption and fostering to IVF and surrogacy-and the everyday realities of raising kids in a world that can still feel unfamiliar. This podcast moves beyond theory, focusing on lived experiences that cover everything from health and fitness routines that work for queer families to navigating complex conversations about sexuality and society with children. The goal is straightforward: to share stories that normalize these experiences, elevate diverse voices, and celebrate the full spectrum of queer family life. Tuning in means connecting with a community, finding resonance in shared challenges, and gathering a lot of practical wisdom-and laughter-along the way. It’s a resource and a companion for anyone curious about or living within the beautifully expansive definition of a modern family.
Author: Language: en-us Episodes: 100

The Queer Family Podcast – LGBTQ Families & Queer Parenting Stories
Podcast Episodes
Two Dads, Three Years of Adoption, and a Surrogacy Miracle [not-audio_url] [/not-audio_url]

Duration: 57:26
What happens when the path you thought you were on… just doesn’t work out?This week, we’re talking to Phil and Jonathan—two dads who spent three years in the adoption process before realizing it might not be how they’d b…
A Very Real Family Update [not-audio_url] [/not-audio_url]

Duration: 13:29
This week’s episode is a little different—and very real.When a scheduled guest wasn’t ready to share their story, Jaimie and her wife Anne stepped in for an impromptu, unfiltered check-in on their own lives. Recorded in…
Foster to Adopt as a Gay Dad: Jameel Mayers’ Path to Parenthood [not-audio_url] [/not-audio_url]

Duration: 59:52
Jaimie sits down with fellow podcaster Jameel Mayers, host of Fathernetics, to talk about his journey to fatherhood through the foster-to-adopt system.Jameel shares the emotional realities of fostering, the challenges of…
Surrogacy for Gay Dads: Cost, Ethics & Building a Family [not-audio_url] [/not-audio_url]

Duration: 54:39
Jaimie sits down with Daniel Berezowsky to talk about his and his husband’s journey to parenthood through surrogacy — and how their work in human rights shaped every step.They share the emotional and financial realities…