Co-creating a “usable past” for LGBTQ+ people in the present.
Pussy Palace Audiograms
Short, resonant soundbites sourced from over 45 hours of Zoom interview footage with the Pussy Palace Oral History Project narrators.
Each episode features a gently edited, 1-3-min audio clip from one of our interviews, laid over present-day film footage of the exterior of 231 Mutual Street — current site of Oasis Aqualounge and former site of Club Toronto, where many installations of the Palace were held.
CREDITS
Conceived & produced by Elspeth Brown; soundbites & video footage sourced, curated, & edited by Elio Colavito and Alisha Stranges; descriptions by Aisling Murphy
ep. 01: DIANE HAMILTON
In this episode, volunteer event organizer Diane Hamilton discusses her motivations for attending the Pussy Palace events. She remembers being “aware of men’s bathhouses and how gay men just seemed to have sex with each other all the time, and that we could do that too…opened up new possibilities for…just what it could mean to be a dyke or a queer woman.”
ep. 02: LUKAS BLAKK
In this episode, Lukas Blakk remembers how the 2000 Pussy Palace event challenged her assumptions about queer women’s sexual culture in Canada in the late 90s and early 2000s. “I used to go to Michigan [Womyn’s Music Festival] and come back to Canada and find people a little bit more uptight. And so, it was this interesting thing, like, ‘Oh, Toronto is about to do this thing that’s pretty not uptight.'”
ep. 03: LYLA MIKLOS
In this episode, we hear from Lyla Miklos, a commuter patron, coming in from Hamilton, whose journey to the Palace was a covert operation that began hours ahead of doors open. While standing in line she recalls a handout informing patrons of their rights in the event of a police raid. First and foremost, closed doors can remain closed, but, quite surprisingly, “if two people are in a room having sex, a third person in the room watching you is illegal.”
ep. 04: TERA MALLETTE
In this episode, Tera Mallette remembers the practical considerations of working the front door at the Pussy Palace. ID checks were paramount to “make extra sure that there’s no reason for [the police] to come by.” But, for Mallette, there was an added layer of “trepidation” as a trans nonbinary person inhabiting a predominantly cis women’s community in the early 2000s. Take a listen.
ep. 05: CHANELLE GALLANT
In this episode, Chanelle Gallant remembers the “liminal space” between worlds — the door between public life and the Palace. She especially remembers the buzzer, loud and abrasive, to signal the door opening. “The buzzer, the door opening: you’re in or you’re out,” muses Gallant.
ep. 06: TERRI ROBERTON
In this episode, Terri Roberton remembers exactly what she wore to the Pussy Palace: the leather, the lipstick, the fishnets, the stilettos. Take a listen for an average GRWM (or Get Ready With Me), Pussy Palace edition.
ep. 07: ANGE BEEVER
In this episode, Ange Beever vividly recalls the tactile memory of the bathhouse. “Everything’s steamy and sweaty,” remembers Beever. “Everything’s wet. Everything’s drippy and steamy.”
ep. 08: ANDREA RIDGLEY
In this episode, Andrea Ridgley playfully recalls feelings of being left out at the Palace: “I was not propositioned once,” she remembers. “I think I might have said back then it was clique-y.”
ep. 09: ICEBREAKERS
In this episode, 3 narrators (Josey Vogels, Nancy Irwin, and Carlyle Jansen) reminisce on icebreakers at the Palace: games, conversation starters, and pick-up lines, plus the covert benefits of volunteering for the Palace. “You know, you’d meet someone, you’d stand there, and you’d chit chat,” remembers Irwin. “And then you’d say, ‘Wow, isn’t that hot? Look what’s going on over there.’”
ep. 10: STEPHANIE DUTRIZAC
In this episode, Stephanie Dutrizac remembers cruising up and down the Palace staircases, taking in the “meaty” atmosphere against the shine of the mansion’s wooden bainsters.
ep. 11: CHLOË BRUSHWOOD ROSE
In this episode, Chloë Brushwood Rose remembers the Polaroid room at the palace — the props, the poses, the panties (well, lingerie, but hey, alliteration!). “The aesthetic was awesome. For me as a photographer, I loved the aesthetic of the Polaroid; it was… Polaroids are just sexy. I mean, you can’t take anything with a Polaroid and it doesn’t look sexy.”
ep. 12: KAREN B. K. CHAN
In this episode, Karen B. K. Chan remembers the “unscripted” nature of the Pussy Palace — organizers had to anticipate how many supplies (read: bottles of lube) to provide, as well as how to meet patrons exactly where they were, mentally. “When folks showed up, they showed up however they were,” remembers Chan.
ep. 13: RENEE RACINE
In this episode, narrator Renee Racine remembers trying to carve out a place for herself as a bisexual woman at the Palace. “I was bisexual, trying to make my way in a genuinely lesbian circle, I felt this need to give back or to excuse my presence in some way,” said Racine.
ep. 14: THE FUCK LINE
In this episode, one of our narrators remembers one of the BDSM activities available at the Palace: the Fuck Line. “For people who participated, it was super exciting to have that kind of complete anonymous sex and give yourself permission to do that,” she recalls.