A child abandoned. A life shaped by violence. Long before the headlines, the story of Aileen Wuornos began with a childhood that looked more like survival than innocence.

Born in Michigan in 1956, Wuornos entered the world surrounded by instability. Her parents separated before she was born, and by age four she and her brother had been abandoned by their mother and left to be raised by their grandparents. What followed was a childhood marked by poverty, alleged abuse, and isolation.

By the time she was barely a teenager, Wuornos was already living a life most adults would struggle to endure. She became pregnant at fourteen after a reported rape and gave birth in a home for unwed mothers, only to have the baby placed for adoption. Soon after, she dropped out of school and was thrown out of her grandparents’ home, leaving her to survive on the streets.

In this episode, we explore the tragic early years that shaped one of the most infamous figures in true crime. This LGBTQ+ true crime podcast episode looks beyond the headlines to examine the abuse, abandonment, and systemic failures that defined Wuornos’s earliest years. It’s a haunting chapter of queer history and criminal psychology that forces us to ask difficult questions about trauma, survival, and how society fails the most vulnerable.

Hosted by Jordi and Brad, Beers With Queers brings chilling crimes, queer stories, and twisted justice to light, all with a cold one in hand.

Press play, grab a drink, and join us as we uncover the darkest corners of LGBTQ+ history.

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Patients trusted him with their lives. Instead, they were slowly dying under his care.

Behind a hospital smile lurked one of the most prolific medical serial killers in American history.

In the 1970s and 80s, hospital orderly Donald Harvey quietly moved between patient rooms in hospitals across Ohio and Kentucky. To coworkers, he seemed gentle, soft-spoken, helpful, even compassionate. But behind closed doors, something far darker was unfolding. Over nearly two decades, dozens of vulnerable patients died under suspicious circumstances as Harvey poisoned food, tampered with oxygen, and suffocated those who trusted him to care for them.

In this episode of this LGBTQ+ true crime podcast, we dive into the chilling story of the man known as the “Angel of Death.” We examine how Harvey’s crimes went unnoticed for years, the culture of silence inside medical institutions, and how a single autopsy would finally expose one of the most disturbing murder sprees in modern hospital history. Along the way, we also explore Harvey’s life as a gay man in an era when secrecy and stigma shaped the lives of many queer people, raising complex questions about identity, isolation, and the systems that failed to stop him.

Hosted by Jordi and Brad, Beers With Queers brings chilling crimes, queer stories, and twisted justice to light, all with a cold one in hand.

Press play, grab a drink, and join us as we uncover the darkest corners of LGBTQ+ history.

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

For generations of LGBTQ+ Americans, a simple night out could mean a huge risk. But the local gay bar offered safety, community, resistance, and eventually revolution.

Long before Pride parades and marriage equality, queer bars were the beating heart of LGBTQ life in America. Hidden behind unmarked doors and dim neon lights, these spaces offered something the outside world often refused: safety, connection, and the freedom to exist. From underground gatherings in the 1800s to legendary spaces like the Stonewall Inn, queer bars became sanctuaries where community was built and where history was made.

In this episode of Beers With Queers, we’re joined by the hosts of Cruising Podcast, Rachel Karp and Sarah Gabrielli to explore the powerful history and cultural importance of queer bars across the United States. Together we explore why these bars were never just nightlife, but a lifeline. We discuss the decline of not only the number of gay bars in the US but the lack of dependency of them in the digital age. We also discuss Cruising Podcast's amazing 10K, one month road trip across America to visit each of the 25 lesbian bars left in the country as well their new book The Lesbian Bar Chronicles coming to anywhere you buy books May 2026.

Hosted by Jordi and Brad, Beers With Queers brings chilling crimes, queer stories, and twisted justice to light—all with a cold one in hand.

Press play, grab a drink, and join us as we uncover the darkest corners of LGBTQ+ history.

From the Cruising website: https://www.cruisingpod.com/

CRUISING PODCAST SEASON 1 (2021-2022):

3 queer women, 1 Honda SUV, and the last lesbian bars in America. In 2021 there were less than 25 of these spaces left in the country. Season 1 of Cruising follows creators Sarah Gabrielli, Rachel Karp, and Jen McGinity on a cross-country road trip to visit each of these bars. Through interviews with staff, owners, and community members, Cruising tells the stories of the humans that own these bars and the humans that call them a home.

CRUISING PODCAST SEASON 2 (2023-2024):

Since Cruising launched in 2021, EIGHT new lesbian bars have opened across the country. In Season 2, Cruising takes listeners to each of these new bars and travels back in time to explore lesbian bars of decades past. From 1930s San Francisco to 1990s New Orleans to present day Chicago, Season 2 brings even more stories from the humans that call these spaces home.

CRUISING PODCAST SEASON 3 (2025-present):

In Season 3, host Sarah Gabrielli sits down with history-making lesbians and LGBTQ+ folks to discuss all kinds of queer spaces — from bookstores to farms to peace encampments and more!

Cruising is deeply committed to honest and unbiased journalism.

WHO IS CRUISING PODCAST FOR?

Cruising is a podcast for everyone. We are a TERF-free, anti-racist zone. We have zero-tolerance for transphobia and racism. Trans women are women. Trans men are men. Non-binary people are non-binary people. Gender is a spectrum.

WHAT IS A LESBIAN BAR?

Our working definition of “lesbian bar” is: a space that is created by and for queer folks of historically + presently marginalized genders.

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.