The Public Universal Friend (with Kit Heyam)

This season on Vulgar History, we're investigating How Do You Solve A Problem Like Marie Antoinette? To do so, we're looking at the lives of people who lived during the revolutionary era of the 18th century. In honour of Pride Month, we're talking this week about the trans historical figure The Public Universal Friend. The Friend, aka PUF, grew up as a Quaker in late 18th-century Pennsylvania. Were they also a cult leader? Listen and find out! We're joined this week by three-time returning guest Kit Heyam to talk about this fascinating historical figure. — Organizations to Support: Kit recommends supporting TransActual (UK) Ann recommends supporting: Point of Pride (US) Trans Care+ (Canada) The Trevor Project (US) — References: Before We Were Trans: A New History of Gender by Kit Heyam Public Universal Friend essay by Amanda Carson Banks from Women in World History — Vulgar Pride podcast playlist on Spotify — Get 15% off all the gorgeous jewellery and accessories at common.era.com/vulgar or go to commonera.com and use code VULGAR at checkout — Get Vulgar History merch at vulgarhistory.com/store (best for US shipping) and vulgarhistory.redbubble.com (better for international shipping) — Support Vulgar History on Patreon  — Vulgar History is an affiliate of Bookshop.org, which means that a small percentage of any books you click through and purchase will come back to Vulgar History as a commission. Use this link to shop there and support Vulgar History. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices