The Birdcage and the Making of Queer Miami

A lot of times I’ll choose a movie for HATM just because I like it or want to talk about it. But just as often, I want to talk about the work of a particular historian. That was the case this week with Julio Capó, Jr.

I had been in Julio’s orbit for some time as a follower and was aware of his work on the history of Miami. But I didn’t know Julio. But a mutual friend suggested him for the pod and I am so glad she did.¹

Julio probably loves Florida even more than me. He’s from Miami and the community there remains not only important to his research and scholarship but his very identity. One of the things we touched on during the pod was the importance to him of serving this very community through his work.

Florida is the butt of a lot of jokes. But it is full of a diverse body of people and home to some of the most amazing ecosystems you’ll ever encounter. I believe it to be a magical place. I have been trying through some of our podcast episodes to shine a light on the state and its importance to the rest of the country. Not surprisingly, the episodes we have done with Sarah McNamara and Christina Abreu remain among my favorite. And this episode is no different.

It’s also an important time for a podcast about Miami’s queer history. Pride Month is upon us and while the timing of this pod is actually more of a coincidence than anything else (we rescheduled this thing like four times because we each have crazy schedules), I’m pretty glad that it worked out this way. I hope to offer a few different posts on this podcast because I think Julio is doing such amazing work to tell the history of this place.

We talk about the legacy of Robin Williams, a man who meant a lot to so many people, and as Julio points out, meant a whole lot to the LGBTQ+ community. But we also talk about why this film was so important in 1996 and how it remains relevant today, nearly 30 years later.

I’m really happy and proud of this particular pod, mostly because we get to talk about some really important issues but also because the heart of this whole HATM endeavour is about using movies to spend time with friends. I hope you like it.

You can find Julio’s book right here from the UNC Press website. Use code 01HATM30 to get 30% off this and all other titles.²

This book is seriously good.

Now here’s the cool thing- HATM will be livetweeting The Birdcage this Sunday night at 8pm eastern. You can find it on Amazon Prime. So listen to the pod and then tweet along with us this weekend. Or watch then listen. Your choice. But it’s gonna be a blast.

See ya soon.

1. Hi Sarah.

2. No, I don’t make anything off this; I just worked out something with UNC Press for the HATM community so have fun.