Welcome to the seedy underbelly of Pittsburgh, where the battle for control over the sex trade turned into an all-out gang war. Caught in the middle: A trans horse riding instructor who turned to a life of crime when he needed money to care for his ailing mother. S.A. Chant joins us today for a conversation about money laundering through paint-your-own ceramics, fighting the cops with birthday cake, and the way respectability politics changes the stories we tell about queer history.
Many thanks to S.A. Chant for being our guest host on this episode. You can find S.A.’s work here:
- Website
- Caroline’s Heart (On Amazon)
- Peter Darling (On Kobo)
Featured image: A portrait of Dante (Image source)
One of Dante’s massage parlors, the Roman V, photographed in 1985. (Image source)
FBI surveillance photo of John LaRocca in 1975. (Image source)
Dante with his wife, Cynthia Bruno Gill, in 1984. (Image source)
Dante with friends in 1979. The person on the left is his friend Frank. (Image source)
Dante hides his face with a box as he’s escorted from court in 1979. (Image source)
Sources
Sources about Dante
- Wicked Pittsburgh
- Agnes Gill, Agnes Rose, obituary
- Jury Indicts 5 for Prostitution
- Wiring, Not Arson, Caused Fire at Massage Parlor, Agents Say
- Vice Kingpin On Bond In Slay Conspiracy
- Gill, with box on head, was escorted from court by attorney Shelly Friedman in 1979
- Dante “Tex” Gill – Obituary
- Dante “Tex” Gill – World Queerstory
- The complex and tough Dante “Tex” Gill
- Obituary: Dante ‘Tex’ Gill
Sources about other criminal history
- From Monastero to Genovese, five Pittsburgh mob bosses who made the news
- Joseph N. “Jo Jo” Pecora
- Figure in Pennsylvania Crime Dies at 82 in His Bed at Home
- Reputed Vice King George Lee Slain
- What is the history of anabolic steroid use?
- Rydze is latest Steelers link to PEDs
- Prostitution in the Progressive Era: Reform Movements in Three Jurisdictions
- Pittsburgh’s unseen “Queen of the Underworld”
- Crime Bosses of Pittsburgh
- Mafia has long history here, growing from bootlegging days
About Rub and Tug
- A Comprehensive Guide to the Ghost in the Shell Controversy
- Scarlett Johansson will play a trans man, but she doesn’t get why people are mad
- Scarlett Johansson Trans Casting Debate: Dante ‘Tex’ Gill’s Cousin Tells Us What Tex Would Have Thought of Her Playing Him
- Scarlett Johansson Exits Trans Film ‘Rub and Tug’ Amid Backlash
- ‘Rub and Tug’ Will Now Feature a Trans Actor in Lead Role Instead of Scarlett Johansson; Will Be a Series Instead of a Movie