Kaila Story

Dr. Kaila Story is Associate Professor, Women's, Gender and Sexuality Studies, with a joint appointment in the Department of Pan-African Studies at the University of Louisville. She holds the Audre Lorde Chair in Race, Class, Gender, and Sexuality Studies.

Dr. Story was also a part of NBC’s inaugural #Pride30 which featured LGBTQ Community leaders and change makers. She also co-hosts an award-winning podcast with longtime Louisville activist Jaison Gardner called Strange Fruit: Musings on Politics, Pop Culture, and Black Gay Life.

The Strange Fruit podcast "is an internationally-recognized and award-winning podcast. The podcast averages 6,000 downloads weekly and 24,000 downloads each month. Guests on the podcast have included celebrities like Tarell Alvin McCraney, Idina Menzel, Jill Scott, Janet Mock, David Sedaris, Janelle Monae, and Wanda Sykes, and thought leaders including Darnell Moore, Wade Davis, Dr. Yaba Blay, Dr. Brittney C. Cooper, Monica Roberts, and Patrisse Cullors. Strange Fruit was created in 2012 and has 391 episodes in its archives. Recent awards and honors for Strange Fruit include Outstanding Podcast/Internet Based Video or Audio Show from Pride Index (2015), Bluegrass Black Pride Trailblazer Award (2017), Indy PopCon Best LGBT 13 Podcast (2018), Leo Weekly Readers’ Choice Awards "Best Podcast”, Second Place (2018).

Dr. Story's research examines the intersections of race and sexuality, with special attention to Black feminism, Black lesbians, and Black queer identity. Her current research explores the intersections of race, class, and sexuality in identity performance, mass media, body politics, and the like. Dr. Story's other research interests include, but are not limited to, Gender Socialization, Transnational Sexualities, Black feminisms, and Transnational Feminisms.