Queers in History Queers in History
(c)Compiler: Paul Halsall
email: [email protected]
This list may be copied and distributed freely. Suggestions for
corrections and inclusions should be sent to the compiler.
I
This is a list of "Queers" in history. The qualifications for
inclusion on this list are a: that the person be dead, and b: that the person be reputed to be "queer" and be of interest to modern
lesbian, gays, bisexual, transgendered and queer people.
II
I firmly believe that history is the story [French: "histoire"] we
weave for ourselves from our investigations [Greek: "istoria"]
into the past. Some, most in fact, of the people on this list were
lesbian, gay or bisexual, but with some others the proof is limited, or frankly not compelling. For some, their "queerness" had little
to do with sexual orientation but with gender transgression. For
still others - the Japanese samurai, Greek and Roman aristocrats - it was not in fact at all "queer" in their society to take part in
homosexual sex. Some of these people may also not have been
very happy about their queerness. But all these people - modern
"homosexuals", cross-dressers throughout the ages, the socially
comfortable ephebe-lovers of antiquity - are legitimately of interest to *modern* lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender [or all-together "Queer"] people as we weave OUR history and it is the interest of this modern Queer people that is reflected in this list.
There is, of course, no certainty that these people were queer, but
they have all been claimed at various times to have been so.
I have placed a ? before the cases where either we know the claim
is false, or where I think the claim is not very strong. It is certain
that far more queers have been mis-taken as "straights", than
"straights" have been mistaken as "queers".
III
There is a problem with all lists such as this. Here is Wayne R.
Dynes, "Homosexuality: A Research Guide" [New York; Garland,
1987], p182, speaking.:-
"The impulse to draw up extensive biographical lists of notable
homosexuals of the past began with the 19th century homosexual
scholars in German-speaking countries. Parallel tendencies occur
with scholars representing other minority groups, where such lists
seem to function to provide historical witness of the collective
worth of an ostracized group. This "hall of fame" approach has
recently been criticized as skewing homosexual and lesbian history
towards an unrepresentative elite, effacing historical variety and
class differences. The search for famous homosexuals also
provokes a largely fruitless series of debates over whether figures
of the past, such as Socrates or Caesar, were truly homosexual"
I accept Dyne's point as legitimate, but very often we know about
the elite, or we know about no one at all. As we weave our history, all our investigations are legitimate.
IV
I cannot list all the sources used for the names on this list. Some
were provided by scholars working in particular areas. Many others were drawn from similar compilations, and still other names from more general historical works. I put together a very large
bibliography on the history of homosexuality which is available
from the Queer Resources Directory as "history.of.homosexuality".
Here is a list of some of the more used sources
"The Alyson Almanac", [Boston: 1990]
John Boswell, "Christianity, Social Tolerance and Homosexuality",
[Chicago: 1980]
Ver. L. Bullough, "Sexual Variance in Society and History"
[Chicago, 1976]
Margaret Cruikshank, ed., "Lesbian Studies: Present and Future"
collected essays [Old Westbury, NY: 1982]
Christine Downing, "Myths and Mysteries of Same-Sex Love"
[NY: 1989]
Wayne R. Dynes, "Homosexuality: A Research Guide"
[New York; Garland, 1987]
Arthur Evans, "Witchcraft and the Gay Counterculture"
[Boston: 1978]
Kent Gerard and Gert Hekma, "The Pursuit of Sodomy: Male
Homosexuality in Renaissance and Enlightenment Europe"
Collected papers, [New York: 1989]
Martin Greif, "The Gay Book of Days" [Secaucus, NJ: 1982]
- over 1000 names
Noel I. Garde, "Jonathan to Gide: The Homosexual in History" [NY: 1964]
- 300+ men
Barbara Grier and Coletta Field, "Lesbian Lives" [Oakland: 1976]
- 60+ women
Brent Hinch, "Passions of the Cut Sleeve: The Male Homosexual
Tradition in China", [Berkeley: 1990]
Jonathan Katz, "Gay American History", {NT: 1976]
Sal Licata, ed, "The Gay Past" [Collected Essays], [NY:1985]
Roth, Norman, "Deal Gently with the Young Man: Love of Boys in
Medieval Hebrew Poetry of Spain", Speculum 57 (1982),
pp. 21-50
A.L. Rowse, "Homosexuals in History" [NY:1977]
V
Mostly this is a list of names. Where submitters have provided
more information I have included it, and would be prepared to
add still more comments.
Names are arranged within category in a very rough chronological
order.
VI
I have added some codes to the various names to enhance the list's usefulness.
* = woman
? = before name indicates extremely dubious in my opinion
b. = born
BCE = Before Common Era [Common Era - also known as AD - dates
are unmarked]
c. = circa [i.e. "about']
C = century
d. = died
r. = dates of reign for monarchs
*********************************************
With all these comments taken into account then, and keeping in mind that this is a list of *reputed* queers, here is the List:-
*********************************************
VERY EARLY INDEED
Adam and Steve
?The Austrian Iceman with semen in his rectum
[this story was the result of a hoax by an Austrian Gay group]
ANCIENT EGYPT
Horus and Seth
Osaris and Seth
Niankhkhnum
and Khnumhotep (c. 2450 BCE)
Two royal officials of the Old Kingdom, buried in a single
tomb. Although each was married with children, reliefs in their joint tomb show them kissing and embracing in a way usually reserved for married couples. Prudish Egyptologists tend to claim that they're brothers, but there's no supporting textual evidence and the representations are all wrong for that. So these guys would be the first queer couple!
King Neferkare Pepy II
and General Sisenet (c. 2300 BCE)
A later (c. 1800 BCE) story has the king sneaking out of the
palace at night to visit the general, who was his lover.
Akhenaten c.1350BCE
and Smenkhkare
Late Antique Egypt:
Arianus (late third/early fourth century CE)
Roman official in Egypt known from literary and
documentary sources. In several Coptic martyrdoms, he is the
prosecuting official who comes on to the male martyrs, talking
about how beautiful they are. He offers to let the martyrs go if
they give in to him, but the martyrs invariably refuse.
*Taese
and *Tsansno (late 4th/early 5th century CE)
Two nuns punished for lesbian activity (apparently with each
other); from paper by T. Wilfong at the recent APA meeting
Papapollo and P-hello (sixth century CE)
Known from the manuscript of a love spell in which Papapollo is
trying to compel the love of P-Hello (both men)
ANCIENT IRAQ
Gilgamesh and Enkidu
ANCIENT GREECE
?All Spartan Men
All Cretan Men
The Sacred Band of Thebes [military regiment] 378-338BCE
Mythical Persons [included for interest's sake - Latin form in paraentheses]
Zeus (Jupiter)
and Ganymede (sometimes "Catamitus" - origin of word 'catamite']
Poseidon (Neptune)
and Pelops
Apollo
and Admettus
and Hyacinthus [see below]
and Cyparissus
Dionysius (Bacchus)
and Prosymnus
*Artemis (Diana)
and *Callisto
*Athena (Minerva)
and *Pallas
Pan
Achilles
and Patroclus
Heracles (Hercules)
and Hylas
and Iolaus
Theseus
and Pirithous
Damon
and Pythias
Orestes
and Pylades
Thyrsis
and Corydon
Laius (father of Oedippus)
and Chrysippus
Narcissus
and Ameinias
Orpheus (the "first man to love boys")
Hyacinth
and Thamyris
and Zephyrus
and Boreas
Transgendered mythical figures
Hermaphroditus
Cybele
Tiresias
Caenis/Caeneus
Generals, Kings, Leaders
Antyus 4th C BCE
Aristides d.c.468BCE
Dionysius II of Syracuse r.367-353BCE
Alexander of Pherae 369-358BCE
Periander of Ambracia
Solon c.600BCE
Hipparchus of Athens late 6thCBCE
Aristogeiton
and Harmodius 532?-514BCE [Supposed founders of
Athenian democracy]
Alcibiades 450?-404BC
Themistocles c524-c459BCE
and Stesilaos of Keos
Demosthenes 384-322BCE
Archelaus of Macedonia r413-
and Crateas [who killed A.]
Philip II of Macedon 359-336BCE
Alexander the Great 356-323BCE
and Hephasteion
Poets, Writers
*Sappho c.610-c.580BCE
Alceaus c.620-c.580BCE
Meleager c100BCE
Theocritus early 3rd C. BCE
Theognis of Megara early 6th C BCE
Aeschines c390-322BCE
Philostratus 2nd-3rd C BCE
Ibycus 6thC BCE
Anacreon 582?-485?BCE
Pindar of Thebes 518-c446BCE
and Thrasybulus
and Theoxenus
Rufinus
Euripides 485-406BCE
Sophocles 496-406BCE
Agathon c.425CBE
Strato
Achilles Tatius [Greek novelist - wrote _Leucippe and Cleitophon_]
Lucian of Samosata 115-180
Intellectuals
Phraedrus 5thC BCE
Phaedo of Elis 5thC BCE
Socrates 469?-399BCE
Plato 427?-347BCE
Zeno of Citium c333-262BCE [Founder of Stoicism]
Chrysippus c280-207BCE [Stoic philosopher]
Apollodorus c.140BCE [Stoic philosopher]
Ancient Rome
Kings, Emperors, Generals, Political Leaders
Lucius Quinctius Flamininus c180BC
Sulla c.138-78BCE
and Metrobius
Catiline d.62BCE
Julius Caesar 100?-44BCE ["every women's husband, every man's wife]
and Nicomedes, King of Bithynia
Mark Anthony c.82-30BCE
Cicero 100-43BCE [
and Octavian/Augustus b.63-r.27BCE-14 [! -see Marlowe's "Edward II"]
Tiberius r.14-37
Caligula r.37-41(inter alia)
Nero r.54-68
Vespasian r.69-769
Titus r.79-81
Domatian r.81-96
Hadrian r.76-138
and Antinous d.130
Marcus Aurelius r.121-180
Elagabalus r.218-222
[declared one of his male lovers to be his husband]
Poets, Intellectuals
Catullus 84-54BCE
Horace 65-8BCE
Martial 40-103/4
Virgil 70-19BCE
Tibellus 55-19BCE
and Marathus
Ovid 43BCE-17
Juvenal c.early 2ndC CE
Petronius d.65 [wrote the "Satyricon"]
Plautus 250-184BCE
Seneca 4BCE-65
ANCIENT BIBLICAL FIGURES
?The Men of Sodom c.1800BCE [much-disputed story in Gen. 19]
?*Ruth c1100BCE
and *Naomi
David 1035?-960?BCE [see I Sam 19, and II Sam 1:26]
and Jonathan [some dispute on this one]
Daniel the Prophet c.650BCE [eunuch]
The Three Young Men c. 650BCE [eunuchs]
?St. John the Evangelist 1stC CE
?St. Paul 1stC CE
and Timothy
MEDIEVAL EUROPE AND ISLAM
SAINTS
*St Anastasia the Patrician
*St Anna/Euphemianos
*St Apollinaria/Dortheos
*St Athanasia of Antioch
*St Eugenia/Eugnios
*St Hilaria/Hilarion
*St Marina/Marinos
*St Marina (2)
*St Matrona/Babylas
*St. Pelagia/Pelagios
*St. Theodora/Theodorus
*St. Euphrosyne/Smaragdus
*St. Papula of Gaul
*St Thekla
*St Hildegonde of Neuss near Cologne
[all the above women dressed and lived as men, usually monks]
*St Uncumber [a bearded woman saint]
St. Sergius
and St. Bacchus
*St. Perpetua
and *St. Felicity
St. Sebastian
St. Augustine of Hippo 4thC
St. Aelred of Rievaulx early 12C
St. Anselm of Bec late 11C
St. Paulinus of Nola 4thC
and Ausonius
Other Religious Figures
?The Cathars [ala "bougres"]
St. Alcuin 9th century
Gottschalk
Hrbanus Maurus
John, Bishop of Orleans (aka "Flora")
John of Salisbury 1115(or 1120)-1180
and Pope Hadrian IV
Marbod of Rennes
Ralph, Archbishop of Tours 12thC
Venantius Fortunatus
Walafrid Strabo
and Luitger
Baudri of Bourgeuil 1046-1130
Pope Benedict XI 1020-1055
?Pope Boniface VIII b.c.1235-r.1294-1303
[charged with "sodomy" by Philip IV of France]
Pope Julius II
Pope Sixtus IV 1471-1484
[contemporary diarist calims he made his barber a
cardinal, because he was his lover's son!]
Pope Julius III 1487-1555
and the Prevostino
Giovanni della Casa 1503-1557 [prelate and writer]
[Founder of papal Index!]
Sister Benedetta Carlini of Pescia c.1619
Byzantium
Nicephorus I r.802-811
Michael III r.842-867
and Basil I r.867-
?Basil II r.976-1025
Constantine VIII r.1025-1028
Constantine IX Monomachus r.1042-1055
There was a monastery, The Monastery of the Aguares, specifically for eunuchs - the most well-known Byzantine sexual minority
IBERIA
Moshe ibn Ezra [poet]
Ibn Sahl [poet]
Ibn Sheshet [poet]
Ibn Barzel [poet]
Ibn al-Farra [poet]
Abraham ibn Ezra [poet]
Judah Halevi
King al-Mutamid of Seville 11th C
and Ibn Ammar [poet]
?King John II of Castille r.1406-1454
and Alvaro de Luna [?]
King Henry IV of Castille 1425-r.1454-1474 [called "la Puta" by the people!]
and Gregario Maran~on
Antonio Perez 1535-1611 [Philip II of Spain's Secretary of State]
King Affonso VI of Portugal r.1656-1683
Francisco Correa Netto, c.1664 [Sacristan of Cathedral of Silves, and erotic letter writer to:-]
and Manuel Viegas [guitarist]
and Juan Pacheco, marquess of Villena
ITALY
Political Leaders
Emperor Frederick II d.1250
King Conradin of Sicily 1252-1268
and Frederick of Baden
Benedetto Varchi
Antonia Loredano
[Venetian Ambassador at Rome]
Filefilo
Politian
Bracciolini
Duke Ferdinand II of Tuscany 18C
Duke Cosimo III of Tuscany 18C
Gian Gastone
Prince Ferdinand
Cardinal Francesco Maria
[for above 5 see Luca Ombresi, "Vita dei
Medici sodomiti" (Florence; 1965]
Figures in the Arts
Donatello 1386-1466
Pietro Aretino 1492-1556
Pomponia Leto 1428-1498
?Niccolo Machiavelli 1469-1527
Andrea Poliziano 1454-1494
Leonardo da Vinci 1452-1519
(and Jacopa Saltarelli,
Andrea Salaini,
Francesco Melzi,
Cesare da Sesto,
Giuliano Boltraffio)
Raphael 1483-1520
Michelangelo Buonarroti 1475-1564
and Tommaso Cavalieri
Giovanni Antonio Bazzi "il Sodoma" 1477-1549
Giambattista Marino 1569-1625 [writer]
Caravaggio 1573-1610
Benevenuto Cellini 1500-1571
Tasso 16C [writer]
Niccolo Capasso 17C [Neapolitan dialect poet]
Antonio Rocco mid 17C [wrote and account of gay love
"L"Alcibiade Fanciullo a Scuola" in 1652]
FRANCE
Political Leaders
King Philip II Augustus r.1179-1223
[and Richard the Lionheart - see Britain]
King Charles IX r.1550-1574
King Henry III r.1574-189[and his "mignons":-]
and Mougeron
and Joyeuse
and Epernon
Count of Anjou late 16thC [Henry III's brother]
and Bussy D'Amboise
King Louis XIII b. 1601-r.1610-1643
and Baradas
and Marquis de Cinq-Mars
and Saint-Simon
?Cardinal Mazarin 1602-1661
Others
?The Templars [Religious military order. Suppressed early 14th C]
?Jacques le Mollay, leader of Templars at disolution
Gilles du Rais 1404-1440 [mass murderer]
*St Joan of Arc c.1412-1431
and *La Rousse
and *Catharine de La Rochelle
Moliere 1621-1673
and Michel Baron
Theophile de Viau 1590-1626 [poet]
Jacques Valle des Barreaux 1599-1673 [poet]
Denys Saugin de Saint-Pavin 1595-1670 [poet]
Francois de Metel, Abbe de Boisrobert 1592-1662
[poet and founder of the French Academy]
BRITAIN
Kings, Queens, Political Leaders
King William II Rufus 1056?-1100
Robert, Duke of Normandy late 11th C
William Aethling (Son of Henry I) early 12th C
?King Henry II b.1133-r.1154-1189
and St. Thomas a Becket c.1118-1170 [Very doubtful - but basis of a play by Anouilh]
King Richard I the Lion-hearted b.1157-r.1189-1199
[and Philip II Augustus]
[and Saladin]
and Blondel
and Raife de Clermon
William Longchamp, Bishop of Ely [Justiciar of Richard I] early 13thC
King Edward II 1284-1327
and Piers Gaveston,
then Hugh Dispenser
?King Richard II b.1367-r.1377-1399
Sir Walter Raleigh 1554-1618
King James I & VI 1566--r.(Scotland)1567-r.(England)1603-1625
and Lord Hay
and Robert Carr
and George Villiers, Earl of Buckingham
The Earl of Castlehaven mid-17thC
Others
Nicholas Udel 1505-1556
Christopher Marlowe 1564-1593 [first creator of lists of Queers!]
?William Shakespeare 1564-1616
Richard Barn(e)field 1574-1627
Lord Southampton 16C
Earl of Oxford 16C
Charles Arundel 16C
Francis Bacon 1561-1626 [scientist]
Anthony Bacon 1558-1601
Elsewhere in Europe
Hoelderin
Erasmus of Rotterdam 1466-1536 [humanist]
and Servatius Roger
and William Blount, Lord Mountjoy
Theodore Beza 1519-1606 [Calvin's successor at Geneva]
and Audebert
Jerome Duquesnoy 1602-1645 [Flemish Sculptor]
ISLAM
Abu Nawas d.810 Arabian Poet
Caliph Muhammad al-Amin 9th Cent CE
Saladin 12th century [Ruler of Egypt and Syria]
Omar Khayyam [Persian Poet - wrote "Rubbayat"]
Ibn al-Farid 1182-1235 [poet]
Ibn Khaldun [historian]
Mehmet II al Fatih 1430-1881 - Conqueror of Constantinople 1453
MODERN EUROPE [post 1700]
BRITAIN
Political Leaders
King William III b.1650-r.1689-1702
*Queen Anne 1665-1714
and *Sarah Churchill, Duchess of Marlborough
Lord Hervey 1696-1733[George II's minister]
and Stephen Fox
and Francesco Algoretti
Horace Walpole 1717-1797 [first Prime Minister]
John Wilkes 1725-1797 [radical politician]
Alexander Carlyle late 18C [Scottish churchman]
Charles Townshend late 18thC [politician]
Sir Hector McDonald 1853-1903 [general]
Viscount Esher 1857-1930 [general]
Early Beauchamp 1872-1938 [leader Liberal Party 1924-1931]
General Charles Gordon 1833-1885
Horatio Herbert Kitchener 1850-1916
Robert Baden Powell 1857-1941[founder of Boy Scouts]
Roger Casement 1864-1916
*Christabel Pankhurst
Tom Driberg MP {Baron Bradwell] 1905-197?
Duke of Kent [Brother of King George V]
Jeremy Thorpe [alive?] [leader Liberal Party - 1970s]
*Maureen Colquhoun MP [alive?]
Lord Louis Mountbatten [Admiral and Viceroy of India] 1900-1971
Lord Avon, [minister in Margaret Thatcher's first administration]
Poets, Writers
*Lady Mary Wortley Montagu
and *Anne Wortley
*Anna Seward
and *Honora Sneyd
Thomas Gray] 1716-1771 [Poet
and Norton Nichols
and Bonstetten
Mark Akenside 1722-1770 [poet]
and Jeremiah Dyson 1722-1776
Horace Mann 1701-1786
John Chute 1701-1776
William Beckford 1759-1844
and William Courtney
William, Viscount Courtney 1773-1833 [same as above?]
*Mary Wollstonecraft 1759-1797
and *Fanny Blood
Lord (George Gordon) Byron 1788-1824
and Lord Clare
and John Eddleston
and Nicolo Giraud
Richard Heber 1773-1833 [book collector]
Horatio Brown 1856-1926 [writer on Venice]
Cardinal John Henry Newman 1801-1890[writer and Catholic convert]
and Fr. Alfred Lord Tennyson 1809-1892[poet]
Gerard Manley Hopkins 1844-1889 [poet and Jesuit]
Edward Carpenter 1844-1929 [social reformer]
John Addington Symonds 1840-1893
Walter Pater 1839-1894 [art critic]
Norman Douglas 1868-1952 [writer]
Algernon Swinbourne 1837-1909 [poet]
AC Benson [writer]
EF Benson [writer]
Robert Hugh Benson [writer]
James Barrie 1860-1937 [wrote "Peter Pan"]
Frederick Rolfe, Baron Corvo 1860-1913 [writer]
Lawrence Houseman 1865-1959 [social reformer]
Oscar Wilde 1894-1900 [writer and wit]
and Lord Alfred Douglas
Andre Raffalovich [dilletante]
and Canon John Gray [poet and priest]
*Vera Britten [writer]
and *Winnifred Holtby [writer]
Roden Noel 1834-1894 [minor poet]
Marquis of Lorne 1845-1914
James Elro Fletcher 1884-1915 [poet]
and J.D. Beazeley 1885-1970 [classical scholar - Greek vases]
James Agate 1879-1947
Hugh Walpole 1884-1941 [writer]
DH Lawrence 1885-1930 [writer]
T.E. Lawrence (of Arabia) 1888-1935 [writer and soldier]
and Salim Ahmed [Dahoum] [see dedication of "Seven Pillars"]
?Robert Graves [in early life at least!] [writer]
WH Auden 1907-1973 [poet]
Duncan Grant
E.M. Forster 1879-1970 [writer]
Denton Welch [writer]
Evelyn Waugh 1903-1966 [writer]
Saki (H.E. Munro) 1870-1916 [short story writer]
Wilfred Owen 1893-1918 [poet]
Siegfried Sassoon 1886-1967 [poet]
Harold Nicolson 1886-1982 [writer and politician]
Somerset Maugham 1874-1964 [writer]
and Gerald Haxton
*Radclyffe Hall [writer - The Well of Loneliness]
and *Una Troubridge
*Virginia Woolf 1882-1941 [writer and feminist]
and *Vita Sackville-West [gardener]
*Violet Trefusis
*Mary Renault 1905-1983 [writer]
and *Julie Mullard
Joe Orton 1933-1967 [writer]
and Kenneth Halliwell d.1967
A.E. Housman 1859-1936 [poet]
and Moses Jackson
Forrest Read 1875-1947 [writer]
Stephen Tennant
Harold Acton ["Antoine" in Waugh's _Brideshead Revisited_]
Robin Maugham [writer]
Christopher Isherwood 1904-1986 [writer]
and Don Bachardy [still alive] [artist]
Noel Coward 1899-1973 [writer and actpr]
J.R. Ackerly [writer]
Lytton Strachey 1880-1932 [biographer]
James Kirkup [alive?] [poet]
Robert Croft-Cooke [writer]
Laurence Olivier 1907-198?[actor]
[and Danny Kaye - see N.America]
Dirk Bogarde [-] [actor and writer]
Musical Figures
Arthur Sullivan 1842-1900 [composer]
Benjamin Britten 1913-1976 [composer]
and Peter Pears 1910-1986 [tenor]
Ivor Novello 1893-1951 [composer]
Brian Epstein 1934-1967 [manager]
and ?John Lennon [singer]
Other
Andrew Baxter 1688-1750 [Scottish/Dutch moralist]
*Marianne Woods early 19thC
and *Jane Pirie [Edinburgh school teachers]
The Ladies of Llangollen
C.J. Vaughn c.1850 [headmaster at Harrow]
Sir Richard Burton 1821-1890 (19th Century Explorer and Writer)
Sir Edmund Backhouse 1873-1944
[Sinologist]
Charles Ricketts 1866-1931 [artist]
and Charles Shannon 1863-1937 [artist]
Henry Tuke 1859-1929 [artist]
Goldsworthy Dichinson 1867-1932 [academic - Kings College]
Ronald Gower 1845-1916 [architect]
John Maynard Keynes 1883-1946 [economist]
*Florence Nightingale 1820-1910 [nurse]
William John Bankes, d. 1855. Dorset MP and early Egyptologist and major collector of Egyptiaca (The family estate still has the obelisk he brought from Egypt). Caught messing around with soldiers in public lavatories twice (1833, 1841); after the last incident, he went to Venice, where he died. [See (of all places) Neil Bartlett, "Who was that man? A
Present for Mr Oscar Wilde" (London: Serpent's Tail, 1988), pp. 58-59; although there's
better documentation elsewhere]
Alan Turing [breaker of Nazi Enigma code]
Guy Burgess [Spy for USSR - subject of film "Another Country"]
and Tolya
Francis Bacon d1993 [Painter]
Aleister Crowley [witch]
Derek Jarman 1942-1994 [film maker]
*Dolly Wilde 1899-1941 [Oscar's niece, A "wit"]
Lord Montagu [subject of famous trial in 1950's]
Cecil Beaton [photographer]
Ludwig Wittgenstein 1889-1951 [philosopher]
?All students at Eton since its foundation!
?All students at Harrow 1456-1917, 1923-69!
GERMANY/AUSTRIA
Political Leaders
Frederick II the Great of Prussia 1712-1786
and Hans von Katte
Prince Henry of Prussia 1726-1802 [suggested as King of America!]
King Ludwig II of Bavaria 1845-1886
Friedrich Krupp 1854-1902 [industrialist]
Kaiser Wilhelm II 1859-1941 [r.1888-1918]
and Prince Philippe zu Eulenberg 1847-1921
Colonel Alfred Redl early 20C [Austrian double agent]
Ernst Roehm [Nazi leader]
Rathenau [German forein Minister at Versailles 1919]
Wilfed Israel 1899-1944 [opponent of Nazis]
Cultural Figures
?Ludwig von Beethoven 1770-1827 [composer]
(and nephew ?Karl)
?Franz Schubert 1797-1828 [composer]
J.J. Winckelmann 1717-1768 [art historian]
Count August von Platten 1796-1835 [poet]
and Cardenio/Hoffman
Wilhelm Jansen 1866-1943 [gay activist]
Stefan George 1868-1933 [poet]
and Maximilien Kronberger
Karl Ulrichs 1825-1895 [first person in modern history to acknowldge his homosexuality]
Karol Kertbeny [=Benkert] [Hungarian. Invented the word "homosexual" 1869]
Magnus Hirschfeld 1868-1935 [sexologist]
Baron Hermann von Teschenberg late 19C [transvestite and gay rights leader]
Benedict Friedlaender [gay rights advocate]
*Anna Ruehling late 19C [lesbian feminist]
*Rosa von Braunschweig late 19C [writer and activist]
*Gabriele Reuter [writer]
*Elizabeth Dauthendey [writer]
*E Krause [writer]
George Polck [gay rights advocate]
Dr. Ernest Burchard [gay rights advocate]
Otto Spengler [gay rights advocate]
Dr. George Merzbach [gay rights advocate]
?Rainer Maria Rilke 1875-1927 [poet]
Frida Kahlo
Alexander von Humboldt [explorer and scientist]
Rosa von Praunheim [film maker]
Thomas Mann 1875-1955[writer]
Rainer Werner Fassbinder [film maker]
Other
Ludwig le Gros
and Martin Schultze [both executed 1704]
*Catharina Margaretha Linck and
*Catharina Margaretha Muehhahn c.1721
Baron Ludwig Christian Gunther von Appel c1730
FRANCE
Political Life
Philippe, Duc de Orleans d.1701 [Brother of Louis XIV]
Eugene of Savoy
Louis, Prince of Conde
*Madame Anne-Louise Germaine du Stael 1766-1817
*Marie Antoinette 1755-1793
Violet-Le-Duc
Duc de Nevers
Eugene Sue
?Maximilien Robespierre 1758-1794
and ?Saint Just
Duc Claude de Villiars
?Napoleon I Bonaparte 1769-1821 [emp. 1804-1815]
Jean Jacques Regis de Cambaceres 1753-1824 [designed Code Napoleon]
King Louis XVIII
Daniel Guerin [socialist activist]
Cultural Figures
?Voltaire 1694-1778
Paul Henri Dietrich Thiry, Baron d'Holbach 1723-1789 [philosopher]
Francois Timoleon de Choisy, Abbe de Choisy (1644-1724)
Marquis de Sade 1740-1814
Marquis de Custine 1790-1857 [writer on Russia]
Theodore Gericault 1791-1824 [painter]
*Georges Sand 1804-1876
Comte Robert de Montesquiou 1855-1921 [poet]
Paul Verlaine 1844-1896 [poet]
and Arthur Rimbaud 1854-1891
Camille Saint-Saens 1835-1921[composer]
Jean Cocteau 1889-1963 [writer]
and Raymond Radiguet
Jean Genet 1910-1986 [thief and writer]
*Colette 1873-1954 [writer]
Andre Gide 1869-1951 [writer]
and Athman
and Marc Allegret
*Anais Nin 1903-1977[writer and diarist]
Henri de Montherlant 1896-1971 [writer]
Marcel Proust 1871-1922 [writer]
and Reynaldo Hahn 1874-1947 [musician]
and Alfredo Agostinelli
*Renee Vivien 1877-1909
*Rosa Bonheur 1822-1899
and *Nathalia Micas
Max Jacob 1876-1944 [poet]
Francois Poulenc 1899-1963 [composer]
and Pierre Bernac
*Marguerite Yourcenar 1903-1987 [writer., first woman in French Academy]
Michel Foucault 1926-1984 [philosopher]
Roland Barthes [lit. critic]
RUSSIA
Tsar Alexander I 1777-1825
Nikolia Przhevalsky 1839-1888 [explorer]
Peter Tchaikosky 1840-1893 [composer]
Vaslav Nijinsky1890-1950 [dancer]
and Filosof
and Sergei Diaghelev 1872-1929
Sergei Rachmaninov 1873-1943[composer]
Mikhaill Kuzmin 1875-1936 [poet]
G.V. Chicherin 1872-1936 [politician]
Rudolph Nuryev 1938-1993 [dancer]
Elsewhere In Europe
*Queen Christina of Sweden 1626-1689
and *Ebba Sparre
?Giacomo Casanova 1725-1789 [!]
Ali Pasha c.1744-1822 [Albanian political leader]
?Hans Christian Andersen 1805-1875 [Denmark] writer
Jillis Bruggeman [Netherlands]
[subject of famous sodomy case 1803]
Pontus Wikner 1837-1888 [Swedish philosopher]
Cernuda [Spain] writer
Frederico Garcia Lorca 1898-1936 [Spain] writer
Constantine Cavafy 1863-1933 [Greece] poet
and Anastasiades
Pier Paol Pasolini 1922-1975[Italy] film maker
*Florbela Spanca [Portugal] poet
Baron von Gloeden
*Dona Catalina de Erauso
*Isak Dinesen 1885-1962 [Denmark] writer
Erik Thorsell 1899-1980
[Swedish iron and steel worker who wrote
an autobiography on his gay life]
Karol Szymanowski 1883-1937 [Poland] composer
*?Anne Frank 1929-1945 [Netherlands] diarist
Dag Hammarskjold 1905-1962 [Sweden] UN Sec. Gen.
Pope Paul VI 1897-1976
NORTH AMERICA
Pre-Conquest
[There were among a number of American peoples figures known in general by the French word "berdache", who were male, but dressed and lived as women. Names
are of course very rare.]
I-coo-coo-a - early 19thC Sioux [Lakota] berdache
Sahaykwisa - c.1850-1895 - Mohave
Political Leaders
?Edward Hyde, Lord Cornbury, 1661-1724 Governor of New York, 1702-1708
?President George Washington 1732-1799
and Alexander Hamilton [speculative!]
Alexander Hamilton 1755-1804
and John Laurens 1754-1782 [compared each other to Damon and Pythias]
?President James Buchanan 1791-1868
and Sen. William Rufus de Vane King 1786-1853
*Susan B. Anthony 1820-1906
Bayard Rustin 1910-1987 [organizer 1963 March on Washington]
Walter Jenkins 1918-1985
J. Edgar Hoover 1895-1972 [Head of FBI]
and Clyde Tolson 1900-1975
Terry Dolan 1950-1986
Roy Cohn 1927-1986 [McCarthyite lawyer]
*Eleanor Roosevelt 1884-1962 [First Lady and US ambassador to UN] and *Lorena Hickok [Journalist]
Writers
Henry James 1843-1916
Herman Melville 1819-1891
and Marnoo
and Nathenial Hawthorne 1804-1864
Henry David Thoreau 1817-1862 [see Katz on this]
and Edmund Sewall
*Emily Dickinson 1830-1886
and *Sue Gilbert
Raplh Waldo Emerson 1803-1882
and Martin Gay
Horatio Alger 1834-1899
*Jane Bowles 1917-1973
John Horne Burns [wrote _The Gallery_]
Thornton Wilder 1897-1975
*Sara Teasdale 1884-1933
and *Margaret Conklin
Tennesse Williams 1911-1983
*Jane Chambers 1937-1983
Angelina Weld Grimke 1880-1958
Paul Goodman 1911-1972
*Maraget Fuller 1823-1850
*Lorrain Hansberry 1930-1965
*Gertrude Stein 1864-1946
and *Alice. B. Toklas
*Amy Lowell 1874-1925 {poet]
and Ada Russell
*Charlotte Cushman
and *Emma Stebbins
*Mercedes de Acosta [American?]
*Ivy Compton-Burnett
*Elizabeth Bowen
*Alice James
*Sarah Orne Jewett
*Carson McCullers
*Liane de Pougy [American?]
*Margaret Anderson
*Dorothy Baker
Truman Capote 1924-1984
*May Sarton [alive?]
*Maureen Duffy
*Edith Hamilton
Walt Whitman 1819-1982
James Baldwin 1924-1987
*Willa Cather 1876-1947
and *Isabella McClung
and *Louise Pound
and *Edith Lewis
John Cheever 1912-1882
Hart Crane 1899-1932
Langston Hughes 1902-1967
Alain Locke 1886-1954
and Richard Bruce Nugent
and Countee Cullen
and Claude MCkee
*Audre Lorde 1934-199?
*Edna St. Vincent Millay 1892-1950
Colin Higgins 1941-1988
Robert Ferro
Howard Sturgis 1855-1920 [writer]
*Syliva Beach 1887-1962
and *Andrienne Monnier
Henry Beecher Ward 1813-1887
James Barr [pseud.] [wrote "Quatrefoil"]
Merle Miller 1919-1986
Alan Barnett
George Stambolian
Alan Bray
*Natalie Barney 1876-1972
*Romaine Brooks 1874-1970
and *Djuna Barnes 1892-1982
Hollywood and Broadway
*Tallulah Bankhead
James Dean 1931-1955
*Greta Garbo 1905-198?
Errol Flynn 1909-1959
Cary Grant
James Whale 1896-1957
Rock Hudson 1925-1985
Charles Laughton 1889-1962
Sal Mineo
George Cukor 1899-1983
Charles Ludlam
Danny Kaye
Bill Sherwood [directed "Parting Glances"]
Luchino Visconti 1906-1976
Kenneth Anger
Montgomery Clift 1920-1966
Rudolph Valentino 1895-1926
Richard Burton
Parker Tyler
*Alla Nazimova [Nancy Reagan's Godmother!]
Raymond Burr d.1993
Music
Divine [drag diva]
Ma Rainey 1886-1939 [singer]
Bessie Smith 1898?-1937 [singer]
Liberace d.1987 [pianist]
Alberta Hunter 1895-1984
Leonard Bernstein 1918-199? [composer]
Aaron Copeland 1900-199? [composer]
Stephen Foster 1826-1864
Samuel Barber 1910-1981 [composer]
and Gian Carlo Menotti [alive]
*Janis Joplin [pop singer]
Cole Porter 1892?-1964 [song writer]
Sylvester [disco diva]
Other Arts
Charles Demuth 1883-1935 [painter]
Paul Cadmus [alive?]
Andy Warhol 1927-1987 [artist]
David Wojnoricz [artist]
Alvin Ailey [dancer]
Keith Haring [artist]
Robert Maplethorpe [photographer]
Lesbian and Gay Activists
Earl Lind [aka Ralph Wether/Jennie June] c.1895
Henry Gerber [founder of Chicago Society for Human Rights, 1924]
Rev, JohnT Graves
Al Meininger
Ellsworth Booher
Fred Panngburn
John Sather
Henry Teacuter
[all the above were openly on the board of the SHR in 1924]
Harvey Milk 1930-1978
Leonard Matlovich
Vito Russo d.199?
Bob Rafsky d.1993 [ACT UP/NY]
Dan Bradley 1940-1988
Other
Richard Cornish, d.1624 [executed for "sodomy"]
Willaim Plaine, executed 1646
Jan Creoli, executed 1646 [Both Black]
and Manuel Congo
*Deborah Sampson c.1782-97
Lieut. Frederick Gotthold Enslin, courtmartialled 1778
*Sarah Edgerton c. 1839-1846
and *Luella Case
Edward McCosker, 1846 [Gay NY city policeman]
James Snow, charged 1873
and Willard Smith
*Alice Mitchell
and Freda *Ward [Murdered by Mitchell 1892]
*Anne Bonny
*Dr. Mary Walker 1832-1919 [Doctor, lesbian and transvestite, known as "the most distinguished sexual invert in the United States]
and *Belva Lockwood
*Nicholas de Raylan, c. 1906 [lesbian transvestite]
*Mary Read
Jeffery Withers [writer of gay love letters, 1826, to]
and Jim Hammond
George Santayana 1863-1952 ["philosopher"]
Morton Fullerton 1865-1952 {journalist]
Edward Perry Warren 1860-1936 [conniseur]
*Helen Carey Thomas [President of Btyn Mawr]
and *Mary Gwinn
*Mary Wolley [President Mout Holyoke]
and *Jeanette Marks
Stark Young, c.1915 [Professor at Amherst, persecuted by Robert Frost]
*Margaret Mead 1901-1978
Cardinal Francis Spellmann 1889-1967 [Archbishop of New York]
Cardinal Terance Cooke [Archbishop of New Yorl] [see various biogs. of Roy Cohn]
*Dorothy Thompson 1893-1961
William Tilden 1893-1953 [athlete]
Thomas Waddel 1938-1987 [founder Gay Games]
Randy Shilts 195?-1994 [journalist]
Lexander Woolcott 1887-1943 [Journalist]
Sal Licata [historian]
*Pat Bond
*Amelia Earhart 1898-1937?
---[I have little information on the following Areas. All suggestions welcome]
EAST ASIA
China
Kwan-Yin - the Chinese female Boddhisattva of Compassion, was the male Bodhisatva known as Avalokitesvara in India.
Chinese Christians sometimes use images of Kwan Yin to
represent the Virgin Mary
There were gay marriages in the Fujian province and Lesbian marriages in the Guangdong region. No names though [See Bret Hinsch, "Passions of the Cut Sleeve"]
-Chou Period
Duke Ling of Wei r.534-493BCE
and Mizi Xia
The King of Wei
Lord Long Yang
The Ten Han Emperors [with "favorites"]
Emperor Gao r.206-195BCE
and Jiru
Emperor Hui r.194-188BCE
and Hongru
Emperor Wen r.179-141BCE
and Deng Tong
and Zhao Tan
and Beigong Bozi
Emperor Jing r.156-141BCE
and Zho Ren
Emperor Wu r.140-87BCE
and Han Yan
and Han Yue
and Li Yannian
Emperor Zhao r.86-74BCE
and Jin Shang
Emperor Xuan r.73-49BCE
Zhang Pengzu
Emperor Yuan r.48-33BCE
and Hong Gong
and Shi Xian
Emperor Cheng r.32-7BCE
and Zhang Fang
and Chunyu Zhang
Emperor Ai r.6BCE-1CE
and Dong Xian
Pei Kai 237-291
Yu Xin 513-581
and Wang Shao
Zhang Hanbian c.265-420
and Zhou Xiaoshi
Emperor Jianwen c.550
Emperor Xizong r.874-889
and Zhang Langgou
Emperor Wuzong r.1506-1522
Emperor Shenzong r.1573-1620
Emperor Xizong r.1621-1628
Emperor Pu Yi - the last Qing [Manchu] emperor
- subject of film "The Last Emperor
Many members of the Peking Opera under the
Chi'ing [Manchu] dynasty were homosexual.
Japan
There was a cult of male love [man-older youth] in premodern Japan, especially among the samurai classes. This means that virtually all pre-modern Japanese men of a certain class may be assumed to have been "queer" in modern terms.
Yukio Mishima 1925-1970 [novelist]
SOUTH ASIA
Lord Shiva/Shakti
Krishna
Emperor Babur b.1483-r.1526-1530
and Baburi
[Barbur wrote a very informative autobiography!]
Sarmad 17th C [Jewish convert to Islam, Great Sufi mystic poet]
Amar Khan 18th century
Ramakrishna 1836-1886
AFRICA
[See Ancient Egypt at head of the list. Otherwise I have, so far, not been able to discover the names of any African queers. Please do not tell me about Simon Nkoli, who is still very much alive as far as I am aware. All contributions wrt Africa will be added immediately. I suspect the Muslim kingdoms of East Africa might prove happy hunting grounds, but I lackexpertise in that area, and a monograph has not been written]
"Gay" Shamans existed amongst the following peoples
Bantu peoples in general
Kwanyama
Ovimbundu [N. Angola]
Kimbundu [N. Angola]
Lango [Uganda]
Konso [S. Ethiopia]
Cilenge-Humbi
Barea-Kunama [NE Africa]
Korongo [NE Africa]
Mesakin [NE Africa]
In Madagascar the *tsecats* were sacred male transvestites
*In Morocco there were sacred Lesbians called Sahacat in the late 15C
LATIN AMERICA
[Still pretty lacklustre in terms of total numbers. Somebody
should know of many more queers here.]
Febronio Indio do Brasil, wrote "Revelations of the Prince of Fire"
Cazuza [Brazilian singer]
Lauro Corona [Brazilian actor]
Adolfo Caminha 1867-97 [Brazilian writer]
Virgilio Pin~era: 1912-1979 [Cuban author]
Manuel Puig: d.1990 [Argentinian author]
http://www.bigeye.com/whatsnew.htm : recommended 2001 as no. #268 out of 1200:- Queers in History
1st Partnership Page
* Rainbow Award * Gaypage Award * Pride Award * Queer Living Family Choice Award © IHWO queerstudies
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