Sophia Parnok
Russia's great lesbian poet, Sophia Parnok's last poems from the early 1930s were inspired by her final love affair with physicist Nina Vedeneyeva.
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* stories, people and culture worth remembering
Spring Pastimes
December 5, 2010
Miyagawa Isshō's "Spring Pastimes" screen from c. 1750 shows a lot of men-on-men flirting and love-making.
Chevalier de Lorraine
December 3, 2010
The life-long lover of Louis XIV's brother, the openly homosexual Monsieur, the Chevalier de Lorraine had a powerful hold over his lover.
Maud Allan
November 30, 2010
Known as the Salome Dancer, Maud Allan's dancing career was ruined by a libel suit. She ended up settling down with her lover, Verna Aldwich, and teaching dance to children.
Johann Rosenmüller
November 26, 2010
Arrested for sodomy in Germany, composer Johann Rosenmüller escaped and ended up in Venice, where his music in the Italian style made its way back to Germany and greatly influenced other composers.
Tomb of the Diver
November 22, 2010
The only surviving complete frescoes from ancient Greece show a drinking party scene of male lovers, c. 470 B.C. Hot stuff.
Mit Verlangen
November 21, 2010
The giant of baroque religious music, J.S. Bach's musical justification of his style of composing is the cantata Der Streit zwischen Phoebus und Pan. It includes as its centerpiece the homoerotic aria "Mit Verlangen."
Lasse-Maja
November 20, 2010
19th century thief and transvestite/transsexual Lasse-Maja captivated the Swedish public with his escapades, and his charm eventually earned him his freedom.
Bill Tilden
November 17, 2010
Bill Tilden turned tennis from a sissy sport into a game for athletes. Ironically, he was later ostracized for being a sissy himself, though he has always been considered one of the greats of tennis.
Mori Ranmaru
November 15, 2010
Mori Ranmaru was the page and favorite of powerful 16th century warlord Oda Nobunaga. They were also lovers, committing suicide together during a siege at a temple in Kyoto.
Mahmud of Ghazni
November 14, 2010
Mahmud of Ghazni, who created a vast empire in the 10th and 11th centuries in present-day Afghanistan, Pakistan, Iran and parts of India, made his beloved former slave Malik Ayaz the King of Lahore.
Posted in: 10th Century, 11th Century, Afghanistan, Bisexual, India, Military, Pakistan, Persia, Royalty
Duncan Grant
November 11, 2010
The complicated Duncan Grant-David Garnett-Vanessa Bell relationship took a truly peculiar twist when Angelica Bell, daughter of artists Vanessa Bell and Duncan Grant, married David Garnett, who had been the lover of her father not long before her birth.
Charlotte Cushman
November 9, 2010
19th century American actress Charlotte Cushman wasn't just one of the greatest dramatists on stage of her day, her many lesbian relationships were full of a lot of private drama as well.
The Warren Cup
November 8, 2010
The Warren Cup, a 1st Century AD Roman banqueting cup, features two finely wrought low-relief sculptures of male couples making love. Once a closely guarded secret treasure, it now belongs to the British Museum.
IM Interview with Andrew Patner
November 7, 2010
Chicago Sun-Times and WFMT radio classical music critic Andrew Patner talks about singing in children's choirs and the importance of seeing the famous double portrait of Benjamin Britten and Peter Pears when he was 12.
Marsilio Ficino
November 6, 2010
Hugely influential in bringing Platonic ideas back into fashion, 15th century philosopher Marsilio Ficino also brought back the idea of "Platonic" love. He lived for many years with poet Giovanni Cavalcanti, to whom he wrote passionate love letters.
“KR”
November 5, 2010
One of the few friends of Czar Nicholas II, poet, playwright and family man Grand Duke Konstantin Konstantinovich was also a secret bisexual with a long history of sexual encounters according to his posthumously published diaries.
Les Amitiés Particulières
November 4, 2010
French author Roger Peyrefitte's 1943 novel Les Amitiés Particulières recounts the thwarted romance between two school boys in a Catholic school between the wars.
Otto Peltzer
November 4, 2010
One-time world champion runner Otto Peltzer was captain for the German Olympic Team in 1928 and 1932. But when the Nazis came into power, he was interned in Mauthauzen concentration camp for his iconoclasm and his homosexuality.
Alain Locke
November 3, 2010
Father of the Harlem Renaissance Alain Locke influenced a wide range of writers, artists and musicians. He was also a closeted gay man, which isn't mentioned in most history books.
December 6, 2010
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