#bisexual historical figures

[natequarter]

bbc ghosts, series five: the captain comes out. the younger ghosts are all very supportive of this. however, the older ghosts are confused because they still haven't really got their heads around this whole gay and straight thing. except for robin, he understands fine. anyway, alison explains modern concepts of sexuality to the ghosts, and comes away with several requests to "add the bisexual flag to my vicky pedia page, please." alison then has to explain to thomas that he doesn't have a wikipedia page, and also that's not how any of this works, guys! on the bright side, at least the ghosts understand some of the slurs julian used to use better

[nickysfacts]

Josephine Baker, the dazzling spy who fought against the nazis!🎼

🏳️‍🌈🕵🏾‍♀️🇫🇷

[thelandswemadeofpaper]

Julie D'Aubigny

A 17th-century French fencing master and pretty famous opera singer. Also a bisexual woman.

Killed or wounded at least ten men in life-or-death duels.

Her girlfriend got send by her family to become a nun for being lesbian, so Julie took the Holy Orders, burned down the convent and faked her and her girlfriend's deaths.

[thewritingpossum]

Currently writing something about Elizabeth Báthory and finding accurate and somehow neutral informations about her is like trying to find a decent career in this current market, it's just not realistic

[1800duckhotline]

Ok so also who watches puppet history here i feel like the latest episode sucked ass balls the more i think about it

[hiddenramen]

Dare I ask about Lincoln?

lincoln's sexuality is one of the most fiercely guarded topics in american history and the mere mention of lincoln being not heterosexual will get you sniped by david herbert donald in cold blood, but i take every possible opportunity to pontificate about it

the fact of the matter is that there are multiple instances that we can point to of lincoln having extremely intimate relationships with men (joshua speed, david derickson, etc), to the point that people of the time were remarking on them as unusual and even unseemly, up to and including the most significant and intimate relationship of his life, with joshua speed

and it's like, lincoln shacked up with joshua speed and slept in the same bed as him quite literally rent free for four goddamn years, and the response to that by the historical establishment surrounding lincoln—which, by the way, is the same establishment that tried to destroy lincoln's more controversial writings, including his writings that mentioned homosexuality, because they would "tarnish the image of a great man"—is that oh, well, it was normal for men to share beds for a day or two in the 1800s when no other bed was available, and they "wouldn't have thought to do anything untoward," and to paint lincoln as this solemn, sexless man who abstained from sex with women on "moral grounds" (a real thing people have suggested. l m a o)

and it's like, abraham lincoln as a teenager wrote a poem about gay sex that was so explicit for the time that it was purged for a century from the annals of lincoln literature despite being his earliest popular success in writing, he notoriously frequently made anal sex jokes so raunchy that he demanded they never be written down, and on the night joshua speed got married, he had a panic attack. like? i think it's more than fair to have suspicions, and the only reason to react with such vehement opposition is belief that sexual relations with men in some way tarnishes lincoln's legacy lmao

[amarrymeinbostonwriter]

12/22/22- And I did a sheet for Coachman Dave too. 

“Coachman Dave”/ Mr. David Sachar-Kingsley 

A classmate of Sarah Holburn that she met at finishing school. Dave was born a younger daughter to an upper class Jewish family. He kept his mother’s family name Sachar when he changed identities.

He and Miss Holburn were lovers when they left finishing school together. When she got her first position as governess to Mr. Charles Murray’s daughters Rosie and Tilly, Dave became Mr. Murray’s coachman. He remained with the family until Tilly was eleven. 

When Tilly and Hess honeymoon in London as newly weds, he later appears married to Carol Kingsley, a brewster while he works as a coachman in London. He and Carol socialize in many groups including the lesbian bar, Artemis’ Huntresses. Gerry and Mort (Paulie’s lover) are his two best friends. 

Because he becomes a long standing member of his community he also earns the affectionate title “Grandsire” to indicate his elder status. Later in life, he cares for Gerry’s horses and lives at Radclyffe Heights with the retired Professor Sarah Holburn. 

Birthday: January 4th (Capricorn) 

Dave is a calm natured female husband. If he were alive in the 2020s instead of the 1800s, he’d most likely be a trans man. 

[drjohnhwatson]

let me preface by saying im a historian but out on my walk just now i looked up something and it’s funny how we all of us bend over backwards to underline and italicise that we “can’t know for certain” if two men were romantically and sexually together or two women were romantically and sexually together but the same rigorous determination is rarely applied to a guy and a girl or a girl and a guy. any scrap of evidence and the cavalry is off to be all “we can tentatively suggest…” lmao.

anyway. this comes on the heels of this book im reading vociferously declaring that edwin booth was neither gay nor bisexual and i think “how do you know”. if there was no set term for homosexuality there oughtnt have been one for heterosexuality at the time either because it would have just been seen as “default”. Nobody (probably) was running around going “I ONLY LIKE MEN AND I AM A WOMAN”.

[unknown-limes]

Apparently a hot take: We shouldn't decide on a historical figure's sexuality when that figure never used that language for themselves and we don't have evidence that they ever engaged in queer behavior. Sexuality is a personal matter, and we can't pick one for a historical figure because we get a vibe or whatever. Speculation is one thing, "probably this identity because of these letters" is another step, "she was definitely a lesbian" is too far when your evidence is an open marriage at a late age and a bisexual friend.

[nickysfacts]

Gladys Bentley was a black plus sized bisexual / lesbian baddie before it was cool!🤵🏾‍♀️🏳️‍🌈

🎶🎩🎶

[realtis-historian-society]

may I ask more about Philomine Valvira??? i am gay

Philomene Valvira

Sorry this occurred so late! The foundation has been going through some changes and I've had to train staff for most of it.

Below will detail the general life and some facts about Valvira's most notorious family members.

General Life

Philomene Valvira was born on January 26, 471 A.B. to Berriellt Clevell and Kaimo Valvira.

She would be the younger to Hele Valvira, who would be set to take the throne.

For most of her early life, she was raised as ordinary nobility with extra lessons to assist her brother once he ascended the throne. These classes would entail combat and strategy in case Realtis got into a war in the near future. For Realtian royalty during the Valvira era, each child would have to overcome a trial that would see them recognized by the fae royalty from the Feywilds. If siblings are near enough in age, they will complete the trial together. Hele was noted to have struggled with the customs of the faes, while Philomene would cover up for him while dealing with the consequences herself. This trial would have taken them 2 years to complete.

Currently, records of what occurred in this trial are unknown and seem to have been kept secret.

After the trial, Hele and Philomene arrived at Realtis battling a plague. This plague is known as The Clinik Plague. Both parents were already on their deathbeds and Hele would soon contract the disease. This left Philomene to take the throne at the age of 17. I should note that it was theorized that Philomene may have devised a plan for Hele to contract the disease and die so she could take the throne. Some stories mention that she worked out a deal with the fae and encased the bacteria in a vial to poison Hele's food.

Records of supposed dealings with fae are unknown and are most likely kept in the Feywilds which we do not have access to anymore.

Philomene would soon marry Elts Niiovilk at the age of 19. Her reign consisted of building the military and its supplies. Around Realtis during this era, wars were abundant and Philomene would have Realtis join in multiple of these wars.

At age 31, she would have Kaarel Valvira.

By the time she became 50, most of the wars would conclude. The rest of her reign continued with economic trade as she would repair the damages of the wars Realtis participated in.

She would die at age 74 in 545 A.B. during the last raid in the Valviran War.

Romance Life

Most of the time, during the Valvira era, crowned royalty would be married before they took to the throne. In Philomene's case, her first debut into society was when she ascended the throne, and thus her entrance into romance occurred later and much faster.

From a young age, it seems that she would be taught together with Elts Niiovilk. It seems that these two were supposed to assist Hele when he ascended the throne and as previously stated, that didn't happen. This sparked a rivalry between them as they competed to see who could get higher marks.

When Philomene went to go complete her trial with the fae, it was also noted in her diary, that she had a few relations with some of the fae as well. Though these never lasted after she left the Feywilds. The names of the fae were never mentioned, but they ranged from "very pretty women" and "gorgeous men" as stated in her diary.

When it came time to find someone to court, a large ball was held in the palace. It is said that when the first song came on, Elts challenged her to see if her skills faded from the time she left. Thus, the two danced first. Philomene was noted to have danced and attempted to court with several other suitors after the ball, but none interested her that much. Though Elts never attempted to court her during this time period.

Philomene who was tired of all these new men and women decided to court Elts, himself. It is said she arrived in the middle of the night to challenge Elts and asked him to court her during their match. Some diaries from servants would note that Elts was quite flustered and would end up being tripped by Philomene and having been pinned.

After a year of courting, they would be wed. Elts would help Philomene with her tasks. Their rivalry seemed to have continued throughout their marriage as diary entries from Kaarel would note that they would compete in nearly everything, even if the situation was dangerous.

Other stories and facts

Philomene is the only royal in Realtian history to be painted with their weaponry.

There are numerous adaptions of her life in the form of plays. These plays ranged from her military life to her home life.

Philomene often still ventured into the Feywilds after her trial during the solstices. From tales, she would often challenge fae nobility to fight to keep her skills sharp.

The reason her parents named her "Philomene" was in hopes that she would be the strength needed to support the nation when necessary.

She was noted as possibly being dyslexic and would require assistance with documents from Elts. She would note in her diary, "I am only having Elts check my documents so I don't make a fool out of myself. Yes, Elts helped me check this too."

She is the youngest queen to have ascended the throne. Only Lucien Fernan would succeed the throne at a younger age.

Her nickname from Elts would be "Dearling" as she would have a love for deer. It is noted that she did not like this nickname at all.

Philomene was one of the few rulers to have gone onto the battlefield herself. She donned a black cape and would be noted as a "Void of Death".

She was a user of black magic and would often deal with fits of sickness due to it.

Philomene's favorite weapons were a crossbow and a longsword. (We actually have her weapons up in a museum!)

The oldest living monarch in the Valvira era.

The often use of 'rivals to lovers' in Realtian history seemed to have started when the story of Philomene and Elts became known to the public which was also around the same time Elts was building the University of Alchemic Studies and History in central Realtis.

[wachi-delectrico]

I hate speculating about strangers' and celebrities' sexualities... But there's no way Aurelio Voltaire isn't bi

[nerdykeppie]

Launching Tuesday - Historically Queer, our next enamel pin collection!

We Have Always Been Here.

Ten pins - two pairs, five single pins, and the La Maupin mega pin (she needed extra room for her headdress) - each with multiple unlockable colorways.

We launch Tuesday, 9/12, at 3PM Eastern, noon Pacific. Follow us on Kickstarter to be notified when we launch -- or just to help out! The visibility to Kickstarter from having followers on our campaign helps a lot. :D

Featured in this campaign:

Enheduanna, oldest named author. Incorporating trans themes into writing thousands of years old.

David & Jonathan, king & prince whose love surpassed the love of women.

Sappho, Lesbian poet. She should need no other introduction.

La Maupin, also known as Julie d'Aubigny. The original disaster bisexual. Opera singer, swordswoman. May have burned down a convent.

Publick Universal Friend, American religious figure. Going by gender-neutral pronouns since the year the Declaration of Independence was written.

Anne Lister & Ann Walker, the Gentleman Jack & her wife. Acknowledged as the first same-gender marriage in modern Britain.

Dr. James Barry, British surgeon. A transgender man, Dr. Barry performed the first C-section done by a European in Africa in which both mother & child survived. He is also credited with vastly improving conditions for wounded soldiers in the British military.

Nikola Tesla, Serbian-American genius. Listing Tesla's inventions would take a series of posts. Liked pigeons better than people.

If you don't see your favorite historical figure, don't fret! We've planned multiple sets of Historically Queer figures. We can't use them all up at once. :) Help ensure we can make future sets by helping us create this one!

Frequently Asked Questions under the cut.

Hey, what flag is that on Sappho?

That's the Sapphic flag, created by @tepkunset. NerdyKeppie's owner, Spider, is a butch lesbian who uses that flag for their art.

Hey - what about [historical figure]? How could you forget [historical figure]? This is erasure!

We didn't forget, we promise - this is the first of several installments of this project. After the absolute stress of the last Kickstarter when we had 300+ different SKUs by the end of the project, we decided to take a more focused approach to Historically Queer. We attempted to provide a good cross-section of identities, and will continue to expand in future projects. Spider has a huge folder on his computer full of planned pins and reference images.  

But historically...

Yes, we know that it isn't totally proper to use today's terms to discuss people who lived a long time ago. But also, how else do we talk about our community history in a way that's understood, and celebrate our shared queerness, other than to use the words and iconography which are understandable to us now? We celebrate our shared history with the words and understandings most accessible to all of us, and we hope that by providing not just the pins but a few elementary facts about these historical figures, we'll encourage people to read more about them in their original context.

[mitigatedchaos]

Kontextmaschine is Dead

(~1,000 words, 5m)

Noted blogger @kontextmaschine is presumed dead, following the discovery that the sole resident at his most likely residence was found deceased during a wellness check initiated by concerned Redditors.

Prior to his last post on Aug 22, which indicated a serious health problem, he reported taking over twice the dose of creatine he had been taking at the beginning of his lengthy post-COVID health saga, in which he also reported becoming bisexual, having "zero" anxiety, gaining 3D vision after years of not having it, becoming incredibly convincing, and having to learn to walk and use his muscles properly again. At the time, he felt he was becoming trimmer and physically stronger, and reported engaging in a long project of yard work, although photos from the inside of his house generally looked somewhat messy.

A Tumblr user who met him briefly in person after the beginning of the health saga but before these most recent events reported that he was friendly, charismatic, hospitable, and clean, but "physically, a mess," with motor control issues on one side of his body.

Topics of discussion were similar to the content of kontextmaschine's blog, such as differences in east and west coast government in America, said to be "totally on brand," but it was said that the prolific poster seemed "less self-grandiose" in person.

Redditors theorize that the decline of kontextmaschine's health following his first self-report of COVID-19 infection may have been due to undiagnosed brain cancer, which could be more consistent with observed changes in behavior than the after-effects of a viral infection, given that most reports of "long covid" are about effects like fatigue, and not total loss of anxiety or alteration of sexual orientation.

Despite multiple suggestions, from both anonymous and pseudonymous users, kontextmaschine refused to seek professional medical care for his condition.

Regarding the mourning of public figures, in 2018, a period of increased Progressive sensitivity during the Trump Administration, kontextmaschine wrote,

through the years realized that through whatever blind groping the ‘90s-ass “edgelords” were desperately trying to save us from this, through proper gatekeeping and filtering at first I’d thought it was gratuitous and supported it being relaxed, maybe not shaming everyone who publicly mourned a suicide, mea culpa, mea culpa, I have debts to pay

In 2019, he added:

That was how we kept the internet culture from growing mawkish and cry-bullyish: basically, if you were so weak as to get weepy over corpsemeat you got cancelled, the shame would follow you forever and you’d never be allowed to forget it.

Given his writing, it is likely that kontextmaschine would not have supported excessive public mourning over his death, though in 2017, following the theft of his motorcycle, when the popular blogger @argumate jokingly criticized him by writing, "no references to pinball, no insight into historical Americana, this isn’t the kontext I signed up for," kontextmaschine wrote,

“when bad shit happens people mock me accurately” is the community I’ve been looking for my whole life so

Like argumate, perhaps the most famous of the rationalist-adjacent bloggers on Tumblr, screenshots of kontextmaschine's Tumblr posts would end up on outside websites.

Kontextmaschine was generally considered an interesting, if controversial writer. One Tumblr user characterized him as a member of the "obnoxious Tumblr right," though another user asked, "wait, how is kontextmaschine is right wing?" After another user claimed that the nuclear bombing of Oregon would be a net improvement in the world due to kontextmaschine's residence in Portland, tumblr user @random-thought-depository wrote a 2,400 word theory post arguing that kontextmaschine's philosophy was a means to coordinate to join a future political coalition favoring the formation of a more brutal and oppressive hierarchy in pursuit of his own advantage.

Though kontextmaschine's ideology advocates that humanity should adopt "r-selection," meaning more offspring with less investment in each (or youth, sex, and death), this blog dissented against the coalition theory, arguing that motorcycles, kung fu, women, Hollywood, and not having to report to HR are all traditionally cool, and the causality of the kontextmaschine ideology could easily run the other way.

Though he had a period of identifying as female in his youth, appropriately LGBTQ for a Tumblr user, his 2011 statement of principles, including "the lesser yields to the greater" and "suffering is the mark of a wrong person," and general body of work, could be described as a strain of right-wing thought, though not of the traditionalist Christian or rational technocratic varieties.

Prior to the post-covid health saga, kontextmaschine's health posting was primarily about his bipolar disorder, with both manic and depressive phases.

Kontextmaschine maintained generally friendly relations with other bloggers in his sphere of discourse, sometimes debating but rarely aggressive, except in response to anonymous hatemail. In response to one particular piece of hatemail, kontextmaschine stated that as a writer, of course his primary form of influence would be his posts.

In a post chain reblogged by dozens of Tumblr users, multiple Tumblr users wrote that they enjoyed his writing and are disappointed by his death, describing him as a unique thinker that will not be easily replaced. Several felt that there was not much they could have done, as after returning from his covid infection, he was not taking medical advice.

One Tumblr user wrote, "rip. Inspirational manic poster," while long-time and prolific poster argumate described him as, "one of the bloggers of all time."

Internet users speculate that Kontextmaschine is survived by his outdoor cat, Badger, about whom he posted frequently. He may also be survived by other members of his family, with whom he apparently did not live, and rarely spoke about.

It is recommended that enthusiasts of kontextmaschine's blog make backups of his writing for archival purposes.

[whereserpentswalk]

I know this is controversial, even amoung the queer community, but you can call historical figures gay, or bi, or trans, if you think that label applies to them or if that's what they would be called in the modern day.

We use modern labels for people from the past all the times, for things that are far more socially constructed then queerness. We call people generals, priests, poets, kings, husbands and wives, national and regional idenities, and a while bunch of other things weren't the exact concepts that existed at the time.

If Alexander the Great is regularly called a king before our modern idea of a king existed, he can be called bisexual before our modern idea of bisexuality existed.

Queer people deserve the concept of nouns.