February 21, 2022

40. Real-Life Xenas: Warrior Women Across the World

February 21, 2022/ History Is Gay

Happy 2022 and welcome to another episode of History is Gay! This time, we’re picking up where we left off with Meghan Rose and S.C. Lucier in our discussion of Amazons and real-life warrior women in history! It’s not just the Greco-Roman world that marveled at fierce, strong female fighters, but all over the world! This episode, we’re visiting Benin, Africa to learn about the real-life dora milaje of Black Panther fame, the gender-bending Dahomey Amazons; badass female samurai defending their homesteads in Japan, and Viking shieldmaidens and mythical Valkyries– who may have been a third gender? Strap-in for a whirlwind worldwide tour of gender transgression and badass real-life Xenas we want to see all the movies about!

But first, let me introduce to your fantabulous guest hosts for this episode, Lucier&Rose!

S.C. Lucier

S.C. “Luci” Lucier is an SDC director, writer and librettist. A former member of SCDF Observership Class emerging directors, Lucier is a graduate of Marymount Manhattan College’s Theatre Directing program and recently completed a master’s in Theatre/Museology History at The Graduate Center (NYC). Director: HELD: A Musical Fantasy (Fringe 2016, NYMF 2018). Associate Director: Kerrigan-Lowdermilk’s The Bad Years, the new immersive house party musical. Director: multiple Shakespeare at Hip to Hip Theatre Company, Midsummer 2019. Regular collaborator at Jennifer Jancuska’s (Hamilton) The Bringabout, designed at Joyce Theater for Richard Move’s The Show (Achilles Heels) in which Debbie Harry performed, designed at Lincoln Center’s Clark Studio Theatre, toured on the production team of Martha Graham Dance Company, stage-managed Cape Dance Festival (MA), performed at Baryshnikov Arts Center on roller skates, among others. Lucier captains the championship Gotham Roller Derby team, archives Sally Silver’s choreographic work for NYPL, and is the first staff member of American LGBTQ+ Museum (NYC).

Meghan Rose

Meghan Rose is a composer and musician. She is classically trained in piano, taught herself guitar at 16, joined a ska band in college at University of Wisconsin-Madison and has hopped from band to band and genre to genre ever since. Currently she plays bass in NYC bands Monte and LoveHoney, and in various shows around the city, sometimes even impersonating Courtney Love, Janis Joplin, and Lindsey Buckingham. She has acted as a vocal instructor, bass teacher, and band coach for both the Madison and NYC chapters of Girls Rock Camp. Rose was a music director for the Bartell Theater (Madison) for 6 years, and won awards for best music direction for Xanadu and Bare: A Pop Opera. Written scores include Z-Town: The Zombie Musical (Fringe 2012), an original rock musical called Alice based on Alice in Wonderland (Bartell), Held: A Musical Fantasy (Fringe 2016, NYMF 2018).

You can learn more about S.C. Lucier, Meghan Rose, and Xena: Warrior Musical - The Lost Scroll:

www.xenawarriormusical.com
@XenatheMusical Twitter
@XenaWarrior Musical Instagram
@XenaWarriorMusical Facebook
@XenaWarriorMusical Youtube

You can purchase and download the entire concept album for Xena: Warrior Musical on Bandcamp!

Amazon-Like Women in Africa: the mino/agojie, also known as the Dahomey Amazons!

This fierce military regiment of women warriors of the Kingdom of Dahomey (present-day Benin), originating in the early 19th century, were truly formidable opponents and carry their own impressive stories and legends passed down to current-day Beninese locals!

Illustration of *mino* women by Chris Hellier

Group of veteran Amazons at a summit meeting held in Abomey, the capital of Dahomey, in 1908

Seh-Dong-Hong-Beh, a *mino* leader holding the decapitated head of an enemy, illustrated by one of the missionary visitors who wrote 18th and 19th century accounts, Frederick Forbes, in 1851.

Magazine cover depicting the last king of independent Dahomey, Behanzin, flanked by *mino* attendants and bodyguards.

A group of Amazons on their trip to Paris, assumed in the late 1800s.

Unknown *mino* warrior, photographed near the end of the kingdom.

King Gezo, who expanded the female corps from around 600 women to as many as 6,000

Illustration from one of the missionary accounts, depicting a parade of *mino* after battle displays, severed heads of their enemies displayed on the tops of the walls.

As mentioned in our Pop-Culture Tie-In, Lupita Nyong’o visited Benin in 2019 for a BBC documentary called Warrior Women, in which she went into the entire history of the Dahomey Amazons! It is available online on BBC4’s website, and if you don’t live there, you can use a VPN to check out the full documentary, it’s absolutely worth it! But we have a wonderful clip here for you:

And here’s another video on the Dahomey Amazons that has some great information:

Let’s hop over to Japan and take a look at female samurai warriors, the onna-bugeisha and onna-musha!

The image of the samurai that has been taken hold in history and pop-culture is an extremely masculine one, but there were several female warriors in the bushi throughout Japan’s history that were just as significant as the men, with the specific role as defensive fighters (or if you were an onna-musha, going off to fight and joining the samurai)!

An *onna-musha* named Ishi-jo wielding a *naginata*, a curved pole-arm sword made specifically for women which allowed them to fight nimbly and take advantage of distance combat. Illustrated by Utagawa Kuniyoshi, 1848.

The first *onna-bugeisha*, the legendary Empress Jingū, depicted when she set forth in Silla (modern-day Korea. Painted by Tsukioka Yoshitoshi, 1880. Credit: Waseda University Theatre Museum

Empress Jingū is also the first woman in Japanese history (legend or otherwise) to be featured on a banknote!

Tomoe Gozen, one of the most well-known and respected *onna-musha,* and considered Japan’s first general. She decapitated an enemy by wrenching his head against the pommel of her saddle! Painted by Kangetsu Shitomi. Collection of Tokyo National Museum

Another *onna-musha* and contemporary of Tomoe Gozen, Hangaku Gozen. Painted by Yoshitoshi. Credit: US Library of Congress Prints and Photographs Division

And then here we have some pictures of Nakano Takeko, and we couldn’t resist showcasing this quote from one report during the siege of Aizu:

With her tied-back hair, trousers, and steely eyes, [she] radiated an intense 'male spirit' and engaged the enemy troops, killing five or six with her naginata.”

A recreated photo of Nakano Takeko, *onna-musha* of the Aizu Domain, who fought and died in the Boshin War in 1868. She led a group of female warriors called the *joshitai*, or Girls’ Army, during a renaissance and essentially last-stand of the *onna-bugeisha*!

A photograph of an unknown *onna-musha*, often misidentified or attributed to Nakano Takeko. This woman is likely an actress, but she still looks SUPER cool!

Statue of Nakano Takeko at Hōkai-ji shrine in Aizubange, Fukushima. Today, many *naginata* schools are even named for her.

And finally, were there real life Lagerthas out there in the Norselands? We’ve got some Viking women warrior graves and historical artifacts that say so!

Strong female warriors have shown up for centuries in Norse and Scandinavian Viking sagas, depicting fierce shield maidens and mythical Valkyries who fly on horses and escort fallen men to the halls of Valhalla. And recent discoveries of warrior graves throughout Sweden and other northern European territories are showing that they may have been less myth than originally thought!

An image stone from Sweden shows a female figure bearing drinking horns to a rider on an eight-legged horse (what up, Loki), very well depicting a mythical Valkyrie.

Another picture stone from Stenkyrka Parish (Lillbjärs III), depicting a valkyrie guiding a fallen warrior to Valhalla.

Mythical valkyries Hildr, Þrúðr and Hlökk bearing ale in Valhalla (1895) by Lorenz Frølich

The Norse Sagas and histories, like the Saxo Grammaticus and Gesto Danorum, tell the story of several shieldmaidens like Hervor, depicted here as she retrieves Tyrfing, the magical sword of her dead father, on the island of Angantyr. Painted by Christian Gottliebe Kratzenstein

Silver figure of a woman with a drinking horn, found in Birka, Sweden

Various Viking-age jewelry depicting valkyries!

Figurine found in the village of Hårby, on the island of Funen in Denmark. Thought to be dated around 800 BCE and the Viking age, and this one is unique in that it’s one of the few found that are 3 dimensional! She is thought to depict, obviously, a valkyrie, but other possibilities are a shield maiden or the Norse goddess Freya.

Illustration of the infamous Birka, Sweden viking warrior grave, labeled BJ 581 by Hjalmar Stolpe in 1889. In it, you can see this warrior was buried with not one, but two horses, multiple weapons, and even a gamjng set, indicating that she was an officer! Originally thought to be a male grave, osteological and DNA evidence from 2014 and 2017, respectively, confirmed the skeleton was female!

Weapons found in the BJ 581 Birka, Sweden gravesite.

If you want to learn more about all the various warrior women from this episode, check out our full list of sources and further reading below!

Books and Print Articles:

“The Valkyrie’s Gender: Old Norse Shield-Maidens and Valkyries as a Third Gender” by Kathleen M. Self, Feminist Formations, Spring 2014, Vol. 26, No. 1
“Ladies with Axes and Spears” by Santa Jansone, Medieval Warfare, 2014, Vol. 4, No. 2, Theme - Queens and Valkyries - Women as warriors (2014, pp. 9-12
“The ‘Amazons’ of Dahomey” by Robin Law, Paideuma: Mitteilungen zur Kulturkunde, 1993, Bd. 39 (1993), pp. 245-260

Online Articles/Resources:

Until next time, stay queer and stay curious!

December 31, 2021

39. The Amazons: Stoner Horse Girl Warriors of Antiquity

December 31, 2021/ History Is Gay

In this episode, we introduced everyone to all the details we could fit about the badass warrior women of antiquity, the Amazons! In this first part of a two-part episode examining warrior women throughout history, we dove full-tilt into the myths, legends, and misconceptions about the all-female militant society that struck fear into the hearts of ancient Greek men – powerful women, GASP! Where did these stories come from? How queer were they? And were they real, or just figments of mythology? Listen to the episode for those answers, and come back here for more bonus material!

But first, let me introduce to your fantabulous guest hosts for this episode, Lucier&Rose!

S.C. Lucier

Meghan Rose

You can learn more about S.C. Lucier, Meghan Rose, and Xena: Warrior Musical - The Lost Scroll:

www.xenawarriormusical.com
@XenatheMusical Twitter
@XenaWarrior Musical Instagram
@XenaWarriorMusical Facebook
@XenaWarriorMusical Youtube

You can purchase and download the entire concept album for Xena: Warrior Musical on Bandcamp!

A Closer Look at Amazons in ancient Greek art, literature, and myth!

Stories of Amazons show up in multiple places in Greek literature, including the histories of Herodotus, Homer’s The Iliad, and myths around Heracles, the founding of Athens, and more. Check out some excerpts below.

Herodotus, Book IV: Chapter 100:

The history of the Sauromatae is as I will now show. When the Greeks warred with the Amazons (whom the Scythians call Oiorpata, a name signifying in our tongue killers of men, for in Scythian a man is oior, and to kill is pata) after their victory on the Thermodon they sailed away carrying in three ships as many Amazons as they had been able to take alive; and out at sea the Amazons set upon the crews and threw them overboard. But they knew nothing of ships, nor how to use rudder or sail or oar; and the men being thrown overboard they were borne at the mercy of waves and winds, till they came to the Cliffs by the Maeetian lake; this place is in the country of the free Scythians. There the Amazons landed, and set forth on their journey to the inhabited country. But at the beginning of their journey they found a place where horses were reared; and carrying these horses away they raided the Scythian lands on horseback.

Chapter 114:

Now the men could not learn the women's language, but the women mastered the speech of the men; and when they understood each other, the men said to the Amazons, "We have parents and possessions; now therefore let us no longer live as we do, but return to the multitude of our people and consort with them; and we will still have you, and no others, for our wives." To this the women replied, "Nay, we could not dwell with your women; for we and they have not the same customs. We shoot with the bow and throw the javelin and ride, but the crafts of women we have never learned; and your women do none of the things whereof we speak, but abide in their waggons working at women's crafts, and never go abroad a‑hunting or for aught else. We and they therefore could never agree. Nay, if you desire to keep us for wives and to have the name of just men, go to your parents and let them give you the allotted share of their possessions, and after that let us go and dwell by ourselves. The young men agreed and did this.

From Homer’s The Iliad:

In ancient time, when Otreus fill'd the throne,
When godlike Mygdon led their troops of horse,
And I, to join them, raised the Trojan force:
Against the manlike Amazons we stood,
And Sangar's stream ran purple with their blood.
But far inferior those, in martial grace,
And strength of numbers, to this Grecian race.

From the Pseudo-Apollodorus Library of Greek Mythology, describing the ninth labor of Heracles and Hippolyte:

[2.5.9] The ninth labour he enjoined on Hercules was to bring the belt of Hippolyte. She was queen of the Amazons, who dwelt about the river Thermodon, a people great in war; for they cultivated the manly virtues, and if ever they gave birth to children through intercourse with the other sex, they reared the females; and they pinched off the right breasts that they might not be trammelled by them in throwing the javelin, but they kept the left breasts, that they might suckle. Now Hippolyte had the belt of Ares in token of her superiority to all the rest…Having put in at the harbor of Themiscyra, he received a visit from Hippolyte, who inquired why he was come, and promised to give him the belt. But Hera in the likeness of an Amazon went up and down the multitude saying that the strangers who had arrived were carrying off the queen. So the Amazons in arms charged on horseback down on the ship. But when Hercules saw them in arms, he suspected treachery, and killing Hippolyte stripped her of her belt. And after fighting the rest he sailed away and touched at Troy.

And here, mentioning Penthesilea:

[E.5.1] Penthesilia, daughter of Otrere and Ares, accidentally killed Hippolyte and was purified by Priam. In battle she slew many, and amongst them Machaon, and was afterwards herself killed by Achilles, who fell in love with the Amazon after her death and slew Thersites for jeering at him.

[E.5.2] Hippolyte was the mother of Hippolytus; she also goes by the names of Glauce and Melanippe. For when the marriage of Phaedra was being celebrated, Hippolyte appeared in arms with her Amazons, and said that she would slay the guests of Theseus. So a battle took place, and she was killed, whether involuntarily by her ally Penthesilia, or by Theseus, or because his men, seeing the threatening attitude of the Amazons, hastily closed the doors and so intercepted and slew her.

And Antiope:

[E.1.16] Theseus joined Hercules in his expedition against the Amazons and carried off Antiope, or, as some say, Melanippe; but Simonides calls her Hippolyte. Wherefore the Amazons marched against Athens, and having taken up a position about the Areopagus19 they were vanquished by the Athenians under Theseus. And though he had a son Hippolytus by the Amazon,

[E.1.17] Theseus afterwards received from Deucalion in marriage Phaedra, daughter of Minos; and when her marriage was being celebrated, the Amazon that had before been married to him appeared in arms with her Amazons, and threatened to kill the assembled guests. But they hastily closed the doors and killed her. However, some say that she was slain in battle by Theseus.

And lastly, the tale of Atalanta in the Apollodorus:

[3.9.2] And Iasus had a daughter Atalanta by Clymene, daughter of Minyas. This Atalanta was exposed by her father, because he desired male children; and a she bear came often and gave her suck, till hunters found her and brought her up among themselves. Grown to womanhood, Atalanta kept herself a virgin, and hunting in the wilderness she remained always under arms. The centaurs Rhoecus and Hylaeus tried to force her, but were shot down and killed by her. She went moreover with the chiefs to hunt the Calydonian boar, and at the games held in honor of Pelias she wrestled with Peleus and won. Afterwards she discovered her parents, but when her father would have persuaded her to wed, she went away to a place that might serve as a racecourse, and, having planted a stake three cubits high in the middle of it, she caused her wooers to race before her from there, and ran herself in arms; and if the wooer was caught up, his due was death on the spot, and if he was not caught up, his due was marriage. When many had already perished, Melanion came to run for love of her, bringing golden apples from Aphrodite, and being pursued he threw them down, and she, picking up the dropped fruit, was beaten in the race. So Melanion married her. And once on a time it is said that out hunting they entered into the precinct of Zeus, and there taking their fill of love were changed into lions. But Hesiod and some others have said that Atalanta was not a daughter of Iasus, but of Schoeneus; and Euripides says that she was a daughter of Maenalus, and that her husband was not Melanion but Hippomenes And by Melanion, or Ares, Atalanta had a son Parthenopaeus, who went to the war against Thebes.

Check out some of the depictions of mythical Amazons we have on ancient Greek vases:

An ancient Greek Attic white-ground alabastron, depicting an Amazon wearing pants, wielding a bow. Image credit: British Museum

Atalanta wrestling Peleus. Chalcidian black-figure hydria, ca 6th century BCE. Staatliche Antikensammlung collection, Berlin, Germany.

Check out the geometric patterns and hat on the figure on the right, depicting an Amazon warrior!

Amazonomachy on a vase ca. 420 BCE— check out the similar patterns as above!.

Amazons battling the Athenians, Theseus in the center. It may be Hippolyte or Antiope on the horse. Terracotta red-figure volute-krater, ca 450 BCE, The Metropolitan Museum of Art, NY

Amazonomachy frieze on the mausoleum at Halicarnassus.

Heracles battling the Amazons, Hippolyte wearing Ares’ war belt in the center — Attic black-figure neck amphora, ca. 510-500 BCE.

Another vase depicting Heracles battling the Amazons and killing Hippolyte.

And here’s a different version of the myth depicted on a vase— this time Hippolyte freely offering Heracles the war belt. Red-figure bell krater, Campania, Italy, ca. 4th-5th century BCE. Whitworth Art Gallery, University of Manchester.

Achilles killing Penthesilea on an amphora

Look at the contrast between the vases depicting Amazons and this one, showing the more demure, domestic life of Greek women.

Enough with the myths, show me the real deal! A Closer Look at Scythian Warrior Women:

The areas we’re dealing with when talking about Amazons generally consists of the lands surrounding the Black Sea, where various nomadic tribes lived— including the Thracians, Scythians, and Sarmatians:

Artist D V Pozdnjakov’s impression of a Scythian woman warrior on horseback.

Drawings of Scythian tattoos, illustrated by Elena Schumakova, from the Institute of Archaeology and Ethography, Russian Academy of Sciences.

Tattoos of the 13 year old “Ice Princess” Ukok mummy, discovered by Natalya Polosmak on the Ukok Plateau in Siberia.

A 2500 year-old Iranic Scythian woman mummy, showing the stag tattoo on her arm.

Some Scythian tattoo designs seen on a mummy found in 2017 - State Hermitage Museum, St. Petersburg, Russia.

Scythian woman wearing a ceremonial headdress. Institute of Russian Archaeology, Academy of Sciences

Golden Scythian warrior from the Issyk kurgan. Image credit: Derzsi Elekes Andor

Preserved Scythian women’s boots, leather, cloth, tin and gold, excavated from the Pazyryk kurgan area, ca. 300-290 BCE.

Two Scythian warrior women’s graves excavated at a cemetery called Devitsa V in Siberia, which contains 19 burial mounds. Look at the bowed position of the bottom graves’ legs, as if she were riding a horse! Institute of Archaeology RAS.

Mythical Amazon queen Penthesilea being presented with a love-gift of a rabbit by Thracian huntress Theraichme, one of the few pieces of visual evidence we have of possible wlw relationships between Amazons. white-ground alabastron, Pasaides Painter, ca. 525-500 BCE

Small metal plaques depicting Scythians drinking, most likely fermented mares’ milk — State Hermitage Museum, St. Petersburg, Russia, 2017.

Amazon terracotta figures, ca. 300-280 BCE. South Italian Canosan

Detail from a Karagodeuashkh kurgan headdress, showing the Scythian goddess Tabiti surrounded by priestesses and androgynous enarei shamans (shown on the right).

Cannabis burning equipment found in a Scythian grave.

Some gold vessels found in another grave — the Scythians really knew how to make fancy blinged-out bongs!

Check out author of The Amazons: Lives & Legends of Warrior Women Across the Ancient World, Adrienne Mayor, presenting a TED Talk!

And another talk by Adrienne Mayor, for the University of Pennsylvania Museum of Archaeology and Anthropology!

If you want to learn more about Amazons and Scythian warriors, check out our full list of sources and further reading below!

Books and Print Articles:

The Amazons: Lives & Legends of Warrior Women Across the Ancient World by Adrienne Mayor
“Amazons: Warrior Women of the Ancient World”, National Geographic History, January 2020 issue
The Library of Greek Mythology by Apollodorus, translated by Robin Hard

Online Articles/Resources:

Until next time, stay queer and stay curious!

March 17, 2020

28. Anne Lister Goes to TGIFemslash

March 17, 2020/ History Is Gay

Welcome to Gretchen and Leigh’s annual episode hosted live at TGIFemslash! This is the con where it all began, and what better way to celebrate our origins than with the ‘first modern lesbian’, Anne Lister! The protagonist of HBO’s Gentleman Jack, Anne Lister was a 19th century British gentewoman who wanted to live as the 19th century British gentlemen did, including loving and marrying women, which she wrote extensively about in her diaries, but in a secret code. So join us as we learn more about her life, her loves, and her diaries, and you can even play along with the games we hosted live at TGI!

If you would like to get involved in the Anne Lister Transcription Project, head over to their website!

This year, we decided to literally bring our subject to life. AKA, Leigh revived their Anne Lister/Gentleman Jack Halloween costume and we had some fun!

Leigh and Gretchen getting set up for their panel at TGIFemslash

A Closer Look at Anne Lister

Portrait of Anne Lister by John Horner (ca 1830).

portrait of Lister, probably by Mrs Turner of Halifax (1822).

One of Anne Lister’s many diaries in all it’s glory.

A close up page from Anne Lister’s Diary, dated May 28, 1817. (note the cross in the margin!)

Play along with us and try your hand at Who Wants to Be a 19th Century Lesbian!

19th century lesbian

If you want to learn more about the Anne Lister and her diaries, check out our full list of sources and further reading below!

Books

Gentleman Jack: The Real Anne Lister by Anne Choma
I Know My Own Heart: The Diaries of Anne Lister 1791–1840 edited by Helena Whitbread
No Priest But Love: Excerpts from the Diaries of Anne Lister edited by Helena Whitbread
The Secret Diaries of Miss Anne Lister edited by Helena Whitbread
Presenting the Past: Anne Lister of Halifax, 1791–1840 by Jill Liddington
Female Fortune: Land, Gender and Authority: The Anne Lister Diaries and Other Writings, 1833–36 by Jill Liddington
Anne Lister's Secret Diary for 1817 by Patricia Hughs
The Secret Life of Miss Anne Lister and the Curious Tale of Miss Eliza Raine by Patricia Hughs
Miss Lister of Shibden Hall: Selected Letters (1800–1840) by Muriel Green
Gentleman Jack. A Biography of Anne Lister: Regency Landowner, Seducer and Secret Diarist by Angela Steidele
Intimate Friends: Women Who Loved Women, 1778–1928 by Martha Vicinus

Print and Online Articles

Oh god there are so many articles from right around when the tv series was getting attention, so we’ve selected a sampling. Just Google “Gentleman Jack” or “Anne Lister” and you’ll get dozens more.

Videos

The Secret Life of Anne Lister at Shibden Hall

Until next time, stay queer and stay curious!

January 27, 2020

27. Sappho: F*cking Superb, You Funky Little Lesbian

January 27, 2020/ History Is Gay

At long last, hosts Gretchen and Leigh are going back to the beginning, to the OG lesbian: Sappho herself. Despite the dearth of information about her life and history, your hosts still find plenty to say about Sappho, her poetry, her legacy, and all the debate that’s circled around her for years. Was she a ‘school mistress’? Was she actually a man? Did she really have a husband or throw herself from a cliff? Find out what Leigh and Gretchen think and listen to fragmentary poetry filled with queer longing and other relatable feels like fire burning beneath flesh, wind crashing through mountain oaks, and…celery.

We’ll start off with one of the poems we didn’t discuss in the episode, but is a piece of writing that forms the basis for why we do this show. As Sappho writes in Fragment 147,

someone will remember us
I say
even in another time

A Closer Look at Sappho

Painting of Sappho by the “Sappho Painter” (circaa 510 BCE).

Sappho depicted holding a plectrum and lyre on the side of a vase (circa 470 BCE).

Head of a female figure widely believed to be a copy of the 4th Century BCE portrait of Sappho by Silanion.

Roman scupture of Sappho (5th Century BCE). Inscription reads “Sappho of Eresos.”

“woman with Wax Tablets and Stylus,” a Fresco from Pompeii (circa 55-79 CE). IT is frequently called “Sappho,” though we have no idea if the artist meant it as a portrait of the poet or not.

Fragment 58 (tithonus poem). Unfortunately, this is what a lot of Sappho’s poetry looks like, though usually even worse for the wear. :(

Woodcut of Sappho from Giovanni Boccaccio's De mulieribus claris (circa 1541).

Sappho and Erinna in a Garden at Mytilene by Simeon Solomon (1864). — *Sappho and Erinna in a Garden at Mytilene* by Simeon Solomon (1864).

Sappho, by Charles Mengin (1877). — *Sappho*, by Charles Mengin (1877).

Sappho by Amanda brewster Sewell (1891). — *Sappho* by Amanda brewster Sewell (1891).

Sappho by Francis Coates Jones (1895). — *Sappho* by Francis Coates Jones (1895).

Sappho of Lesbos by John William Godward (1904). — *Sappho of Lesbos* by John William Godward (1904).

The Sapphic Stanza

Sappho not only wrote beautiful, haunting poems, but invented an entirely unique poetic form, appropriately named after her! Composed of two hendecasyllabic (eleven syllables) verses, and then a third verse beginning the same way and continuing with five more syllables (sometimes written as a fourth line), it gave Sappho’s poetry its lyrical nature.

Using "–" for a long syllable, "∪" for a short syllable, and "x" for a free syllable, the meter looked like this:

– ∪ – x – ∪ ∪ – ∪ – –

– ∪ ∪ – –

The Mixolydian Mode

This link also has some great information about another invention of Sappho’s: the Mixolydian Mode, which is a musical scale that is still in use today, although heavily altered through history!

What did Sappho’s poetry sound like?

Sappho’s poetry was meant to be recited to the sound of an ancient Greek instrument called a lyre, sometimes made from tortoise-shell, and looked like this:

She references the instrument in her poetry often, like in this fragment:

I took my lyre and said:
Come now, my heavenly
tortoise shell: become
a speaking instrument

And in the below video, you can see a modern replica of an ancient Greek tortoise-shell lyre, and hear what it would have sounded like, also being plucked and strummed with a plectrum, the picking instrument also credited as an invention of Sappho’s! A musical genius! The person in the video is Michael Levy, a musician who records and interprets ancient Greek lyre music:

Here’s a video of someone’s recorded interpretation of a Sapphic wedding hymn:

And here’s some more of Michael Levy’s music, with several different hymns and songs on lyre:

As a special bonus, two of our amazing listeners created a Sappho poetry generator you can play around with, as referenced in this episode!

Check it out here!

If you want to learn more about the Sappho, check out our full list of sources and further reading below!

Online Articles:

Books and Print Articles:

Sapphistries: A Global History of Love Between Women by Leila J. Rupp
Who’s Who in Gay & Lesbian History ed by Robert Aldrich and Garry Wotherspoon
The Lesbian Lyre: Reclaiming Sappho for the 21st Century by Jeffrey M. Duban
Lesbian Desire in the Lyrics of Sappho by Jane McIntosh Snyder
Early Greek Poets' Lives: The Shaping of the Tradition by Maarit Kivilo (Sappho chapter)
Ten Poems of Sappho: Provenance, Authenticity, and Text of the New Sappho Papyri
Reflecting Sappho by Glenn W. Most
Sappho's Company of Friends by Anne L. Klinck
Re-Queering Sappho by Ella Haselswerdt
Sappho and her Social Context: Sense and Sensuality by Judith P. Hallett

Translations of Sappho’s Poetry Used in this Episode:

Sappho: A New Translation translated by Mary Barnard
If Not, Winter: Fragments of Sappho translated by Anne Carson
Sappho: A New Translation of the Complete Works translated by Diane Rayor
Hymn to Aphrodite
Poems of Sappho

Until next time, stay queer and stay curious!

October 15, 2019

25. Chrysanthemums and Golden Bums: Male Love in Pre-Modern Japan

October 15, 2019/ History Is Gay

That’s right, Leigh and Gretchen are back with another delightful look at the history of homosexuality in East Asian history! Episode 3 explored homosexuality in Ancient China but this time, they’re heading over to Japan to take a closer look at Buddhism, samurai tradition, and the economy shaped homosexuality in the Tokugawa shogunate. But it’s not all context, you’ll laugh along with us at some of the monks’ exploits, swoon over romantic queer poetry, and peer into the delights of the floating world.. The tales we read were not shy in expressing intimate details (and you know we’re not shy in reading them!), so strap in for an exciting look at the rich history of male and female homosexuality in Japan!

As with our episode on China, many of the woodblock prints featured below are highly erotic and most likely NSFW. We will put those at the very end, but it might be best to save these for your living room, not your office!

Timeline of Japanese Time Periods Discussed in This Episode

Heian Period (784-1185 CE)
Kamakura period (1185-1333 CE)
Muromachi Period (1333-1573 CE)
Azuchi-Momoyama Period (1573-1603 CE)
Edo Period aka The Tokugawa Shogunate (1603-1868 CE)

A Closer Look at Homosexuality in Tokugawa Japan

“Man and youth,” Miyagawa Isshō. ca. 1750. Note that the style and color of the kimono on the left would have been appropriate for youths of all genders, but not adult males. The kimono and hairstyle thus declares the youth to be the wakashu partner… — “Man and youth,” Miyagawa Isshō. ca. 1750. Note that the style and color of the kimono on the left would have been appropriate for youths of all genders, but not adult males. The kimono and hairstyle thus declares the youth to be the *wakashu* partner, and his exposed feet denote a sexual demeanor.

Nishikawa Sukenobu. ca. 1716–1735. A wakashu (center) steals a kiss from a female sex worker (right) behind the back of his male patron (left).

NSFW Woodblock Prints from Tokugawa Japan

hishikawa moronobu, Shunga. Early 1680s. A man reclines with one wakashu and converses with another. This is Possibly the first nanshoku erotic print, as well as an early example of a hand-colored ukiyo-e print in the shunga (erotic) style — hishikawa moronobu, *Shunga*. Early 1680s. A man reclines with one wakashu and converses with another. This is Possibly the first nanshoku erotic print, as well as an early example of a hand-colored ukiyo-e print in the shunga (erotic) style

"Client Lubricating a Prostitute" (while another peers through), Kitagawa Utamaro. late 18th Century. The caption of this illustration reads, no joke, “Pardon me if I tear your ass…”

Miyagawa Choshun (1683-1753),from “A Rare and Important Nanshoku (Male-Male) Shunga Handscroll.” 18th Century. Note the Chrysanthemums on the chigo’s Kimono (Right/Bottom).

Miyagawa Choshun (1683-1753),from “A Rare and Important Nanshoku (Male-Male) Shunga Handscroll.” 18th Century. That feel when you’re about to write a letter but decide a threesome is better.

Suzuki Harunobu, from "Shunga", A series of 24 erotic prints. Mid- 18th century, c. 1750.

“Old Buddhist,” Utagawa Kuniyoshi. Late 18th/early 19th Century. Note again the bare feet (indicating a sexual demeanor); the brocade Kesa robe indicates the wealthy status of cleric.

“Shunga with Tengu mask,” artist unknown (but not forgotten!). 17th century. The famous tengu mask print!

Utagawa Kunisada. Ca. 1840. Note the use of the harikata or double sided dildo (better than a Tengu mask? Who Nose).

Katsushika Hokusai. Ca. 1814. More ladies with a harikata to prove it wasn’t just a one off thing!

And because we mentioned it….leigh showing gretchen a hilarious illustration back when we were first starting this podcast. this screenshot is titled “that’s a pretty big dildo”.

If you want to learn more about homosexuality in Tokugawa Japan, check out our full list of sources and further reading below!

Online Articles:

Books and Print Articles:

“Captalism and Homosexuality in Eighteenth-Century Japan” by Gary J. Leupp, in Historical Reflections, Vol. 33, No. 1, Eighteenth-Century Homosexuality in Global Perspective (Spring 2007)
“The Invention of a Literary Tradition of Male Love: Kitamura Kigin’s Iwatsutsuji” by Paul Gordon Schalow, in Monumental Nipponica, Vol. 48, No. 1 (Spring, 1993)
“Sex, androgyny, prostitution, and the development of onnagata roles in Kabuki theatre” by Sara K. Birk, in Graduate Student Theses, Dissertations, & Professional Papers (2006)
“The Changing Nature of Sexuality: The Three Codes Framing Homosexuality in Modern Japan” by Furukawa Makoto and Angus Lockyer, in U.S.-Japan Women’s Journal. English Supplement, No. 7 (1994)
“The Gender of Wakashu and the Grammar of Desire” by Joshua S. Mostow, Chapter 4 in Gender and Power in the Japanese Visual Field
Male Colors: The Construction of Homosexuality in Tokugawa Japan by Gary P. Leupp
Cartographies of Desire: Male-Male Sexuality in Japanese Discourse, 1600–1950 by Gregory Pflugfelder

Until next time, stay queer and stay curious!

March 03, 2019

23. Bury the Hays Code

March 03, 2019/ History Is Gay

It’s that time of year again, time for the second annual live episode of History is Gay, live-recorded at TGIFemslash, the convention that birthed our little podcast! Join Leigh, Gretchen, and special guest host Morgan as they discuss the origins of queer censorship in the 20th century. They dive into the Hays Code, lesbian pulp fiction, and briefly discuss Patricia Highsmith, author of The Price of Salt---the lesbian pulp fiction novel from the 1952 that became the 2015 blockbuster Carol. So if you’ve always wondered where some of the worst of today’s tropes for queer women came from, you won’t want to miss this episode. And don’t worry, this story has a happy ending!

A Closer Look at the Hays Code

Production Code Administration (PCA) seal of approval.

Joseph Breen, one of the founders and head of the PCA from 1934-1954.

A Closer Look at Lesbian Pulp Fiction

The Third Way by Sheldon Lord (1962). — *The Third Way* by Sheldon Lord (1962).

Odd Girl out by Ann Bannon (1957), first in the Beebo Brinker Chronicles. — *Odd Girl out* by Ann Bannon (1957), first in the Beebo Brinker Chronicles.

Twilight Girl by Della Martin (1961). — *Twilight Girl* by Della Martin (1961).

Whisper their love by Valerie Taylor (1957). — *Whisper their love* by Valerie Taylor (1957).

A Closer Look at Patricia Highsmith

Highsmith and her cat Ripley (date Unknown).

The Price of Salt by Claire Morgan, aka Patricia Highsmith (1952). — *The Price of Salt* by Claire Morgan, aka Patricia Highsmith (1952).

If you want to learn more about the Hays Code, lesbian pulp fiction, and Patricia Highsmith, check out our full list of sources and further reading below!

Online Articles:

Books and Print Articles:

The Talented Miss Highsmith: The Secret Life and Serious Art of Patricia Highsmith by Joan Schenkar
The Cambridge Companion to American Novelists: Patricia Highsmith by Joan Schenkar
Beautiful Shadow: A Life of Patricia Highsmith by Andrew Wilson
Media & Culture by Richard Campbell, Christopher R. Martin, and Bettina Fabos
Lesbian Pulp Fiction edited by Katherine V. Forrest
"When Girls Will Be Boys: ‘Bad’ Endings and Subversive Middles in Nineteenth-Century Tomboy Narratives and Twentieth-Century Lesbian Pulp Novels” by Mary Elliott, in Legacy, Vol. 15 No. 1
“Bury Your Gays: History, Usage, and Context” by Haley Hulan in McNair Scholars Journal Vol. 21
“‘Was It Right To Love Her Brother’s Wife So Passionately?’: Lesbian Pulp Novels and U.S. Lesbian Identity, 1950-1965” by Yvonne Keller in American Quarterly, Vol. 57, No. 2
“Invert History: The Ambivalence of Lesbian Pulp Fiction” by Christopher Nealon in New Literary History, Vol. 31, No. 4
“Deviant Classics: Pulps and the Making of Lesbian Print Culture” by Stephanie Foote in Signs, Vol. 31, No. 1

Until next time, stay queer and stay curious!

December 24, 2018

20. More Than Meets the Eye(brow): Frida Kahlo

December 24, 2018/ History Is Gay

In this episode, Gretchen and Leigh talk about Frida Kahlo, a Mexican artist best known for her many self-portraits and for works inspired by nature and the culture and artifacts of Mexico. She may be known for her unibrow, but that’s far from the most important aspect of her art or her story or her art. In keeping with her self-exploration of identity in her paintings, we’re going to explore one of the things least well known about her: that she had relationships with men and women! That’s right, this famous postcolonial, multiracial, disabled artist was bisexual!

A Closer Look at Frida Kahlo

Frida, age 6, 1913. For this and other rare photos of her childhood, Click here.

Frida (right), age 9, and her sisters. photo taken by her father, 1916.

Frida (center) with her sisters and a younger male cousin, 1926. For this and other rare photos of Frida in the 1920s, click here.

Mural for the ministry of education, by Diego Rivera, 1929, featuring Frida Kahlo (bottom left, front).

Here you can see why Frida’s father called them, “The Elephant and the Dove.” Frida and Diego Rivera, 1932.

A photo from Toni Frissell’s vogue shoot of Frida, 1937.

Frida (Left) with Josephine Baker (Right) in paris, 1939.

Frida Kahlo (center) with Nayantara Sahgal and Rita Dar, 1947.

MIguel n. Lira’s Tabla con Diferentes Frasas y Firmas signed by friends, including frida kahlo, fellow member of “los Cachuchas,” 1948.

Close up of frida’s note to Miguel n. lira: “hermano de siempre no te olvides de la cahucha no 9, Frida Kahlo”— “Forever brother, do not forget la Cachucha no. 9, Frida Kahlo.” Alongside it is her doodle of herself wearing the cap for which the grou… — Close up of frida’s note to Miguel n. lira: “hermano de siempre no te olvides de la cahucha no 9, Frida Kahlo”— “Forever brother, do not forget la Cachucha no. 9, Frida Kahlo.” Alongside it is her doodle of herself wearing the cap for which the group was named, 1948.

Kahlo and Chavela Vargas by Tina Modotti, 1950.

Chavela Vargas performing “La Llorona” in Frida starring Selma Hayak as Frida Kahlo!

Frida in her garden with two fo her dogs, by gisle Freund, circa 1950. For this and other photos by Gisle Freund, Click here.

Frida’s studio with her wheelchair and adjustable easel, on display at La Casa Azul museum in Mexico.

Frida Kahlo’s death mask, also on display at La Casa Azul museum in Mexico.

A Selection of Frida Kahlo’s Paintings

Henry ford hospital, 1932. — *Henry ford hospital*, 1932.

Two nudes in a forest, 1939. — *Two nudes in a forest*, 1939.

Self portrait with cropped hair, 1941. — *Self portrait with cropped hair*, 1941.

Self portrait with monkey and parrot, 1942. — *Self portrait with monkey and parrot*, 1942.

The broken column, 1944. — *The broken column*, 1944.

The Love Embrace of the Universe, the Earth (Mexico), Myself, Diego, and Señor Xolotl, 1949. — *The Love Embrace of the Universe, the Earth (Mexico), Myself, Diego, and Señor Xolotl*, 1949.

still life (dedicated to samuel fastlicht), 1951. — *still life (dedicated to samuel fastlicht)*, 1951.

Living Nature, 1952. — *Living Nature*, 1952.

If you want to learn more about Frida Kahlo, check out our full list of sources and further reading below!

Online Articles:

Books and Print Articles:

Kahlo by Andrea Kettenmann
Frida by Hayden Herrera
Imagining Her Selves by Gannit Ankori
Religious Imagination and the Body: A Feminist Perspective by Paula Cooey

Videos:

Was Frida Kahlo Bisexual?

Until next time, stay queer and stay curious!

November 05, 2018

18. She's a Real Wilde One

November 05, 2018/ History Is Gay

What would an exploration of the Wilde family be without taking a closer look at Oscar Wilde’s ‘virulently lesbian’ niece Dolly Wilde? Gretchen and Leigh take you on a journey to learn more about this elusive personality. Unlike her uncle, Dolly left little written work behind and is best known from her letters and from what other people have to say about her. They dive into the life and loves---many, many loves---of Dolly Wilde, including the love of her life Natalie Clifford Barney, speedboat racer Joe Carstairs, silent screen actor Alla Nazimova, and others. Come join the ouroboros of gay that is the Sapphic ‘sewing circle’ of 1920s Hollywood and Paris.

A Closer Look At Dolly Wilde

One of a series of portraits of Dolly Wilde photographed by Cecil beaton.

Another of Cecil Beaton’s portraits of Dolly Wilde, and one of the most glamorous portraits of his early career.

Another glamor shot of Dolly, perhaps one of Beaton’s, but the exact date and photographer are unknown.

a more casual dolly wilde, date and photographer unknown.

Dolly doing one of her favorite things, being behind the wheel. Date and photographer unknown.

Still from 1937 film by Rognon de la Flèche (Lady Cara Harris) 'Treason's Bargain,” in which dolly appeared.

Dolly Wilde on Meeting Virginia Woolf

“Cambridge on a frosty night. The Dean’s room in King’s College, firelight, books, sober colours, elegance and a group of charming people holding conversation. We are waiting for dinner when someone says “Leonard and Virginia are very late.” The smooth waters of my mind are ruffled by fear by this unexpected remark, and my heart beats perceptibly quicker. The chief Lama of Thibet will be here any moment —easy manners must give place to decorum, familiar friendship be brought stiffly to attention. Then the door opens and a tall gaunt figure, grey-haired, floats into the room. Her age struck me first, and then her prettiness —shock and delight hand in hand. How to explain? There is something of the witch in her —as in Edith Sitwell— with the rather curved back and sharp features. She is dressed in black, old fashioned elderly clothes that make me feel second-rate in my smart clothes —her feet are very long and thin encased in black broché shoes with straps of the Edwardian period. All is faded and grey about her, like her iron grey hair parted in the middle and dragged into a bun at the back. And yet immediately one sees her prettiness and a lovely washed away ethereal look making all of us look so gross and sensual. The eyes are deep-sunk and small the nose fine and pointed, a little too pointed by curiosity, but the feature that most strikes one is the mouth —a full round mouth, a pretty girl’s mouth in that spinster face. It is so young, young like her skin that is smooth and soft. She greets Honey and me without looking at us and at dinner never once makes us the target of her eyes —there is embarrassment around the table and she only talks to her intimates. She is witty and kindly malicious. Then suddenly I say something that makes her laugh and the curtain of her eyelids are raised and we talk together, flippantly delightfully. I had once been told one must never mention her books and as we threaded byeways of humour I thought of your letters about her so much. I saw her, too, all the time as such a little pretty girl in a big hat, and Kew Gardens with the governess planting a kiss on the back of her neck —do you remember?— which was the parent of all the kisses in her life…

She has nothing to do with maternal life —is supposed to be a virgin, to have experienced no physical contact even with Orlando. She says she has no need of experience —knows everything without it: and this impression she gives as one meets her. I felt cruelty in her, born of humour —tiredness, great tiredness and her eyes veiled with visions rather than brightened by them.”

—A letter from Dolly Wilde to Natalie Clifford Barney, dated 1931

A Closer Look at Dolly’s Lady Loves

A young joe Carstairs holds a bow and arrow (and our hearts). Image Courtesy of the LIFE photo collection.

Joe Carstairs, butch icon, with her doll, Lord Tod Wadley.

Alla Nazimova photographed by Arthur Rice as ‘Marguerite Gautier’ in Camille. — Alla Nazimova photographed by Arthur Rice as ‘Marguerite Gautier’ in *Camille.*

Watch the full version of Alla Nazimova’s film adaptation of Oscar Wilde’s play “Salomé.”

The 1920s Hollywood sewing circle chart, courtesy of Autostraddle.

Select Images of Natalie Clifford Barney

This portrait of Natalie Clifford Barney as “The Happy PRince” by Carolus-Duran hung on the wall of her salon at 20 Rue Jacob.

Natalie Clifford Barney, between ca. 1890 and ca. 1910.

Natalie Clifford Barney (Left) and lover Romaine Brooks (Right), ca 1915.

If you want to learn more about Dolly Wilde, check out our full list of sources and further reading below!

Online Articles:

Books and Print Articles:

Truly Wilde by Joan Schenkar
Wilde’s Women by Eleanor Fitzsimons
In Memory of Dorothy Ierne Wilde: Oscaria by Natalie Clifford Barney
The Sewing Circle by Axel Madsen
The Girls: Sappho Goes to Hollywood by Diana McLellan

Videos:

An interview with Natalie Clifford Barney

Until next time, stay queer and stay curious!

October 01, 2018

16. Lavender Apparitions

October 01, 2018/ History Is Gay

Happy Halloween everybody! As good Halloween gays, Leigh and Gretchin bring you a special, spoopy episode for Halloween. In the first half, they bring tales of gay and lesbian ghosts and lavender apparitions of all kinds, though of the kindly and perhaps a bit cheeky variety rather than bloody or scary. A ghostie who pinches bottoms? A long-dead monk who pulls the sheets off of straight couples? How queer! For the second half, they interview Joe Applebaum, one of the producers of Queer Ghost Hunters, a paranormal investigation series on YouTube focused on finding and talking to queer ghosts. So grab your bucket of candy and get ready for some spoopy fun on History is Gay!

Check out Queer Ghost Hunters!

Queer Ghost Hunters YouTube Channel Have a look at the trailer for their first season:

Queer Ghost Hunters Facebook
Queer Ghost Hunters Twitter
Queer Ghost Hunters Patreon

Check out Joe Applebaum and The Clowder Group!

The Clowder Group Website
The Clowder Group on Facebook
The Clowder Group on Twitter
The Clowder Group on Youtube

A Closer Look at the Queer Hauntings

The New Inn, Gloucester. site of the Pilgrims Rest Gay monk Ghost! (Source)

Queen’s Theater, Soho, London. site of the Voyeuristic ghost who spies on ushers changing (Source)

GEorge’s Hotel, East Dereham. Site of the Unzipping Ghost. (Source)

Villa Montezuma, Grierson’s home in San Diego, CA.

Elephant and Castle Pub, Amersham. Site of the bum-pinching ghost. (Source)

If you want to learn more about Queer Hauntings, check out our full list of sources and further reading!

Books and Print Articles:

Ken Summers, Queer Hauntings: True Tales of Gay and Lesbian Ghosts

Until next time, stay queer and stay curious!

September 17, 2018

15. Lizzie Borden Took a Labrys

September 17, 2018/ History Is Gay

Way back in the first episode, Leigh and Gretchen formed a historical ‘murder wives’ ship starting with Anne Bonny; in this episode, they take a closer look at murder wife #2: Lizzie Borden! That’s right folks, she too may very well have had a thing for the ladies as well as possibly murdering her father and stepmother. Just how queer was she? Did she have an affair with her maid and her stepmother caught them? Did she fall in love with a glamorous lesbian movie star after the murders? Why was she acquitted and what was society like for a single, Victorian woman who wanted to be in possession of a large fortune and upward social mobility? Find out on this week’s History is Gay!

A Closer Look at Lizzie Borden, The Trial, and Her Potential Loves

Lizzie’s Father, Andrew Borden, looking like a penny-pinching asshole.

The Borden Home: 92 Second St, Fall River Massachusetts, 1892.

Sketch Illustration of Lizzie from the trail.

Illustration of Lizzie Borden in Frank Leslie's illustrated newspaper, v. 76 (1893 June 29). — Illustration of Lizzie Borden in *Frank Leslie's illustrated newspaper*, v. 76 (1893 June 29).

An illustration of Lizzie fainting at the reveal of the disfigured skulls of Abby and Andrew in the courtroom.

Illustration and article in the Fitchburg Sentinel, August 13, 1892. — Illustration and article in *the Fitchburg Sentinel*, August 13, 1892.

Bridget Sullivan, live-in maid to the Borden family.

Raging lesbian stage and film actress Nance O’Neil.

Article announcing Lizzie’s death in the Lewiston Daily Sun — Article announcing Lizzie’s death in the *Lewiston Daily Sun*

If you liked hearing about Lizzie Borden, you may also like…

Plays:

1948: Fall River Legend, a ballet choreographed by Agnes De Mille, most famously known as the choreographer for Oklahoma!, Carousel, Brigadoon, and other classic 1950s American musicals. Takes the Lizzie Borden story and changes the outcome of the jury sentence to guilty.
1965: Lizzie, an opera by Jack Beeson
1990: Lizzie the Musical a rock opera by Tim Maner, Steven Cheslik-DeMeyer and Alan Stevens Hewitt called “a gothic rock ritual with a ‘riotgirl’ attitude by NYT and the Village Voice describes the music as “lush tunes that retch sex, rage, dyke heat, misanthropy, and incest.”
Axed: An Evening of One Ax by Carolyn Gage, a collection of two one-act plays, Lace Curtain Irish and The Greatest Actress Who Ever Lived, both focused on women who were intimate with Lizzie during her lifetime, Bridget Sullivan and Nance O’Neil, respectively. Carolyn Gage is the playwright that called Nance O’Neil an “outrageous lesbian”.

Film & Television

1975: The Legend of Lizzie Borden, an ABC television film starring Elizabeth Montgomery as Borden and Fionnula Flanagan as Bridget Sullivan. Fun fact: It was discovered after Elizabeth Montgomery’s death that she was actually Lizzie Borden’s sixth cousin once removed!
2014: Lizzie Borden Took an Ax, a Lifetime television film starring Christina Ricci
2017: Lizzie Borden Documentary on the ‘Female Killers’ YouTube channel that we’ll link in the show notes.
2018: Lizzie movie starring Kristen Stewart and Chloe Sevigny. The film centers around the intimacy between Borden (played by Sevigny) and maid Bridget Sullivan (played by Stewart) in the face of Lizzie’s gross father. Seems pretty gay! By the time this episode airs, it will have just released, which is why we wanted to do this episode!

Other

The Borden Dispatches a duology that reimagines Lizzie as a warrior against supernatural horrors and her parents as possessed.
Lizzie Borden: Girl Detective novels by the late Richard Behrens are a fictional series of books where young Lizzie solves crimes.
Plus, lots of other fiction books about Lizzie, Bridget, and the murders. Wikipedia is a great place to start your search.
Lizzie Borden Podcast discusses Lizzie’s life, history, background of Fall River, has live readings from plays or radio dramas, and more! There are 11 episodes out and it seems to no longer be running.
The podcast Most Notorious! A true crime podcast also has a Lizzie Borden episode, as do The History Chicks.

If you want to learn more about Lizzie Borden, check out our full list of sources and further reading below!

Online Articles:

Books and Print Articles:

Parallel Lives: A social History of Lizzie A. Borden and Her Fall River by Michael Martins and Dennis A. Binette
A Private Disgrace: Lizzie Borden by Daylight by Victoria Lincoln
The Life and Trial of Lizzie Borden by Charles River Editors
The Life, Legend, and Mystery of Lizzie Borden by Trey Wyatt
Lizzie: A Novel by Evan Hunter
Lizzie Borden: The Legend, The Truth, The Final Chapter by Arnold R. Brown

Videos:

Until next time, stay queer and stay curious!

September 03, 2018

14. The Labor Struggle is Real Queer

September 03, 2018/ History Is Gay

Leigh and Gretchen have a special History is Gay treat for you this Labor Day. Join them as they discuss the history of the labor movement as it relates to the struggle for queer civil rights in America. You may not know, but the labor and LGBTQ+ movements have been allies for a long time. Just how far back does the partnership go? Listen and find out! Learn about Jewish lesbian feminists fighting for better workplace conditions during WWI, the mostly-queer marine cooks union in the 30s and 40s, lesbian bus drivers’ unions, the Coors boycott, and more. We end with a discussion of what needs to be done and Gretchen may or may not end up on a soapbox. Happy Labor Gay!

A Closer Look at People in the Labor and LGBTQ+ Movements

A gathering of the Nation Union of Marine Cooks and Stewards (NUMCS)

Stephen Blair, Vice President of the NUMCS

Judy Mage, who led the NYC Department of Welfare strike in 1965

Howard Wallace, who helped lead the Coors boycott in 1974

One of the most famous protest signs of the Coors boycott in the 1970s

Joni Christian, labor activist and transgender icon (Image courtesy of the NY Times)

If you want to learn more about the alliance between the Labor and LGBTQ+ movements, check out our full list of sources and further reading below!

Online Articles

Books

Out in the Union by Miriam Frank
My Desire for History: Essays in Gay, Community, and Labor History by Allan Bérubé, edited by Estelle B. Freedman
Plane Queer: Labor, Sexuality, and AIDS in the History of Male Flight Attendants by Phil Tiemeyer
Steel Closets: Voices of Gay, Lesbian, and Transgender Steelworkers by Anne Balay
Sexuality and Socialism: History, Politics, and Theory of LGBT Liberation by Sherry Wolf

Videos

Narration of Allan Bérubé’s lecture on the Marine Cooks and Stewards Union, “No Red-Baiting! No Race-Baiting! No Queer-Baiting!” (Note: Linked page incorrectly titles it “No Red-Baiting! No Race-Baiting! No Queen-Baiting!”)

Until next time, stay queer and stay curious!

August 20, 2018

13. Six Degrees of Virginia Woolf, Part 1

August 20, 2018/ History Is Gay

Gretchen and Leigh are pleased to announce their very first special guest to History is Gay, Dan Arndt of Write to Survive Podcast and The Fandomentals, to talk about Virginia Woolf and Vita-Sackville-West. This episode has everything: modernism, gay love letters, dramatic queers, queers with mommy issues, and a story of gay lovers running away to Europe and their spouses chasing them down that’s so cinematic we really are surprised they haven’t made a movie of it yet. Just how gay was Virginia Woolf? So gay we’ve got six degrees episodes to work with! Join us for Part 1 of an ongoing series.

A Closer Look at Virginia Woolf and Vita Sackville-West

Baby Virginia in the arms of her mother, julia stephen

Virginia Woolf and Vanessa Bell in Firle Park in 1911.

Victoria Sackville-West in costume for the Shakespeare Memorial National Theatre Ball at the Royal Albert Hall, June 20, 1911 ~ Photograph by N. Speaight

Vita Sackville-West as her alter ego the Duke Orlando, posed specifically for Virginia Woolf’s 1928 novel Orlando

Virginia Woolf and Vita Sackville-West at Monk's House, Virginia's home.

VIrginia Woolf, Vita Sackville-WEst, and Vita's two sons, Benedict and Nigel Nichonson, at Sissinghurst.

Virginia and Leonard, Photographed by Gisèle Freund, 1939.

Vita Sackville-West and her husband Harold Nicolson at Sissinghurst with their dog Rollo.

Vita Sackville-West's Other Loves

We mentioned in the episode that unfortunately we didn't have enough time to go over all of Vita's many lovers, but we wanted to put a nice handy list of the "greatest hits", so to speak here for y'all to enjoy, straight from our outline notes (which you can get full access to by becoming a Patreon supporter!:

Mary Garman (bohemian woman who's husband hated the Bloomsbury’s)
Margaret Goldsmith Voigt (American Historian), 1928
Hilda Matheson (BBC Director of Talks), 1929
Evelyn Irons, Journalist, first female winner of Croix De Geurre, 1931 (this was a threeway with her and her lover Olive Rinder).Met while she was doing a piece on Vita
Christabel Gertrude Marshall (Christopher St. John), Suffragette and Writer, lived in poly relationship her whole life 1932-1934
Gwen St. Aubyn, (Vita’s HUSBAND’S SISTER) 1934
Violet Pym, 1947
Edith Lamont, (painter) 1947
Bunny Drummond, (her elderly neighbor’s daughter in law) 1947-1952
Her husband, Harold, who was also bisexual, had an open marriage with Vita, and may have slept with Violet’s husband as well. Other loves include writer and critic Raymond Mortimer. He wrote to her that he often would spend time in Paris with young men while she was away, and the two never shared a bed after 1917. Harold, his son said “viewed sex as incidental, and about as pleasurable as a quick visit to a picture gallery between trains”

Content Warning: Vita Sackville West's Memoriam and Virginia Woolf's Suicide Note

IN MEMORIAM VIRGINIA WOOLF

Many words crowd, and all and each unmeaning.
The simplest words in sorrow are the best.

So let us say, she loved the water-meadows,
The Downs; her books; her friends; her memories;
The room which was her own.
London by twilight; shops and unknown people;shops and Mrs Brown

Donne's church; the Strand; the buses, and the large
Swell of humanity that passed her by.

I remember she told me once that she, a child,
Trapped evening moths with honey round a tree-trunk
And with a lantern watched their antic flight.
So she, a poet, caught her special prey
With words of honey and lamp of wit.

Frugal, austere, fine, proud,
Rich on [in] her contradictions, rich in love,
So did she capture all her moth-like self:
Her fluttered spirit, delicate and soft,
Bumping against the lamp of life, too hard, too glassy,

Yet kept a sting beneath the brushing wing,
Her blame astringent and her praise supreme.

How small, how petty seemed the little men
Measured against her scornful quality.

Some say, she lived in an unreal world,
Cloud-cuckoo-land. Maybe. She now has gone
Into the prouder world of immortality.

V S-W (The Observer 6 April 1941)

Woolf’s Suicide Note

Dearest,

I feel certain that I am going mad again. I feel we can't go through another of those terrible times. And I shan't recover this time. I begin to hear voices, and I can't concentrate. So I am doing what seems the best thing to do. You have given me the greatest possible happiness. You have been in every way all that anyone could be. I don't think two people could have been happier till this terrible disease came. I can't fight it any longer. I know that I am spoiling your life, that without me you could work. And you will I know. You see I can't even write this properly. I can't read. What I want to say is I owe all the happiness of my life to you. You have been entirely patient with me and incredibly good. I want to say that—everybody knows it. If anybody could have saved me it would have been you. Everything has gone from me but the certainty of your goodness. I can't go on spoiling your life any longer. I don't think two people could have been happier than we have been. V

If you want to learn more about Virginia Woolf and Vita-Sackville-West, check out our full list of sources and further reading below!

Online Articles:

Books and Print Articles:

Virginia Woolf by Susan Rubinow Gorsky
The Letters of Vita Sackville-West and Virginia Woolf edited by Louise DeSalvo and Mitchell a. Leaska (Editor)
Diary of Virginia Woolf Vol. 2 (1920-1924)
Diary of Virginia Woolf Vol. 3 (1925-1930)
Portrait of a Marriage by Nigel Nicolson
Congenial Spirits: The Selected Letters of Virginia Woolf edited by Joanne Trautmann Banks
Vita Sackville-West: Selected Writings edited by Mary Ann Caws
A History of Homosexuality in Europe: Berlin, London, Paris by Florence Tamagne
Virginia Woolf: The Impact of Childhood Sexual Abuse on her Life and Work by Louise DeSalvo

Until next time, stay queer and stay curious!

August 06, 2018

12. Let's Have a Kiki with Queer as Fact!

August 06, 2018/ History Is Gay

Welcome to our very first extra special collaboration! Joining Leigh and Gretchen this episode are our friends over at Queer as Fact, a queer history podcast from Australia. Our topic of choice? Queer slang! Join us as we discuss lavender linguistics, the history of queer slang in Australian penal colonies, and our favorite slang words, both American and Australian! So brush off your oysters, pitch your tents for camp, sharpen up your Gillette blades, and let’s have a kiki with Queer as Fact!

Queer as Fact Links

A Closer Look at the Purple Pamphlet

Cover from the infamous "Purple Pamphlet" attempting to defame the gay community in Florida. It backfired. (Images of the Purple Pamphlet courtesy of Queerty.)

Page one of the full glossary of LGBT terms.

One of the infamous 'pornographic' images that led to the downfall of the purple pamphlet.

If you want to learn more about lavender linguistics and queer slang, check out our full list of sources and further reading below!

Online Articles:

Books and Print Articles:

A Dic(k)tionary of Gay Slang by H. Max
Green’s Dictorionary of Slang by Jonathon Green
The Alyson Almanac by Alyson Publications

Until next time, stay queer and stay curious!

July 02, 2018

11. Rainbow Rising: The First Pride

July 02, 2018/ History Is Gay

Leigh and Gretchen welcome you to their first Pride month special and the first of an ongoing series on Queer civil rights movements in the United States. And what better way to do both than to dive into the lives of Gilbert Baker---the maker of the first rainbow pride flag---and Brenda Howard---one of the primary organizers of the first Pride march commemorating the Stonewall riots and Pride week. Pride is a special month for those of us in the queer community, so we wanted to celebrate our forefathers and foremothers that make this month possible. Do you like bisexual curmudgeons and people with nicknames like "Busty Ross"? We sure do. One of the best things about recent queer civil rights history in the United States is getting to know the people who directly affected how we live our lives now. And with these two, we've found people to admire and emulate. So, get ready to meet the Mother of Pride and the Gay Betsy Ross!

A Look at Gilbert Baker

Gilbert Baker in front of his mile long flag for Stonewall 25 in 1994 (© Fredrick Persson EP)

Gilbert (in the vest) and collaborators raising the first flag in 1978 (© gilbertbaker.com)

Gilbert Baker dressed as his drag persona, Busty Ross (© Getty Images)

Gilbert's original eight-striped flag in 1978. The hot pink and turquoise were later removed to make mass production easier, and to make it easy to fly the flag in two halves (three colors each) from lightposts on either side of the street following… — Gilbert's original eight-striped flag in 1978. The hot pink and turquoise were later removed to make mass production easier, and to make it easy to fly the flag in two halves (three colors each) from lightposts on either side of the street following Harvey Milk's assassination. However, in 2004 at the Key West Pride Festival, Gilbert said it was time to bring back the two stripes: "We lost two of the original colors, pink and turquoise. It’s time, however, to restore the original design. First, it is simply more beautiful and more authentic. Moreover, when we lost the pink, we lost the symbol for our sexual liberation. The missing turquoise honors Native Americans and the magic of life. Both colors are needed to embrace our history."

Baker's mile-long flag at Stonewall 25. (© Eric Miller)

Gilbert in the 2015 San Francisco Pride parade. (© Gilbert Baker's facebook)

Gilbert with president barack obama in 2016, where he presented obama with a handmade rainbow flag. look at that tie!

Homage to Gilbert

google's doodle for gilbert's 66th birthday. google animators went to fabric stores in san francisco, obtained fabric, and animated this stop-motion cuteness to emulate gilbert's process of the flag creation. (© google - learn more here)

A Look at Brenda Howard

Brenda (top right, glasses) resting with the women's contingent after the first Pride march in 1970. (Unless otherwise noted, all images of Brenda Howard © New York Area Bisexual Network's Facebook)

Brenda (second from left, glasses and pigtails) with Bob Kohler, Sylvia Rivera, etc. at an LGBTQ Demonstration at Bellevue Hospital in 1970.

Brenda (left, pigtails and glasses) at a meeting with other members of the Gay Liberation Front in 1970.

Meeting of radical women's group Lavender Menace with Brenda in the background (left, black shirt), early 1970s.

Brenda at NYC Pride marche late 1970s/early 1980s.

Brenda Howard at an ACT UP New York demonstration circa 1997-1998.

Undated photo of Brenda (left, white pants) with her partner Larry Nelson marching with the PFLAG Queens at the St. Patrick's Day for All parade.

New York Area Bisexual Network contingent at NYC Pride March with Brenda Howard visible second from the right (black tank top).

An Ode to Brenda Howard

Brenda's good friend Dorothy Danaher-Gilpin, Ed.D, wrote this poem in honor of Brenda’s passing:

In Honor of Brenda
When I was in pigtails
You were already marching
Voice firm and loud
Banners held high

I, blissful in suburbia
Years from sexual maturity
Watched you on TV
And wondered
What all the fuss was about.
I grew older
And tired of the nonsense
I moved to the Big City
In search of
My soul.

Many spirits were trampled
By Reagan-Bush
Yours was emboldened
Defiant
You strode harder
We followed
Made gains
Ideas changed
Laws changed
A leather vest and buttons
Your simple uniform
Tireless hours on the phone
Recruiting volunteers
To help you hold
Our banners
For Freedom
For Justice
For Compassion
For All.

You leave us now
With a Legacy
Of Hope
Fight for what’s Right
And
We will
Prevail.

If you want to learn more about Brenda Howard, Gilbert Baker, and the origins of Pride, check out our full list of sources and further reading below!

Online Articles:

Videos:

Books and Print Articles:

Sewing the Rainbow by Gayle Pitman
Pride: The Story of Harvey Milk and the Rainbow Flag by Rob Sanders

Until next time, stay queer and stay curious!

June 18, 2018

10. Thigh Fencing and the Saffron Massage

June 18, 2018/ History Is Gay

In this episode, cohosts Gretchen and Leigh will take you on a tour of medieval Arabo-Islamic erotic literature and the many delightful descriptions of queer female experience it contains. Remember way back in episode two when ‘thigh fencing’ came up? Well, that and other martial imagery for wlw sexual experience come from medieval Arabo-Islamic poetry! Like shield banging, jousting without a lance, or our new favorite---the saffron massage. Love stories of cross dressing heroines who marry women? Then you’ll love Princess Budur and her wife Hayat. We’ve got another word of the week focused on queer female self-description, medical explanations for wlw preferences, and the music of love (moaning). We’ll also chat about the Arabic Sappho and the first lesbian couple, Hind and al-Zarqa’!

Just a warning, some of the images and poems are NSFW, so best read this at home.

Arabic Erotica and Sex Manuals

17th century, unknown Persian miniaturist depicts of sapphic women with a creative looking dildo. (thought we didn't have a lesbian emoji? surprise, now you do.)

The Perfumed Garden

Cover of Richard Francis Burton's 1886 translation of Muhammad al-Nafzawi's text.

In chapter 9 of The Perfumed Garden, one of the best known of the medieval Arabo-Islamic sex manuals, we get a long list of 'sundry names' for the vulva. The whole thing is both delightful and humorous, but we wanted to quote you this section on dreaming about seeing a vulva:

The person who dreams of having seen the vulva, feurdj, of a woman will know that "if he is in trouble God will free him of it; if he is in a perplexity he will soon get out of it; and lastly if he is in poverty he will soon become wealthy, because feurdj, by transposing the vowels, will mean the deliverance from evil. By analogy, if he wants a thing he will get it; if he has debts, they will be paid."

It is considered more lucky to dream of the vulva as open. But if the one seen belongs to a young virgin it indicates that the door of consolation will remain closed, and the thing which is desired is not obtainable. It is a proved fact that the man who sees in his dream the vulva of a virgin that has never been touched will certainly be involved in difficulties, and will not be lucky in his affairs. But if the vulva is open so that he can look well into it, or even if it is hidden but he is free to enter it, he will bring the most difficult tasks to a successful end after having first failed in them, and this after a short delay, by the help of a person whom he never thought of.

Full text of Burton's translation of The Perfumed Garden is available here.

The Tale of Qamar al-Zaman and Princess Budur: The Story That Keeps Getting Better

Illustration of Princess Budur, done by Edmund Dulac, for the 1907 edition of The Arabian Nights for Hodder & Stoughton. — Illustration of Princess Budur, done by Edmund Dulac, for the 1907 edition of *The Arabian Nights* for Hodder & Stoughton.

We weren't able to find illustrations of Budur and Hayat, so here is one of Qamar and Budur from the 1958 Italian Young Readers book Le Mille E Una Notte. You can find more illustrations of this tale from this edition here. — We weren't able to find illustrations of Budur and Hayat, so here is one of Qamar and Budur from the 1958 Italian Young Readers book *Le Mille E Una Notte.* You can find more illustrations of this tale from this edition here.

Illustration of Qamar and Budur from the 1915 edition of More Tales from the Arabian Nights. — Illustration of Qamar and Budur from the 1915 edition of *More Tales from the Arabian Nights*.

This tale was Gretchen's absolute favorite discovery in researching for this episode. What an utterly delightful story! After recording the podcast, she found new articles on the story that discuss the gender flipping and sexuality of Budur and Qamar on another level, namely, that of Budur taking the dominant male role in a m/m interaction when she and her husband reunite. Budur even propositions Qamar---while disguised as a man---using gay poetry:

My pintle is big and the little one said unto me,
"Tilt boldly therewith at my inwards and quit thee thy need."
Quoth I, "'Tis unlawful;" but he, "It is lawful with me;"
So to it I fell, supporting myself by his rede.'
--
The penis smooth and round was made with anus best to match it,
Had it been made for cunnus' sake it had been formed like a hatchet!

Wow. (What we want to know is, where did Budur learn this, or is she just that good at making up gay poetry?) All that to say, there are even more layers to the story that mess with cisheteronormativity! This is the best story ever, and we honestly need an adaptation of it yesterday. Full text of "The Tale of Qamar al-Zaman and Princess Budur" can be found here and here.

If you want to learn more about queer women in the medieval Arabo-Islamic Literary Tradion, check out our full list of sources and further reading below!

Books and Print Articles:

Sahar Amer, Crossing Borders: Love Between Women in Medieval French and Arabic Literatures
Sahar Amer, "Medieval Lesbians and Lesbian-Like Women" in Journal of the History of Sexuality (Vol 18, no 2, 2009).
Sahar Amer, "Cross Dressing and Female Same-Sex Marriage in Medieval French and Arabic Literature" in Islamicate Identities
Sahar Amer, "Lesbian Sex and the Military: From the Medieval Arabic Tradition to French Literature" in Same Sex Love and Desire Among Women in the Middle Ages
Fedwa Malti-Douglas, "Tribadism/Lesbianism and the Sexualized Body in Medieval Arabo-Islamic Narratives" in Same Sex Love and Desire Among Women in the Middle Ages
Samar Habib, Arabo-Islamic Texts on Female Homosexuality 850-1780 A.D.
Samar Habib, Female Homosexuality in the Middle East: Histories and Representations
Kathryn Babayan, "'In Spirit We Ate Each Other's Sorrow': Female Companionship in Seventeenth Century Safavi Iran" in Islamicate Identities
Stephen O. Murray "Woman-Woman Love in Islamic Society" in Islamic Homosexualities
As'ad AbuKhalil, "A Note on the Study of Homosexuality in the Arab/Islamic Civilization" in The Arab Studies Journal (Vol 1, no 2, 1993)

Until next time, stay queer and stay curious!

March 05, 2018

5. Stars from a Bi-Gone Era

March 05, 2018/ History Is Gay

In this very special episode, hosts Leigh & Gretchen travel to the red carpet and the silver screen to hear stories about queer actors from the golden age of Hollywood. Along for the ride is a room full of queer women who came to listen to the podcast being recorded live at TGIFemslash, a convention dedicated to the queer ladies of media, the ladies who love them, and the fans who love them. Join us and a room full of big gay nerds as we discuss the early years of film and the sexploits of the rich and famous! Who was gay for pay? Who was Hollywood’s favorite lesbian? Who wore violets on the crotch of her dress to advertise her queerness? Tune in to find out, plus listen to our friends at TGIFemslash discuss their favorite queermos from history!

Your totally gay and totally nerdy hosts wearing their matching Sappho "Our Lady of Lesbos & Poetry" gear that they totally didn't just buy for the express purpose of showing them off in their panel nope

Special Shoutout

Special thanks are due to Beth Hommel, our friend and fellow attendee of TGIFemslash. Beth generously offered to help us out by designing and ordering T-shirt samples that we both wore and sold at TGIFemslash. She's an amazing and gifted designer of nerdy queer swag, so check out her store on Etsy: Glorious Wierdo!

Beth did such a great job with our shirts! Our tagline is on the back and everything!

And that means...we're going to have merch soon! Stay tuned for details about pins, magnets, shirts and more from your local big gay nerds at History is Gay podcast!

Our Cast of Stars for Silver Screen Sexploits

As people were coming into the room for our panel at TGIFemslash we had them play a game called "Silver Screen Sexploits." We had images of ten silver screen actors up on the wall; people were each given the same set of ten facts about these actors and asked to guess which fact went with which actor. Below are the actors, the facts, and some fun stats about the guesses people made!

Clark Gable

The Fact:

"Was allegedly “gay for pay” and for career advancement. Had a string of older clients who paid their bills and helped them get jobs, but cheated on them constantly. Had close, personal, possibly sexual relationships with several openly queer actors."

Number of correct guesses: 2

Fact most frequently assigned to them:

"A quintessential sex symbol, this actor had strong preferences for partners of the same gender and is rumored to have had affairs with two of the actors on this list. Claimed one of their partners “had a gigantic orgasm and shrieked like a maniac” but then turned spiteful when the actor turned them down after being asked for another round."---6 guesses

Cary Grant

The Fact:

“Married 5 times and had 1 daughter. Lived with a fellow actor for 12 years and then with a different actor later in life. Prior to becoming famous, dated a fashion designer on and off for 9 years.”

Number of correct guesses: 1

Fact most frequently assigned to them:

“One lover described sex with them as ‘pleasant, unhurried, gentle. There was what I can only refer to as a kind of refinement about it. It was erotic, tantalizing, fulfilling. High class stuff all the way.’”---5 guesses

Marlene Dietrich

The Fact:

“Came of age in post-war Berlin where the LGBT culture thrived and came to the US with a more open view of sexuality. At the premiere of a film, this actor walked on stage with a bunch of violets pinned to their crotch, a symbol of homosexuality in Germany. Was married but had several passionate gay affairs, one with another actor on this list!”

Number of correct guesses: 17

Fact most frequently assigned to them:

The right one! In fact, everyone who played got her right!

Greta Garbo

The Fact:

“For a time in the 1920s, they lived openly with a partner of a different gender; later, they conducted their relationship with a playwright and poet of the same gender with similar directness and lack of pretense. The poet was a ‘best friend’ and lived with this actor for 30 years. Called their love affairs with same gender partners ‘exciting secrets.’”

Number of correct guesses: 6

Fact most frequently assigned to them:

The right one!

Katharine Hepburn

The Fact:

“25 year relationship with differently gendered acting co-star was more about friendship than romance or sex, and their public relationship was likely a publicity stunt by studios as both of them were gay. Was allegedly set up by known Hollywood pimp Scotty Bowers with 150 sexual partners of the same gender. Had a particular attraction for one partner, whom they saw off and on for 49 years.”

Number of correct guesses: 8

Fact most frequently assigned to them:

The right one!

Marilyn Monroe

The Fact:

“A quintessential sex symbol, this actor had strong preferences for partners of the same gender and is rumored to have had affairs with two of the actors on this list. Claimed one of their partners “had a gigantic orgasm and shrieked like a maniac” but then turned spiteful when the actor turned them down after being asked for another round.”

Number of correct guesses: 7

Fact most frequently assigned to them:

The right one!

Marlon Brando

The Fact:

“Had multiple affairs with famous actors in Hollywood and once told a French journalist, ‘Homosexuality is so much in fashion, it no longer makes news. Like a large number of [actors], I, too, have had homosexual experiences, and I am not ashamed. I have never paid much attention to what people think about me.”

Number of correct guesses: 3

Fact most frequently assigned to them:

Vincent Price

The Fact:

Number of correct guesses: 0

Fact most frequently assigned to them:

Raymond Burr

The Fact:

“Was married to an opposite gender partner once but it only lasted a couple months. Met a same gender actor on the set of an iconic TV show in 1960 and they remained together until 1993, when our famous queer actor died. The fellow actor is often named as a “business partner” and still owns and operates the joint vineyard they founded together in Sonoma.”

Number of correct guesses: 8

Fact most frequently assigned to them:

The right one!

Joan Crawford

The Fact:

“Known for having an “insatiable appetite for sex with men and women,” who may even have slept their way into becoming a screen legend. Also linked with another actor on this list!”

Number of correct guesses: 0

Fact most frequently assigned to them:

How do we know about these folks?

Bowers (center), at a party in Hollywood during the 40s. Image courtesy of Altimeter Films.

Most of the stories that we discussed came from one guy: Scotty Bowers, a Hollywood pimp of the queer silver screen actors of the 1940s and beyond. He was also associated with Alfred Kinsey in his famous study of human sexuality in the 1950s by providing many of the interview subjects.

A former marine, Bowers kept quiet for many years about these stories, as he did not want to adversely affect the lives of any of the actors who were still around. Many of the stories were actively hushed up using fixers paid by the studios at the time, and several of the actors were in "lavender marriages"---marriages arranged by the studio, frequently with another queer actor. At the time, studios especially would not have wanted the queer attractions of their headlining actors to be widely known, as that would have damaged the 'wholesome family image' of many of the films they wanted to market.

After all of the actors died, Bowers finally decided that his experiences and stories couldn't harm their image or beloved status---plus the world was a more open place to queer attraction---so he wrote about it. His memoir, Full Service, records many of the tidbits that we talked about. What makes his book so special is his refusal to be embarrassed by sex, meaning that he handles these stories with a distinct lack of judgment. Good job, dude!

If you want to learn more about these folks, as well as other queer silver screen stars, check out our full list of sources and further reading below!

Online Articles:

Books:

Full Service: My Adventures in Hollywood and the Secret Sex Live of the Stars by Scotty Bowers
James Dean: Tomorrow Never Comes by Darwin Porter and Damforth Prince
Behind the Screen: How Gays and Lesbians Shaped Hollywood by William J. Mann
Clark Gable: Tormented Star by David Bret
Kate: The Woman Who Was Katharine Hepburn by William J. Mann
The Fixers: Eddie Mannix, Howard Strickling And The MGM Publicity Machine by EJ Flemming

Until next time, stay queer and stay curious!

February 21, 2018

4. Bulldaggers & Lady Lovers: The Bisexual & Lesbian Blues Legends

February 21, 2018/ History Is Gay

On this week’s episode, we discussed the black lesbian and gay subculture in the Harlem Renaissance throughout the 1920s and 1930s in New York. From growing up in poverty to traveling minstrel stars and eventually into nationally renowned recording artists, blues legends like Ma Rainey, Bessie Smith, and Gladys Bentley infused their music with sexuality and reality, hinting at the queer atmosphere of Harlem nightlife that included wild parties, flowing booze, and romps on the road. Many of them were known for their explicit or otherwise 'scandalous' lyrics that were full of innuendo and subtle (or not so subtle!) allusions to queer life and love. Plus, now we have a new lady to add to our Anne Bonny/Lizzie Borden ship: Bessie Smith!

Some Looks at our Queermos

Gertrude "Ma" Rainey

She's been described as 'ugly' but we think that's bullshit. She's gorgeous. (source)

The infamous "Prove it on me BLues" ad featuring Ma Rainey flirting while a cop looks on, suspicious. (source)

Ma Rainey and her wildcats jazz band, featuring Thomas Dorsey on Piano. (source)

An ad for Ma Rainey and the traveling minstrel show she worked with. (source)

Vinyl of ma Rainey's "dream Blues." (source)

Bessie Smith

Empress of the Blues and Fashion icon. (Source)

YOu can tell she's extra just by the feathers.

From an advertisement featuring Bessie Smith. (Source)

Gladys Bentley

Bentley and bandleader Willie Bryant, April 17, 1936, in front of posters for their Apollo show (source) — Bentley and bandleader Willie Bryant, April 17, 1936,
in front of posters for their Apollo show (source)

Advertisement for Glady's show at Mona's in San Francisco, featuring the descriptors "sepia piano artist" and "brown bomber of sophisticated songs" (Source)

Map of clubs in Harlem featuring the Clam House where Glady's performed. (source)

Speaking of Mona's here's an ash tray from the club and it's motto, "Where the girls will be boys." We love it already.

photgraph of the infamous Ebony article from 1952 where Bentley claimed to have turned straight due to hormone treatments. this and the rest of the article can be read here. — photgraph of the infamous *Ebony* article from 1952 where Bentley claimed to have turned straight due to hormone treatments. this and the rest of the article can be read here.

Ethel Waters and Ethel Williams

Ethel Waters in "On with the Show," 1929.

Ethel Waters and Fredi Washington in the 1949 play "Mamba's Daughter." IN the play, Washington plays Waters' daughter (though this still looks pretty gay).

Waters in Pinky, the 1949 film she was nominated for an academy award for. — Waters in *Pinky*, the 1949 film she was nominated for an academy award for.

The only image we could find of both Ethel Williams (left) and Ethel Waters (Right). (source)

Alberta Hunter

Lucille Bogan/Bessie Jackson

Listen to the Dirty and/or Queer Harlem Renaissance Blues

Ma Rainey's "Prove it On Me Blues"

Ma Rainey's "Sissy Blues"

Bessie Smith's "Empty Bed Blues"

Bessie Smith's "Foolish Man Blues"

Gladys Bentley's "Worried Blues"

Lucille Bogan's "BD Woman's Blues"

Lucille Bogan's "Shave 'Em Dry"

Lucille Bogan's "Groceries on the Shelf"

Check out these mini documentaries about Ma Rainey and Bessie Smith, courtesy of Biography.com for black history month.

And also check out the trailer for HBO's Bessie, available to stream via an HBO subscription.

If you want to learn more about these folks, as well as the history of queerness in the Harlem Renaissance, check out our full list of sources and further reading below!

Online Articles:

Books:

Mother of the Blues by Sandra Lieb
Blues Legacies and Black Feminism by Angela Y. Davis
Bessie Smith by Jackie Kay
Bessie by Chris Albertson (excerpt in Gay American History: Lesbians & Gay Men in the USAed by Jonathan Ned Katz)
His Eye on the Sparrow and To Me, It’s Wonderful autobiographies by Ethel Waters
Heat Wave: The Life and Career of Ethel Waters by Donald Bogle
Ethel Waters: Stormy Weather by Stephen Bourne
Queer in History by Keith Stern
The Harlem Renaissance, by Steven Watson (free excerpt p124-144)
Sapphistries by Leila Rupp
Homosexuality in History by Colin Spencer
Bulldaggers, Pansies, and Chocolate Babies by James F. Wilson

Films:

T'Aint Nobody's Bizness: Queer Blues Divas of the 1920s

Until next time, stay queer and stay curious!

January 15, 2018

2. Cloistered Queers

January 15, 2018/ History Is Gay

This week, we talked a lot about medieval views of sex and sexuality, including the practice of brother-making that very likely had a romantic component to it, if not a sexual one as well. It was a pretty context heavy episode, but all that set the stage our large cast of love poem/love letter writing, highly suggestive mystical vision having monks and nuns: Alcuin, St. Anselm of Canterbury, Sor Juana Ines de la Cruz, Baudri of Bourgeuil, Aelred of Rievaulx, Benedetta Carlini, and other monks and nuns with 'special friendships' with each other. Tender words caressing little breasts making you want to die? Licking inmost parts? Quoting gay Greek mythology in love letters? Arm-sized dildos? Visions of the wound in Jesus' side that sound remarkably like a vulva? Jesus and John being married? These monks and nuns were definitely not as straight as people think.

How do we know about these folks?

As we mentioned in the episode, a lot of our information about the individual people comes from love letters and poems written from one monk or nun to another. While some have been lost due to history or religious purges, we still have some pretty awesome letters lying around. We quoted from a few in our episode, but there are so many more and they're too good and too gay not to share in full.

Oh, and make sure you check out Humon's Tumblr comic about monastic views of sex and sexuality. It's accurate and adorable.

Alcuin to Arno of Salzberg (c. late 700s)

Carolingian manuscript, c. 831 with Rabanus Maurus (left) and Alcuin (middle), dedicating his work to Archbishop Odgar of Mainz (right).

Love has penetrated my heart with its flame,
And is ever rekindled with new warmth.
Neither sea nor land, hills nor forest, nor even the Alps
Can stand in its way or hinder it
From always licking at your inmost parts, good father,
Or from bathing your heart, my beloved, with tears.
Sweet love, why do you inspire bitter tears,
Why do bitter draughts flow from devotion's honey:
If now your sweetness, world, is mixed with bitterness,
All prosperity will alternate rapidly with misfortune,
All joys be changed to sad lamentation;
Nothing lasts, anything can perish.
Therefore, world, let us flee from you with all our hearts,
As you, ready even now to perish, flee from us.
Let us seek the delights and ever-enduring realms
Of heaven with your whole heart, mind, and hand.
The blessed hall of heaven never separates friends;
A heart warmed by love always has what it loves.
Therefore, father, abduct me with your prayers, I beg you;
Then our love will never be estranged.
Look with joy and with a gladdening heart, I pray,
At these little offerings which great love sends you,
For our gentle Master praised the two copper coins
The needy widow put into the temple's treasury.
Sacred love is better than any gift,
And so is steadfast faithfulness which flourishes and endures.
May divine gifts follow you, dearest father
And at the same time precede you. Always and everywhere farewell.

(Source, includes other love letters)

Anselm, to Gilbert (c. 1077/78)

Illumination of Anselm from his manuscript of meditations — Illumination of Anselm from his manuscript of *meditations*

Brother Anselm to Dom Gilbert, brother, friend, beloved lover

. . . sweet to me, sweetest friend, are the gifts of your sweetness, but they cannot begin to console my desolate heart for its want of your love. Even if you sent every scent of perfume, every glitter of metal, every precious gem, every texture of cloth, still it could not make up to my soul for this separation unless it returned the separated other half.

The anguish of my heart just thinking about this bears witness, as do the tears dimming my eyes and wetting my face and the fingers writing this.

You recognized, as I do now, my love for you, but I did not. Our separation from each other has shown me how much I loved you; a man does not in fact have knowledge of good and evil unless he has experienced both. Not having experienced your absence, I did not realize how sweet it was to be with you and how bitter to be without you.

But you have gained from our very separation the company of someone else, whom you love no less – or even more – than me; while I have lost you, and there is no one to take your place. You are thus enjoying your consolation, while nothing is left to me but heartbreak.

(Source, including more of Anselm's love letters)

Boudri of Bourgeuil to Walter (c. early 1100s)

May an exchange of letters always unite us while we are apart,
And may this letter now bring me into your presence.
Let my letter now greet you, repeat my greetings,
And repeat them a third time to please you even more.
Lately I received a sweet poem from Walter
Which, since you wrote it, has touched your hand.
I received it with thehonor it deserves
And immediately called you to mind with my love.
Now my poem gladly returns your visit,
And I pray that you cherish me with your love.
If you wish to take up lodging with me,
I will divide my heart and breast with you.
I will share with you anything of mine that can be divided;
If you command it, I will share my very soul.
You will be lodged completely within my breast
And will continueas the greatest part of my soul.
Meanwhile I will humbly pray for good fortune
Until conversationrevive us.
A different garment – if you haven't considered it – would bring that about:
The name of monk would make such conversation endure forever.
So that you could long enjoy our true love,
Another life would change your visits,
Whether the love of God or fear of punishment or both
Commend monastic life to you.
In case you decide to come to us as such,
I have ordered our men to accompany you.
And ifrumor has told you that I am about to visit you,
That hangs in doubt – it might be possible or it might not.
For now, therefore, hurry; "Procrastination harms the ready."
Anticipate tomorrow; do what you should today.

(Source, includes other love poems)

Bavarian Nun Love Poems (c. 1100s)

The first letter, which we read in the episode:

I am weighed down with grief,
For I find nothing
I would compare to your love,
Which was sweeter than milk and honey,
And bycomparison to which the gleam of gold and silver seems tawdry….it is you alone I have chosen for my heart...
I love you above all else,
You alone are my love and desire…
Like a turtledove who has lost her mate
And stands forever on the barren branch,
So I grieve ceaselessly
Until I enjoy your love again

And the second letter, in its full, entirely gay entirety:

To G., her singular rose,
From A.---the bonds of precious love.
What is my strength, that I should bear it,
That I should have patience in your absence?
Is my strength the strength of stones,
That I should await your return?
I, who grieve ceaselessly day and night
Like someone who has lost a hand or a foot?
Everything pleasant and delightful
Without you seems like mud underfoot.
I shed tears as I used to smile,
And my heart is never glad.
When I recall the kisses you gave me,
And how with tender words you caressed my little breasts,
I want to die
Because I cannot see you.
What can I, so wretched, do?
Where can I, so miserable, turn?
If only my body could be entrusted to the earth
Until your longed-for return;
Or if passage could be granted to me as it was to Habakkuk,
So that I might come there just once
To gaze on my beloved’s face--
Then I should not care if it were the hour of death
For no one has been born into the world
So lovely and full of grace,
Or who so honestly
And with such deep affection loves me.
I shall therefore not cease to grieve
Until I deserve to see you again
Well has a wise man said that it is a great sorrow for a man to be without
that
Without which he cannot live.
As long as the world stands
You shall never be removed from the coreof my being.
What more can I say?
Come home, sweet love!
Prolong your trip no longer;
Know that I can bear your absence no longer.
Farewell.
Remember me.

(From John Boswell's Christianity, Social Tolerance, and Homosexuality)

Sor Juana Inés de la Cruz (c. late 1600s)

Sor Juana's book A Celebration of and Posthumous Works by the phoenix of Mexico and Tenth Muse, the Mexican poet, Sor Juana Inés De La Cruz — Sor Juana's book *A Celebration of and Posthumous Works by the phoenix of Mexico and Tenth Muse, the Mexican poet, Sor Juana Inés De La Cruz*

A luminary Mexican nun who was an early champion for women's rights to education, her letters to Vicereine Maria Luisa de la Paredes of New Spain:

But, [Maria Luisa], why go on?
For yourself alone I love you.
Considering your merits,
what more is there to say?
That you’re a woman far away
is no hindrance to my love:
for the soul, as you well know,
distance and sex don’t count

Can you wonder my love sought you out?
Why need I stress that I’m true,
when every one of your features
betokens my enslavement?

Another poem, entitled "My Lady":

I love you with so much passion,
neither rudeness nor neglect
can explain why I tied my tongue,
yet left my heart unchecked.

The matter for me was simple;
love for you was so strong,
I could see you in my soul
and talk to you all day long.

How unwisely my ardent love,
which your glorious sun inflamed,
sought to feed upon your brightness,
though the risk of your fire was plain!

Let my love be ever doomed
if guiltyin its intent,
for loving you is a crime
of which I will never repent.

And yet another, "Don't Go, My Darling", in what seems like the most dramatic post-breakup "fuck you wait no don't leave me" to exist:

Don’t go, my darling, I don’t want this to end yet.
This sweet fiction is all I have.
Hold me so I’ll die happy,
thankful for your lies.

My breasts answer yours
magnet to magnet
Why make love to me, then leave?
Why mock me?

Dont brag about your conquest--
I’m not your trophy.
Go ahead: reject these arms.

That wrapped you in sumptuous silk.
Try to escape my arms, my breasts--
I’ll keep you prisoner in my poem.

(Source, from Leila J. Rupp's Sapphistries: A Global History of Love Between Women)

Hildegard of Bingen (c.1098-1179)

St. Hildegard of Bingen and Her Assistant Richardis” by Lewis Williams

German nun, mystic, poet, healer, and scientist who fell in love with her sister nun, Richardis von Sade, wrote in homoerotic ecstacy about the Virgin Mary, and in a case of "she who doth protests too much", wrote a series of morality plays arguing against the love between women, yet FULL OF THEM and waxing poetic on the divine nature of femininity. SHRUG.

From one of Hildegard's letters to Richardis, begging her to return to be with her instead of her position as an abbess at a far-away convent:

Now, again I say: Woe is me, mother, woe is me, daughter, “Why have you forsaken me” (Ps 21.2; Matt 27.46; Mark 15.34) like an orphan? I so loved the nobility of your character, your wisdom, your chastity, your spirit, and indeed every aspect of your life that many people have said to me: What are you doing?

Now, let all who have grief like mine mourn with me, all who, in the love of God, have had such great love in their hearts and minds for a person- as I had for you- but who was snatched away from them in an instant, as you were from me. But, all the same, may the angel of God go before you, may the Son of God protect you, and may his mother watch over you. Be mindful of your poor desolate mother, Hildegard, so that your happiness may not fade.

(From Selected Writings of Hildegard of Bingen)

From her writings on the marriage to God as a union between souls alike two lovers:

Creation looks on its Creator like the beloved looks on the lover.
The soul is kissed by God in its innermost regions.
With interior yearning, grace and blessing are bestowed.
It is a yearning to take on God’s gentle yoke,
It is a yearning to give one’s self to God’s Way.

She also wrote "Symphonia", a collection of songs devoted to the Virgin Mary, extoling her love and passion for the holy mother, calling her "the greenest twig" and praising her womb as the creator of all things.

"The Universe" by hildegard of bingen. uh huh okay hildegard that doesn't look like anything we've seen before sure

She was also fascinated by women's health, and her medical writings were perhaps the first to ever describe the female orgasm:

When a woman is making love with a man, a sense of heat in her brain, which brings with it sensual delight, communicates the taste of that delight during the act and summons forth the emission of the man’s seed. And when the seed has fallen into its place, that vehement heat descending from her brain draws the seed to itself and holds it, and soon the woman’s sexual organs contract, and all the parts that are ready to open up during the time of menstruation now close, in the same way as a strong man can hold something enclosed in his fist.

HOLY WOW, HILDEGARD.

Some other images of our cast of queerios:

Aelred of Rievaulx - 1110-1167, Cistercian monk and abbot of Rievaulx

Illumination of Aelred from his manuscript, "The MIrror of Charity."

Sor Juana Inés de la Cruz - c. 1651-1695, Hieronymite nun, poet, philosopher, and self-taught scholar

Portrait of Sor Juana by Miguel Cabrera, c. 1750.

Jesus' Side Wound, aka That Sweet Side Pussy

Jesus' wound and Jesus as 'man of sorrows' in manuscript from france c. 1375.

Wound of Christ in Psalter and Prayer book of Bonne de Luxembourg, 1345.

Side Wound from a Book of Hours from England and the Netherlands, 1410.

From a nun's prayer book made in Southern France between 1275 and 1300, Christ displaying the wound in his side to a nun in prayer, historiating the initial D(omine) of the Hours of the Passion (Domine labia mea aperies, O Lord open thou my lips).

Interestingly enough, the discussion regarding the erotic nature and treatment of Christ's side-wound extends even to some of our monk friends, including Aelred of Rievaulx, of whom we spoke! His meditation for his sister on what she should do in thinking of the moment Christ received the wound from the spear piercing his side:

Then one of the soldiers opened his side with a lance and there came forth blood and water. Hasten, linger not, eat the honeycomb with your honey, drink your wine with your milk. The blood is changed into wine to gladden you, the water into milk to nourish you. From the rock streams have flowed for you, wounds have been made in his limbs, holes in the wall of his body, in which, like a dove, you may hide while you kiss them one by one. Your lips, stained with his blood, will become like a scarlet ribbon and your word sweet.

In this, he is referencing The Song of Songs, one of the most erotic spiritual texts in which a groom says to his bride:

My dove in the clefts of the rock, in the hollow places of the wall, show me thy face, let thy voice sound in my ears: for thy voice is sweet, and thy face comely... (2:14)
Thy lips areas a scarlet ribbon: and thy speech sweet... (4:3)
Thou hast wounded my heart, my sister, my bride, thou hast wounded my heart with one of thy eyes... (4:9)
Thy lips, my bride, are as a dropping honeycomb, honey and milk are under thy tongue... (4:11)
I am come into my garden, O my sister, my bride, I have gathered my myrrh with myaromatical spices: I have eaten the honeycomb with my honey, I have drunk my wine with my milk... (5:1)

Who's the bride and who's the groom when it comes to Aelred speaking to his sister of Christ? Hmm?

Other folks we didn't get a chance to dive into during the episode due to time constraints but you should look up (part 2, anyone?):

"Gay" Monks & love letters:

Walafrid Strabo (c. 808-849)
Marbod of Rennes (c. 1035-1123)
Notker Balbulus (c. 840-912)
Salamo III, bishop of Constance (c. 860-920) and Waldo
Egbert and St. Boniface (letters c. 716-20)
Abbot Bernard of Clairvaux (c.1090-1153) and his friend Archbishop Malacy of Armagh)

Mystic/religious women & homoeroticism in medieval texts:

Hadewijch (d. 1248), who wrote poems to her beguine sister Sara and wrote on God as the female personification of love
Bieris de Romans
Julie D'Aubigny (c.1673-1707, who will get her own episode!)

If you want to learn more about these folks, as well as the history of medieval sex, sexuality, and cloistered communities, check out our full list of sources and further reading below!

Online Articles:

Books:

Boswell, John. Same-Sex Unions in Premodern Europe
Boswell, John. Christianity, Social Tolerance, and Homosexuality
Brown, Judith. Immodest Acts: The Life of a Lesbian Nun in Renaissance Italy
Krueger, Derek. “Between Monks: Tales of Monastic Companionship in Early Byzantium” in Journal of the HIstory of Sexuality #20 (2011): 28-61.
Rupp, Leila J. Sapphistries: A Global History of Love Between Women
Rictor Norton, My Dear Boy: Gay Love Letters through the Centuries (Full Text available online)
Hildegard of Bingen, Selected Writings

If you like cloistered queers, you might also like...

Alicia Gaspar de Alba’s novel Sor Juana’s Second Dream, which was then adapted into a play, “The Nun and the Countess” by Odalys Nanin
1990 film, I, the Worst of All (Yo, la peor de todas), won Argentina’s Academy Award entry for Best Foreign Language Film.
Netflix series “Juana Ines”, 2016 produced in Mexico
2009 film from German feminist director Margarethe von Trotta called Vision: From the Life of Hildegard von Bingen
Lesbian playwright Carolyn Gage's play "Artemisia and Hildegard"

Illumination from the Passional of Abbess kunigunde of bohemia.

Until next time, stay queer and stay curious!

January 01, 2018

1. Were Some Pirates Poofters?

January 01, 2018/ History Is Gay

This week, in our first episode, we introduced you to the dramatic pirate quartet of Anne Bonny, Mary Read, John “Calico Jack” Rackham, and Pierre “the pansy pirate” Bouspet! Two women eschewing stereotypical gender presentation, dressing as men, then falling in love each thinking the other is a man? Anne kicking Jack out of his quarters and sharing them with Mary instead? Jack Rackham being jealous of Mary and Anne's 'friendship' and walking in on Mary naked on Anne's bed? A pirate who owns a dress shop, coffee shop, and loves to paint with turtle blood? A pirate with a taste for splashy colors and may have been the lover of his former captain? Oh my! Or should we say, ‘arrrghhh’? These pirates may not have been as straight as people think.

How do we know about these folks?

As we mentioned in the episode, much of the histories of Anne, Jack, and Mary comes from the book A General History of the Robberies and Murders of the Most Notorious Pyrates, published in 1724 by a mysterious “Captain Charles Johnson”, whom some claim is a pseudonym for Daniel Defoe, aka author of Robinson Crusoe.

Some images of our cast of queerios:

Anne Bonny - c. 1702-1782, born in Cork, Ireland

Illustration from the 1725 Dutch version of A General History of...Pyrates — Illustration from the 1725 Dutch version of *A General History of...Pyrates*

Mary Read - c. 1690-1721, born in England

John “Calico Jack” Rackham - c. 1682-1720

Illustration from the 1724 edition of A General History of the Pyrates — Illustration from the 1724 edition of *A General History of the Pyrates*

Sadly we have no images of our favorite drama pirate, Pierre Bouspet.

If you want to learn more about these folks, as well as the history of piracy in the 17th and 18th century, check out our full list of sources further reading below!

Online Articles:

John Strausbaugh, Were Some Pirates Poofters?
Christine Hernandez, Forging an Iron Woman
Marcus Rediker, Liberty Beneath the Jolly Roger (Includes text of Captain Johnson’s accounts)
Lesbian News, Anne Bonny and Mary Read: Queer Pirates of the Seas (Includes other sources for further reading)
Rictor Norton, Lesbian Pirates: Anne Bonny and Mary Read

Books:

David Cordingly, Under the Black Flag
David Cordingly, Women Sailors & Sailors’ Women
Ed. C. R. Pennell, Bandits at Sea: A Pirate Reader
Myra Weatherly, Pirate Women: Eight Stories of Adventure
Captain Charles Johnson, A General History of the Robberies and Murders of the most notorious Pyrates

Anne and Mary, from the 1724 edition of A General History of the Pyrates — Anne and Mary, from the 1724 edition of *A General History of the Pyrates*

If you like Mary Read, Anne Bonny, Calico Jack Rackham, and Pierre Bouspet, you might also like...

The TV show Black Sails on Starz
The Abyss Duology (The Abyss Surrounds Us and The Edge of the Abyss) by Emily Skrutskie
The Seafarer's Kiss by Julia Ember (mermaids and Vikings, but close enough!)
This list of "16 Great Reads for Lesbians and Queer Girls who Love Pirates!"
Princeless: Raven the Pirate Princess comic by Jeremy Whitley

"Love like Matter is much Odder than we thought." -W.H. Auden

S.C. Lucier

Meghan Rose

Amazon-Like Women in Africa: the mino/agojie, also known as the Dahomey Amazons!

Let’s hop over to Japan and take a look at female samurai warriors, the onna-bugeisha and onna-musha!

And finally, were there real life Lagerthas out there in the Norselands? We’ve got some Viking women warrior graves and historical artifacts that say so!

If you want to learn more about all the various warrior women from this episode, check out our full list of sources and further reading below!

Until next time, stay queer and stay curious!

S.C. Lucier

Meghan Rose

A Closer Look at Amazons in ancient Greek art, literature, and myth!

Stories of Amazons show up in multiple places in Greek literature, including the histories of Herodotus, Homer’s The Iliad, and myths around Heracles, the founding of Athens, and more. Check out some excerpts below.

Herodotus, Book IV: Chapter 100:

Chapter 114:

From Homer’s The Iliad:

From the Pseudo-Apollodorus Library of Greek Mythology, describing the ninth labor of Heracles and Hippolyte:

And here, mentioning Penthesilea:

And Antiope:

And lastly, the tale of Atalanta in the Apollodorus:

Check out some of the depictions of mythical Amazons we have on ancient Greek vases:

Enough with the myths, show me the real deal! A Closer Look at Scythian Warrior Women:

Check out author of The Amazons: Lives & Legends of Warrior Women Across the Ancient World, Adrienne Mayor, presenting a TED Talk!

And another talk by Adrienne Mayor, for the University of Pennsylvania Museum of Archaeology and Anthropology!

If you want to learn more about Amazons and Scythian warriors, check out our full list of sources and further reading below!

Until next time, stay queer and stay curious!

A Closer Look at Anne Lister

If you want to learn more about the Anne Lister and her diaries, check out our full list of sources and further reading below!

Until next time, stay queer and stay curious!

A Closer Look at Sappho

The Sapphic Stanza

The Mixolydian Mode

What did Sappho’s poetry sound like?

As a special bonus, two of our amazing listeners created a Sappho poetry generator you can play around with, as referenced in this episode!

Check it out here!

If you want to learn more about the Sappho, check out our full list of sources and further reading below!

Until next time, stay queer and stay curious!

Timeline of Japanese Time Periods Discussed in This Episode

A Closer Look at Homosexuality in Tokugawa Japan

NSFW Woodblock Prints from Tokugawa Japan

If you want to learn more about homosexuality in Tokugawa Japan, check out our full list of sources and further reading below!

Until next time, stay queer and stay curious!

A Closer Look at the Hays Code

A Closer Look at Lesbian Pulp Fiction

A Closer Look at Patricia Highsmith

If you want to learn more about the Hays Code, lesbian pulp fiction, and Patricia Highsmith, check out our full list of sources and further reading below!

Until next time, stay queer and stay curious!

A Closer Look at Frida Kahlo

A Selection of Frida Kahlo’s Paintings

If you want to learn more about Frida Kahlo, check out our full list of sources and further reading below!

Until next time, stay queer and stay curious!

A Closer Look At Dolly Wilde

Dolly Wilde on Meeting Virginia Woolf

A Closer Look at Dolly’s Lady Loves

Select Images of Natalie Clifford Barney

If you want to learn more about Dolly Wilde, check out our full list of sources and further reading below!

Until next time, stay queer and stay curious!

Check out Queer Ghost Hunters!

Check out Joe Applebaum and The Clowder Group!

A Closer Look at the Queer Hauntings

If you want to learn more about Queer Hauntings, check out our full list of sources and further reading!

Until next time, stay queer and stay curious!

A Closer Look at Lizzie Borden, The Trial, and Her Potential Loves

If you liked hearing about Lizzie Borden, you may also like…

If you want to learn more about Lizzie Borden, check out our full list of sources and further reading below!

Until next time, stay queer and stay curious!

A Closer Look at People in the Labor and LGBTQ+ Movements

If you want to learn more about the alliance between the Labor and LGBTQ+ movements, check out our full list of sources and further reading below!

Until next time, stay queer and stay curious!

A Closer Look at Virginia Woolf and Vita Sackville-West

Vita Sackville-West's Other Loves

Content Warning: Vita Sackville West's Memoriam and Virginia Woolf's Suicide Note

If you want to learn more about Virginia Woolf and Vita-Sackville-West, check out our full list of sources and further reading below!

Online Articles:

Until next time, stay queer and stay curious!

Queer as Fact Links

A Closer Look at the Purple Pamphlet

If you want to learn more about lavender linguistics and queer slang, check out our full list of sources and further reading below!

Until next time, stay queer and stay curious!

A Look at Gilbert Baker

Homage to Gilbert