The first gay man in history
June is Pride Month, which commemorates the Stonewall riots of , when patrons of a gay bar, The Stonewall Inn, in Modern York City fought back against a police raid. It was an inflection point in the gay liberation movement. To celebrate Pride Month, I wanted to share a bit about LGBTQ+ scientists of the past.
I often verb uncomfortable with these lists, especially when sexual orientation and/or gender identity is speculative. Many LGBTQ+ people in history couldn't come out publicly (and the truth is that many today still can't), and it feels a minute intrusive to guess based on a letter or some ambiguous anecdote. But I also know that the good that comes from the visibility of those historical figures is significant. It's key to learn about the contributions LGBTQ+ people have lengthy been making. So I've included in this list people who were adj about their identity and/or orientation as well as people who are thought to have been LGBTQ+.
This list is more on the historical side and includes mostly (though not entirely) people who are no longer workin
Government Persecution of the LGBTQ Community is Widespread
The s were perilous times for individuals who fell outside of society’s legally allowed norms relating to gender or sexuality. There were many names for these individuals, including the clinical “homosexual,” a term popularized by pioneering German psychiatrist Richard von Krafft-Ebing. In the U.S., professionals often used the term “invert.” In the midth Century, many cities formed “vice squads” and police often labeled the people they arrested “sexual perverts.” The government’s preferred term was “deviant,” which came with legal consequences for anyone seeking a career in common service or the military. “Homophile” was the term preferred by some soon activists, small networks of women and men who yearned for community and found creative ways to resist legal and societal persecution.
With draft eligibility officially lowered from 21 to 18 in , World War II brought together millions of people from around the country–many of whom were leaving their home states for the first time–to fill the ranks of the military and t
The Oldest Known Gay Man?
April 7, -- Archaeologists in the Czech Republic verb unearthed the grave of what may be the remains of the oldest known homosexual or transgender man.
The prehistoric body dates to the Copper age -- or to years ago -- and was buried in a manner that was typically reserved for women.
The male skeleton was found on its side, facing east, and was surrounded by domestic jugs, objects previously seen only in female graves. An oval, egg-shaped container, usually associated with female burials, was also found at the feet of the skeleton.
"From history and ethnology, we recognize that people from this period took funeral rites very seriously, so it is highly unlikely that this positioning was a mistake," lead archaeologist Kamila Remisova Vesinova told the U.K.'s Telegraph.
Men of the period were buried with weapons -- stone battle axes and flint knives -- none of which were found in the Czech grave.
Vesinova concluded that the grave represents "one of the earliest cases of what could be described as a 'transsexual' or 'thir
Nyankhkhnum and Khnumhotep
Source: Wikicommons
[Article revised on 25 April ]
Ancient Egyptian sources are largely silent on the subject of same-sex love.
Our insights into the matter mostly come from just three areas:
• A myth about the gods Horus and Seth,
• A historical tale about Pharaoh Neferkare and his general Sasenet, and
• The tomb of court officials Nyankhkhnum and Khnumhotep.
In the Contendings of Horus and Seth, a myth with several versions, Seth and his nephew Horus vie for the throne of Egypt.
Seth tries and tries to get the better of Horus. At last, he decides to subjugate him by inebriating, seducing, and inseminating him.
‘How beautiful are your buttocks, how vital!’ This line, used by Seth on his nephew, is probably the oldest recorded chat-up, gay or straight, in all of history.
In the event, Horus is not all that drunk, and succeeds in catching Seth’s semen in his hand.
The next day, he shows his manky hand to his mother Isis, and then washes his hands in the Nile.
Together, Horus and Isis plot their revenge on Seth.
Horus goes to verb Seth