Mohandas Gandhi and Hermann Kallenbach were Soul Mates - 4 Keys to Unlock Their Hidden History in this week's TikTok!

Finding out that Mahatma Gandhi was in love with another man - a German Jewish architect named Hermann Kallenbach - rocked my world...

@leewind Mohandas Gandhi and Hermann Kallenbach were soul mates! ##queerhistoryiseverywhere ##queer ##historybuff ##gaypride ##love ##lgbtq 4 keys
♬ Bloom - Troye Sivan

Four Keys...

1)
Soul Mates

And it's not just me, or the Pulitzer-prize winning biographer Joseph Lelyveld who said it... Gandhi himself said it!

One of the letters Mohandas wrote Hermann in 1914 included this line,

"We can therefore but go forward as far forward as our legs will carry us and no farther and still be together, one soul and two bodies."

2)
Upper House and Lower House

These were nicknames Mohandas and Hermann used in their letters to each other. Mohandas was "Upper House" and Hermann was "Lower House."

3)
The love contract

Gandhi had trained in England as a lawyer, and on July 29, 1911 he wrote up a contract between him and Hermann, pledging

"...more love and yet more love between the two houses ~ such love as, they hope, the world has not seen."

Hermann signed the contract.

4)
More than a footnote in history. 

If Gandhi was in love with another guy, a Jewish guy at that, does it help us understand his giant breakthrough better? That Mohandas Gandhi was the one who wrote in 1911 in his "Triumph of Satyagraha",

"Let people's religions be different... You worship facing one way and I worship facing the other. Why should I become your enemy for that reason? We all belong to the human race; we all wear the same skin; we hail from the same land."

This was a giant step forward in humanity's compassion towards others with different religious beliefs. Could it be more than co-incidental that Mohandas loved Hermann while he had this insight? I think so.

There's so much of our LGBTQ heritage to discover! Queer history really is everywhere.

The light in me recognizes and acknowledges the light in you,
Lee

Eleanor Roosevelt and Lorena Hickok - 2 Keys to Unlock Their Hidden Love Story in the TikTok Video

When I was a kid, I loved studying the Al Hirschfeld drawings of Broadway celebrities for the hidden "Nina"s - the number by his signature let you know how many times he'd tucked his daughter's name in the line drawings that so artfully captured the personalities of these actors.

With a nod of appreciation to Hirschfeld, I've tucked two keys into this week's TikTokVideo that's all about celebrating the love between Eleanor Roosevelt and Lorena Hickok. Watch for the keys, and then scroll below to unlock the hidden stories behind each...

@leewind Eleanor Roosevelt and Lorena Hickok! ##queerhistoryiseverywhere ##queer ##historybuff ##lesbian ##bisexual ##lgbt ##pride ##love ##gaypride ##lgbtpride ##lgbtq
♬ Physical - Dua Lipa

The first key is the ring:

Lorena gave Eleanor a diamond and sapphire ring as a gift for Christmas in 1932. In a letter to Lorena from the White House on March 7, 1933, Eleanor wrote:

"Your ring is a great comfort. I look at it & think she does love me, or I wouldn't be wearing it!"

The second key is "Mrs. Doaks":

Mrs. Doaks is the codename both Eleanor and Lorena had come up with for Eleanor—if she were not the First Lady of the United States, not married to the President, not world-famous. If she were just Eleanor, and Lorena was just Lorena, and they could be together without the external world getting in their way.

Hope you enjoyed playing along!

The light in me recognizes and acknowledges the light in you. Stay safe,
Lee

Source for the stories behind both keys: Roger Streitmatter, Ed., Empty Without You: The Intimate Letters of Eleanor Roosevelt and Lorena Hickok (New York: The Free Press/Simon & Schuster, 1998), 20, footnote 17, and 119-222.