100 Years of Photos of Gay Men In Love - a photo book of male couples from 1850-1950

 This book, as written about on Hyperallergic, sounds so cool!

Were they all Gay? Were they really in romantic love, or were they just friends. Some photos it's hard to tell. Others, it's pretty clear...

Photograph, 1910, 113 x 69 mm, provenance: US
Note: “Rocky Nook Labor Day 1910” (image courtesy of the Nini-Treadwell Collection © “Loving” by 5 Continents Editions)

In their article about "Loving: A Photographic History of Men in Love 1850s–1950s," Hrag Vartanian writes, "Flipping through the book, it wasn’t that I felt that I learned a great deal about being LGBTQ, but what gave me comfort was the feeling that we’re not going anywhere. Seeing ourselves in the past is as much about being certain of our present and, dare I say, our future." and I think that's so true. Knowing our Queer past emboldens us to claim our place today, and lets us imagine a future that can be amazing!

I'm really excited to check this one out.

Have you seen it? Add your review of "Loving: A Photographic History of Men in Love 1850s–1950s" in comments!

My thanks to Karol, my Dad, and the other folks who made sure I knew about this, so I could share it with you!

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.

Crowdsourcing Amazing LGBTQ History - The Baburnama, Kuan Yin, and...? #QueerHistoryIsEverywhere

As I speak about LGBTQ history, and how it didn't all start with Stonewall, I've had this amazing thing happen again and again.

I'll be talking about how the facade of history, as it is taught in our culture, would have us believe that everyone important in history was a rich, white, able-bodied, cis-gendered, hetero man from Europe—and that's just not true.

How there were poor people, and people of color, and disabled people, and gender non-conforming people, and Queer people from all over the world and as far back as we can go in history, who changed our world!

How every example we find of men who loved men, and women who loved women, and people who lived outside gender boundaries cracks that false facade and lets some rainbow light through.

And afterwards, while signing my Queer as a Five-Dollar Bill novel for them, or in an excited conversation, or in an email, they'll tell me about a piece of hidden LGBTQ history that they know.

Have I heard about Babur, the Prince and Emperor, who wrote in his autobiography (the first autobiography ever in Islamic literature) about his teenage love for another boy?

I hadn't, and I got the Baburnama from the library - it's amazing and true and romantic... and that story is going to be in my upcoming book, coming out from Zest/Lerner publishing, The Queer History Project: No Way, They Were Gay? LGBTQ People Across Time and Around Our World.

Have I heard about Kuan Yin, the Chinese bodhisattva (someone who delays their own ascension to be a Buddah to work to relieve the suffering of others), who is a Trans icon?

I hadn't, but I'm reading up on them now!

In short, I'm collecting these stories - about people, and cultures, and legends - and I'd love to hear from you. Whether you think I've heard of them or not, please reach out and tell me about the LGBTQAI+ history you know. About the men who loved men, women who loved women, people who lived outside gender boundaries, cultures that saw—and see—gender differently than we do today, and myths and legends and gods and goddesses that are part of our Queer heritage.

So let me know - in comments, via email, or on social media - and if you have a source to share, that's even better! I'll share it all, and if it ends up in a book, I will of course thank you!

You can also use the hashtag #QueerHistoryIsEverywhere
Because it is.

And together, we can tear down that wall - that false facade of history - and let all the amazing rainbow light of history shine through!

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

Merry Men - A Brilliant New Graphic Novel That Re-Visions The Legendary Robin Hood as a Gay Hero

Merry Men, written by Robert Rodi, Illustrated by Jackie Lewis, Colored by Marissa Louise and Shari Chankhamma, Lettered by Jon Cairns

Thirteenth-century England. Robert Godwinson, former lover of King Richard, lives with his band of Merry Men in Sherwood Forest, away from the watchful eye of Prince John, who has outlawed homosexuality. Though isolated, the men live in peace—that is, until a stranger enters their camp seeking aid for a nearby town besieged by the Sheriff of Nottingham. Robert, nicknamed Robin, is reluctant to hlep, but equally eager to be rid of this perplexing stranger... and to put his formidable bow-and-arrow to use. It's Robin Hood like you've never seen him before, based on scholarly speculation about what's really behind the outlaw's legend.

The story was riveting for how it pulled all the pieces of the Robin Hood legend together with the homophobic history of England, including both gay, bi, and trans storylines and characters to root for. I'm a fan!

Some great interior pages to give you a taste:

There's even some bonus "Queer History of England" pages at the end!

Throughout, "Merry Men" is the euphemism for "men who love other men" and it's brilliant!

Add your review of "Merry Men" in comments!

Queer as a Five-Dollar Bill - The Book

QUEER AS A FIVE-DOLLAR BILL

“A tapestry of the gay teenage experience—frayed edges repaired with earnest love and care.” —Kirkus Reviews

Wyatt is fifteen, and nobody in his homophobic small town of Lincolnville, Oregon, knows that he’s gay. Not even his best friend (and accidental girlfriend) Mackenzie.

Then he discovers a secret from actual history: Abraham Lincoln was in love with another guy! Since everyone loves Lincoln, Wyatt’s sure that if the world knew about it, they would treat gay people differently and it would solve everything about his life. So Wyatt outs Lincoln online, triggering a media firestorm and conservative backlash that threaten to destroy everything he cares about.

Now Wyatt has to pretend more than ever that he’s straight (because no one will believe a gay kid saying Lincoln was gay). Only then he meets Martin, who is openly gay and who just might be the guy Wyatt’s been hoping to find. Will Wyatt stay closeted to change the world, or will he let Abraham Lincoln’s gay romance fade back into history and take his own chance at love?

This nineteenth- and twenty-first-century coming-of-age, coming out story was inspired by real historical evidence that Abraham Lincoln was in love—romantic love—with another man. QUEER AS A FIVE-DOLLAR BILL asks LGBTQ teens (and everyone else), What if you knew a secret from history that could change the world?

“Compelling… with highly empathetic characters in Wyatt and his friends. Was Abraham Lincoln gay? Readers of this intriguing and readable novel will decide for themselves.” —Michael Cart, ALA Booklist

“I LOVE the characters.” —Alex Sanchez, author of 8 teen novels, including the groundbreaking gay teen “Rainbow Boys” trilogy

“Riveting… [and] filled with laugh-out-loud moments.” —BookLife Prize

“This one should get people talking! I hope this book…finds the large audience it deserves.” —Brent Hartinger, author of 12 novels, including the groundbreaking gay teen novel “Geography Club”

Fans of Becky Albertalli’s Simon vs. the Homo Sapiens Agenda and What If It’s Us shouldn’t miss Queer as a Five-Dollar Bill!


Editorial Reviews:

National Indie Excellence Award Winner Best Book: LGBTQ for Children & Young Adults

A Book Life Prize Semi-Finalist, one of Publishers Weekly’s Top Five Independently Published Middle Grade and Young Adult Books of 2018

“Wind’s engaging, utterly enjoyable tale of teen self-discovery is riveting both for its well-structured, historically based plot and its emotional honesty. . . . Wind’s polished prose is filled with laugh-out-loud moments. . . . A resonant and admirably crafted work.” —Book Life Prize

“The premise is a real hook . . . with real potential to influence and educate, on top of entertaining. . . . A tapestry of the gay teenage experience—frayed edges repaired with earnest love and care.” —Kirkus Reviews

“Bound to spark curiosity . . . A sympathetic novel that will change the way young readers look at history and the lessons it has to teach.” —Foreword Reviews

“Compelling… with highly empathetic characters in Wyatt and his friends. Was Abraham Lincoln gay? Readers of this intriguing and readable novel will decide for themselves.” —Michael Cart, ALA Booklist

“All the more impressive when considering that it is author Lee Winds’ debut as a novelist. Entertaining, thought-provoking, Queer as a Five-Dollar Bill is recommended for school and community library YA fiction collections. —Midwest Book Review

“Lee Wind has written a courageous novel about facing truth, both in history and in yourself. I applaud this important book.” —Ellen Wittlinger, author of 14 novels, including the Lambda Literary Award– and Printz Honor Award–winning “Hard Love”

“This powerful novel combines raw emotion with detailed historical evidence. Readers will be drawn into Wyatt’s story as he struggles with being true to himself, and come out the other side questioning who writes the history we learn. Speaking truth to power, indeed. Queer as a Five-Dollar Bill belongs in every library that serves teens.” —Yapha Mason, school librarian and two-time Newbery Medal judge

“I loved Queer as a Five Dollar Bill! The twists and turns of Wyatt’s experiences, both of pondering his own sexuality and of attempting to bring questions about Lincoln’s experiences to light, make this an exciting story. . . . Will keep any reader turning the pages. Highly recommended!” —Elisabeth Abarbanel, school librarian for grades 7-12

Publishers Weekly’s September 2018 Indie Success Story: “Bringing History into the Light” https://www.publishersweekly.com/pw/by-topic/authors/pw-select/article/78104-bringing-history-into-the-light-an-indie-success-story.html


Author Bio:

Lee Wind is the founding blogger and publisher of I’m Here. I’m Queer. What The Hell Do I Read?, an award-winning website about books, culture, and empowerment for Lesbian, Gay, Bi, Trans, Questioning and Queer youth, and their Allies. For over 11 years, readers from 100-plus countries have racked up 2.6 million page views—and counting!

QUEER AS A FIVE-DOLLAR BILL is Lee’s debut novel, and readers describe it as “a love letter for history geeks” that “perfectly captures teen angst,” “had my heart racing,” and helped them feel “less alone.”

In his “Clark Kent” jobs, Lee is the director of marketing and programming at the Independent Book Publishers Association and the official blogger for the Society of Children’s Book Writers and Illustrators.

Lee’s “Superhero” job is writing. Fans of QUEER AS A FIVE-DOLLAR BILL say, “I felt a magical bond with the story”, “I absolutely loved this book,” and that Lee Wind’s “can't-put-it-down” writing ”gripped me emotionally” and “will pull you in and have you wondering about the truth of history.“

Lee lives in Los Angeles with his husband and their teenage daughter. He loves featuring fan art, #queerhistoryiseverywhere snapshots, and photos of GSAs and book clubs reading and discussing #queerasafivedollarbill

Visit him online at:

www.leewind.org

Twitter: https://twitter.com/leewind
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/leewind
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/iamleewind/



QUEER AS A FIVE-DOLLAR BILL
by Lee Wind
I’m Here. I’m Queer. What The Hell Do I Read?
Distributed by BookBaby
Publish Date: October 2, 2018
ISBN:
978-1-7322281-0-8 (Hardcover) | $25.99
978-1-7322281-1-5 (Paperback) | $13.99
978-1-7322281-2-2 (eBook) | $6.99
Also available as an Audiobook | $19.95
Ages 14 & Up

Available wherever books are sold.

Links to buy the book:
Indiebound: https://www.indiebound.org/book/9781732228115

Barnes & Noble / Nook: https://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/queer-as-a-five-dollar-bill-lee-wind/1129124085?ean=9781732228115

Amazon / Kindle: https://www.amazon.com/Queer-Five-Dollar-Bill-Lee-Wind/dp/1732228116
Audible (Audiobook): https://www.audible.com/pd/Queer-as-a-Five-Dollar-Bill-Audiobook/B07KRP2C89

Kobo (eBook) - https://www.kobo.com/us/en/ebook/queer-as-a-five-dollar-bill
Kobo (Audiobook) - https://www.kobo.com/us/en/audiobook/queer-as-a-five-dollar-bill-1

Audiobooks.com: https://www.audiobooks.com/audiobook/queer-as-a-five-dollar-bill/360622

Also available on iBooks as an eBook and Audiobook.

Read the "Indie Success" September 2018 feature in Publishers Weekly on "Queer as a Five-Dollar Bill" here!

Keywords:

Gay Teen Romance

Gay Teen Books

Gay Teen Coming of Age

Gay Teen Fiction

Coming Out

Abraham Lincoln

Gay History


BISAC Codes:

YAF031000 YOUNG ADULT FICTION / LGBT

YAF052040 YOUNG ADULT FICTION / Romance / LGBT

YAF011000 YOUNG ADULT FICTION / Coming of Age

YAF058020 YOUNG ADULT FICTION / Social Themes / Bullying

A great web comic on the Gay Revolutionary War general, Von Steuben

Josh Trujillo and Levi Hastings created this awesome web comic about Friedrich Wilhelm August Heinrich Ferdinand Steuben. Check it out at The Nib here!

There's so much to love about this true story from history that usually doesn't get taught... but it is, now!

two glimpses of the story:

Go read the whole thing here!

I'm also happy to share that there's a Von Steuben moment in my own YA novel, "Queer as a Five-Dollar Bill," and I'm thrilled that the true story of this Gay Revolutionary War General is also being told by Josh and Levi, and getting out in the world!

Knowing our LGBTQ history is empowering, for us all.

Bayard Rustin's words inspire me

With everything going on in the US right now, including the bomb threats at Jewish community centers, the anti-immigrant raids, and now this week's attack on Transgender student rights, these words from the out Gay African American Civil Rights leader are a call to action:

"If we want to do away with the injustice to gays it will not be done because we get rid of the injustice to gays. It will be done because we are forwarding the effort for the elimination of injustice to all." -Bayard Rustin, in a 1986 interview.

Bayard  Rustin in 1965

My Birthday, Our Present: Love Of The Half-Eaten Peach

Learning this true story from history made me so happy...

More than two thousand five hundred years ago in what today is China, the ruler of the state of Wei, Duke Ling, was walking through an orchard with the man he loved, Mi Zi Xia. Mi Zi Xia picked a ripe peach from a tree and started to eat it. It was so delicious that, after a few bites, Mi Zi Xia gave the rest of the peach to the duke, so he could share it.

The duke was moved by this and said, “How sincere is your love for me! You forget your own appetite and think only of giving me good things to eat!”

Later, as the philosopher Han Fei Tzu tells us in his book of essays written sometime between 260 B.C.E. and 230 B.C.E, the duke fell out of love with Mi Zi Xia and accused him of committing a crime. “After all,” said the ruler, listing reasons to not trust his former love, “another time he gave me a half-eaten peach to eat!”

Duke Ling’s fickle nature aside, the story of sharing the peach, and the symbolism of the love behind that sharing, became famous. So famous that in Chinese the expression "love of the half-eaten peach" [yutao zhipi, 餘桃之癖] was used for over one thousand years as we use the word Gay in English, to describe two men in love.

Isn't that amazing?



Where did I find this, and where can you find out more?

The Chinese of Han Fei Tzu’s Chapter XII: Difficulties in the Way of Persuation [sic], are from Liao, W.K. trans. The Complete Works of Han Fei Tzu. 2 vols. London: Arthur Probsthain, 1959. Accessed online at the University of Virginia’s Institute for Advanced Technology in the Humanities here. Copyright 2003 by Anne Kinney and the University of Virginia.

The 1964 English translation is from pg. 78-79 of “Han Fei Tzu: Basic Writings: Trans. by Burton Watson,” Columbia University Press.

The Chinese characters and transliteration for Love Of The Half-Eaten Peach are from page 49 of “Male Homosexualities and World Religions” by Pierre Hurteau, Nov. 2013, Palgrave Macmillan.

You can find out more about the expression “love of the half-eaten peach” and its historical use in China in Bret Hinsch’s “Passions of the Cut Sleeve,” 1990, University of California Press, pgs. 20-22, 35, 53, 56, 71, 73-75, 83-85, 89, 93, 95, 147, 161 and 181-182.


Thanks for letting me share, and here's to amazing adventures (and lots of love) ahead for us all!
Lee

"Making Gay History" Podcast - my new podcast obsession

Author and historian Eric Marcus conducted over a hundred audio interviews with key figures in the LGBTQ movement. He used portions of those interviews in his books, and now he's created a podcast series called Making Gay History, where we get to hear these icons in their own voices.

We get to hear Jeanne & her son Morty Manford. Jeanne talks about starting PFLAG, and about what happened when she marched with her gay son in the gay pride parade, holding a sign that proclaimed her love and pride in him.

We get to hear Dr. Evelyn Hooker, telling us about her gay friend Sam, and how Sam urged her to take on the study of healthy gay men that would eventually lead to a complete shift in how being Gay or Lesbian was understood.

We get to hear Sylvia Rivera (the transgender icon) tell us about being at Stonewall.

It's a treasure trove! We're only six episodes in and I'm already obsessed with how amazing it is to hear these people speak through time.

Go listen - Eric and his team have done a great job with this podcast!

Nikolai Przhevalsky! Day 13 of our Celebration of Russian LGBTQ Pride: An Olympic Counter-Programming Event #OlympicShame #RussianPride #CheersToSochi

Nikolai Przhevalksy (1839-1888)

Nikolai was an explorer, "one of the most well-known Russian celebrities of the 1870s and 1880s" who would return from his adventures with collections of exotic plants and animals.

He was known for both exploring central and far eastern Asia and for bringing along on his journeys handsome young men he was in love with (Like Pyotr Kozlov, who carried on the explorations after Nikolai died.)

Interestingly, the Russian government commissioned the men Nikolai loved as lieutenants in the army, which gave them a salary.

This entry on Przhevalsky gives more details on his expeditions: General Nikolay Przhevalsky was Imperial Russia’s most famous explorer. He made four equestrian journeys in Central Asia, crossing the Gobi desert, the Tian Shan mountains and exploring northern Tibet before dying on expedition in today’s Kyrgyzstan. An avid naturalist, Przhevalsky is credited with making hundreds of discoveries including the wild Bactrian camel and the Przhevalsky horse, which is named after this famous Long Rider. 

Nikolai's books about his travels and adventures were translated into other languages and "avidly read in England and America."

The Przhevalsky Horse - the original wild horse - was discovered by him during an expedition in Mongolia, and is named after him.

Nikolai Przhevalksy being a famous explorer, a Russian, and a man who loved other men is something to celebrate!


I read about Nikolai on pg. 372 of Queers In History, and on page. 350 of Simon Karlinsky's chapter on "Russia's Gay Literature and Culture: The Impact of the October Revolution" in "Hidden from History: Reclaiming The Gay and Lesbian Past" Edited by Martin Duberman, Martha Vicinus & George Chauncey, Jr.


***

To Consider:

Look at how the Olympic machinery leapt into action when the snow was getting too soft - how they got all this salt from Switzerland in 24 hours - just in time to save the day. 

Interesting how when it comes to the human dignity and equal rights of LGBTQ people, there isn't that same sense of urgency - and there needs to be!

***

Add To The Celebration:

Who are the Gay, Lesbian, Bi, Trans and Queer Russians you'd like to celebrate? Tell me your favorites in comments, or by twitter, and on the final day of the Olympics, I'll run a rainbow variety-pack post with everyone's suggestions!

Please Note: Given the situation in Russia, I'm thinking we should keep it to either people who are no longer living in Russia or are historical. I'd hate to create a list that then would be used against people by a repressive, anti-LGBTQ regime.


Having said that, there is a lot of Queer Russian heritage to explore and so many LGBTQ Russians we can celebrate!

Nikolai Kliuev! Day 12 of our Celebration of Russian LGBTQ Pride: An Olympic Counter-Programming Event #OlympicShame #RussianPride #CheersToSochi

Nikolai Kliuev

Nikolai Kliuev, photo from, among other sources, here.

Nikolai (1887-1937) was born to a peasant family and became the leader of a group of poets called "peasant" - because of their origin and because "the fate and survival of the peasant way of life in the twentieth century was their central theme."

He was 25 years old when two books of his poetry, The Chiming Pines and Brotherly Songs "created a sensation and made him a celebrity."

"Kliuev's unconcealed homosexuality did not prevent most poets and critics as well as many literate peasants from seeing him as the foremost literary spokesman for the whole of Russian peasantry."

Different sources list different men as "the greatest love of his life"

Hidden From History (on pg. 355) says,

"...the greatest love of his life was Sergei Esenin (1895-1925), better known in the West because of his brief marriage to the American dancer Isadora Duncan."

Sergei Esenin and Nikolai Kliuev, image from here.

And Matt & Andrij Koymansky Home The Living Room Biographies states,

"...the great love of his later life was the young artist Anatolii Yar-Kravchenko, a painter, with whom he lived in Leningrad at the end of the 1920s."

It's cool to know that Nikolai Kliuev was a Russian poet who loved other men - another piece of Russia's LGBTQ history to celebrate!

***

Take Action:

Ukraine has politicians pushing for new anti-gay laws like Russia's. And they’ve just applied to the Olympic Committee to host the 2022 Winter Games.

If countries with anti-gay laws were banned from hosting the Olympics, it would make governments think twice about attacking lesbian, gay, bi and trans people. It could help stop anti-gay laws in Ukraine – and in time, help win the battle against anti-gay laws everywhere.

Together we've given the Olympic Committee a huge headache over Russia's anti-gay laws. They won't want a repeat, so a high-profile demand signed by thousands of us could be enough to get them to change the rules, preventing another anti-gay Olympics.

Sign now:
https://www.allout.org/change-the-rules

***
Add To The Celebration:

Who are the Gay, Lesbian, Bi, Trans and Queer Russians you'd like to celebrate? Tell me your favorites in comments, or by twitter, and on the final day of the Olympics, I'll run a rainbow variety-pack post with everyone's suggestions!

Please Note: Given the situation in Russia, I'm thinking we should keep it to either people who are no longer living in Russia or are historical. I'd hate to create a list that then would be used against people by a repressive, anti-LGBTQ regime.


Having said that, there is a lot of Queer Russian heritage to explore and so many LGBTQ Russians we can celebrate!

Grand Duke Sergei Alexandrovich! Day 11 of our Celebration of Russian LGBTQ Pride: An Olympic Counter-Programming Event #OlympicShame #RussianPride #CheersToSochi

Grand Duke Sergei Alexandrovich

The uncle of Nicholas II, Grand Duke Sergei Alexandrovich was one of seven gay Grand Dukes in 1800s to 1900s turn-of-the-century Russia!

"There were at least seven gay Grand Dukes at the time (uncles, nephews, or cousins of the last two tsars). The most flamboyant of this group was the Grand Duke Sergei Alexandrovich, the uncle of Nicholas II. This uncle regularly went to the theater and other public functions with his current lover."

This information is pretty conspicuously absent from the news of the two-day conference "dedicated to the life and legacy of the Grand Duke Sergei Alexandrovich" held in St. Petersburg in May 2011.

Here's a less formal image - reportedly of Sergei swimming in the Moscow River with "some of his gentlemen (friends)."

photo from here

I found out about Sergei (and the other Grand Dukes) being gay on pg. 351 of the chapter by Simon Karlinsky, "Russia's Gay Literature and Culture: The Impact of the October Revolution" in "Hidden From History: Reclaiming The Gay & Lesbian Past" Edited by Martin Duberman, Martha Vincus and George Chauncey, Jr.

Russia having so many titled openly gay men in the late 1800s and early 1900s? That's pretty cool to know - and something to celebrate!


***

Add To The Celebration:

Who are the Gay, Lesbian, Bi, Trans and Queer Russians you'd like to celebrate? Tell me your favorites in comments, or by twitter, and on the final day of the Olympics, I'll run a rainbow variety-pack post with everyone's suggestions!

Please Note: Given the situation in Russia, I'm thinking we should keep it to either people who are no longer living in Russia or are historical. I'd hate to create a list that then would be used against people by a repressive, anti-LGBTQ regime.


Having said that, there is a lot of Queer Russian heritage to explore and so many LGBTQ Russians we can celebrate!

Rudolf Nureyev! Day 8 of our Celebration of Russian LGBTQ Pride: An Olympic Counter-Programming Event #OlympicShame #RussianPride #CheersToSochi

Rudolf Nureyev

A superstar ballet dancer, Rudolf Nureyev was Russian and Gay.

Rudolf started his formal training in ballet at age 11 (in 1949) and when he graduated from the Kirov Ballet School in Leningrad in 1958, "he joined the Kirov Ballet and, bypassing the corps de ballet, was immediately given solo roles."

In 1961, he gained fame while touring Paris, and defected, leaving the Soviet Union.

In 1962 he danced with the famous ballerina Margot Fonteyn, and together they made ballet history. Rudolf said of dancing with Margot,

"Because we are sincere and gifted, an intense abstract love is born between us every time we dance together."

After one performance of Swan Lake in Vienna, they were called back for the applauding audience so many times it earned them a place in the Guiness Book of World Records for the longest curtain call on record!

Rudolf Nureyev danced, and choreographed, for decades, and his being gay was "an open secret."

The critic Clive Barnes described Rudolf this way,

"People will be writing about Nureyev's stage personality for as long as people remember what a stage was. It was a personality compounded of sensual allure and sexual disdain. Yet he always suggested the loner, which is to say that everything about him, beginning with his androgynous but scarcely asexual looks, seemed to be a harmony of opposites; he was a yin and yang person for all seasons and all manners. No wonder he was compared with Nijinsky."

Cool trivia: Rudolf Nureyev played Vaslav Nijinsky in an unfinished film biopic on Nijinsky in 1970.

Check out Nureyev's "solo American Television debut" from 1963:



Rudolf Nureyev being a superstar dancer from Russia, and being gay? That's history to celebrate!

All quotes above are from pages 333 to 337 of "The Gay 100: A Ranking of the Most Influential Gay Men and Lesbians, Past and Present" by Paul Russell. You can learn more about Rudolf Nureyev at the Rudolf Nureyev Foundation.

***

Add To The Celebration:

Who are the Gay, Lesbian, Bi, Trans and Queer Russians you'd like to celebrate? Tell me your favorites in comments, or by twitter, and on the final day of the Olympics, I'll run a rainbow variety-pack post with everyone's suggestions!

Please Note: Given the situation in Russia, I'm thinking we should keep it to either people who are no longer living in Russia or are historical. I'd hate to create a list that then would be used against people by a repressive, anti-LGBTQ regime.

Having said that, there is a lot of Queer Russian heritage to explore and so many LGBTQ Russians we can celebrate!

***

Today's Bonus:

This great video commentary, Dale Hansen Unplugged: Celebrating our differences



Go Dale!

And thanks to Steve for sharing this with me, so I could share it with all of you!

***

And for those of you in a romantic mood - and for my amazing husband, here's a video gift, courtesy of Jonathan Groff and the New York Times.

Happy Valentine's Day!

Tchaikovsky! Day 1 of our Celebration of Russian LGBTQ Pride: An Olympic Counter-Programming Event #OlympicShame #RussianPride

Pyotr [Peter] Ilich Tchaikovsky

The guy who composed THE NUTCRACKER, SWAN LAKE, the 1812 OVERTURE and SLEEPING BEAUTY was gay. And Russian!

Born in Votkinsk, Russia on May 7, 1840, Tchaikovsky was pretty tortured about being gay. He taught music for a while, then had a female benefactor who let him just compose for years. He briefly married a woman but the idea of being intimate with her was so off-putting that the marriage ended just weeks after it began. After the wedding disaster, he wrote his brother Anatoly that there was “nothing more futile than wanting to be anything other than what I am by nature.”

As reported in the British Newspaper The Guardian, recently (in Sept of 2013),

Russia's culture minister has denied that composer Peter Tchaikovsky was gay, discarding what has long been regarded as historical fact. Vladimir Medinsky claimed that there was no evidence to suggest the 19th-century composer was anything other than a lonely man who failed to find a suitable woman to marry...

Historians, however, say there is a mountain of evidence to the contrary.

"In the case of Tchaikovsky his homosexuality is so well documented by his own writings and the writings of others that it is simply ludicrous to suggest otherwise," said the author Konstantin Rotikov, who has written a history of gay Saint Petersburg. "It's a historical fact. History doesn't change just because we are trying to push a certain agenda today."

Sadly, the biopic on Tchaikovsky's life being filmed for Russian television reportedly won't include his being gay, even though everyone knows he was. Where are the laws against heterosexual propaganda? How about we protect children from lies about gay, lesbian, bi, trans and queer people that make us either bad people or, if we did good, try to make us straight?

Tchaikovsky's music is iconic and familiar world-wide. I love to imagine how thrilled Pyotr might have been to see how Matthew Bourne took his Swan Lake ballet and made it a breathtaking ballet where the romance and dancing was between men.

This still takes my breath away...




Want to know more about Tchaikovsky? While it still shows him being gay, you can check out the article on Tchaikovsky at Russiapedia under Prominent Russians.  More reliably, you can download a pdf biography of Tchaikovsky here at the LGBTQ History Month website. There's also this biography at PBS. And this lecture by Professor Robert Greenberg, which looks at Tchaikovsky's life and music and how they were intertwined, is excellent.

And through it all, it's Tchaikovsky's music that stays with us - beautiful, passionate, amazing, gay Russian music.

Definitely something to celebrate!

***

Take Action:

Want to protest the Olympic embrace of Russia's Anti-Gay Laws and help add your voice for change? Check out (and sign) this petition to Olympic sponsors Coca-Cola, asking them to stand tall against homophobia and prejudice.

Oh, and tell everyone you meet today that Tchaikovsky was a man who could fall in love with another man.

And listen to some of his amazing music!

***

Add To The Celebration:

Who are the Gay, Lesbian, Bi, Trans and Queer Russians you'd like to celebrate? Add your favorites in comments, and on the final day of the Olympics, I'll run a rainbow variety-pack post with everyone's suggestions!

Please Note: Given the situation in Russia, I'm thinking we should keep it to either people who are no longer living in Russia or are historical. I'd hate to create a list that then would be used against people by a repressive, anti-LGBTQ regime.

Having said that, there is a lot of Queer Russian heritage to explore and so many LGBTQ Russians we can celebrate!

***

Today's bonus: This awesome PSA from The Canadian Institute of Diversity and Inclusion, a fitting (and hilarious) response to Russia's efforts to deny LGBTQ involvement and presence in the Olympics:

October is LGBT History Month!

Love this!



I knew 20 out of 31. How about you?

There will be daily video updates for every day of October, so keep checking back here or at the 31 Days, 31 Icons LGBT History Month website!)



Lots of our queer history to celebrate!

Namaste,
Lee

GSA Monday: October is LGBT History Month!

This is a project of Equality Forum, in conjunction with the announcement by the U.S. Department of Education recognizing October as LGBT History Month.

“For a community deprived of its history, GLBT History Month teaches heritage, provides role models, builds community, and recognizes extraordinary national and international contributions,”

said Ora Alger, LGBTA Employees at ED President, U.S. Department of Education.

Every day in October they'll update this video feed below with a new video of a LGBT Icon. So keep checking back to learn and cheer and be inspired!




The videos are brief - like headlines -, and then there's more information on each of the month's icons here where you can click on their "biography" links to learn more.

So, for October 1st's icon, Eric Alva, you learn more than that he was the first US Soldier injured in the Iraq war, who became a national spokesperson for the repeal of "Don't Ask, Don't Tell." We get powerful quotes like this one:

“I had fought and nearly died to secure rights for others that I was not free to enjoy. I had proudly served a country that was not proud of me.”

It's a cool resource.

Happy Queerstory!

Namaste,
Lee

GSA Monday Topic: Who's Gay? Who's OUT? History, Herstory, Our story... Gay people Past and Present

One of the really fun things to do as a GSA (or heck, just as an individual) is to find out about historical figures who were Gay, or Bi, or Lesbian, or Transgender, or Questioning. And yeah, I know that these words for same-gender and same-sex love are new, but there is a lot of history (and herstory) that tells us that a guy falling in love with another guy, and a girl falling in love with another girl, is NOT so new.

So I encourage you to take some time this week and challenge your GSA members (and yourself) to find and share info about historical figures - and current day figures - who are part of our GLBTQ community.

And since it's a game of sorts, allow me to play first. My category: MUSIC.

Famous Gay Historical Figure from the Past:

Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky.
(Here he is as a Teenager)

Tchaikovsky composed the Nutcracker, Swan Lake, and the 1812 Overture... One of the world's greatest classical composers, he was gay.

And check out this quick look at the Gay version of "Swan Lake," by Matthew Bourne - it's set to Tchaikovsky's famous music, and the entire ballet was amazing! (The swans in it are MEN - not a group of ballerinas in tutus!)



(You can also check out this summary of Tchaikovsky's male loves and his disastrous "friendship" marriage to a woman of only a few months here.)


Famous Gay Historical Figure From the Present:

Mika,
an international Pop star, who recently came out as Bisexual.

Check out Mika's video "Blame It On The Girls." The next line is "Blame it on the boys," but the best (or is it just the "gayest" line in it - is when he sings "he has a face that makes you fall on your knees."





History. OUR history. What a fun way to celebrate yesterday's "National Coming Out Day", and of course, October being GLBT History Month.




Another way to celebrate is to check out this cool website with a new Historical GLBT Figure every day for the whole Month of October!


Enjoy, and Namaste,
Lee

ps: My thanks to loyal reader Adrienne for the Tchaikovsky info!