Fun Facts You Didn't Know About 20 Queer Historical Icons

We'Wha

Cultural ambassador We’Wha was a "lhamana," or a gender identity that existed outside the Europeans' man-woman binary, in the Zuni nation. As a lhamana, We’Wha was a spiritual leader, artisan, and ambassador for their community. They became the first known non-binary person to meet with an American president when they visited Grover Cleveland on a cross-cultural exchange trip to Washington D.C.

Sylvia Rivera

After being bullied for wearing makeup, activist Sylvia Rivera moved away from home to New York’s 42nd street when she was just 11 years old. With her friend and mentor Marsha P. Johnson, Sylvia fought against police brutality at the Stonewall Riots of June 1969 and subsequently founded STAR (Street Transvestite Action Revolutionaries), which provided a blueprint for many trans activist organizations of today.

Storme Delaverie

Storme was a gender-bender both on and off stage: the only performer in the Jewel Box Revue drag show assigned female at birth, Delaverie hit the stage in a tuxedo and then walked the streets in a man’s suit. After throwing what was likely the first punch at the Stonewall Riots, Storme was a self-declared "guardian of lesbians" in New York City until their death at age 93.

Sappho

Sappho’s homoerotic poetry was so iconic that some sources claim her works were burned or suppressed by the early Christian Church. We actually have the word "lesbian" thanks to her — women who love women are now called that because Sappho was born on the Greek island of Lesbos.

Sally Ride

When Dr. Sally Ride became the first American woman in space in 1983, her childhood friend, Tam O'Shaughnessy, watched her take off from the VIP bleachers after Ride sent her a hand-written invitation. Ride and O'Shaughnessy soon became life partners and remained so for 27 years.

Michelangelo

In addition to being one of the most famous artists of all time, Michelangelo wrote many homoerotic poems for a man named Tommaso de’Cavalieri. When Michaelangelo’s great-nephew discovered them, he had the pronouns changed to make it seem like Michaelangelo was addressing a woman.

Marsha P. Johnson

Marsha P. Johnson not only became one of the most celebrated veterans of the Stonewall Riots, but she also co-founded STAR (Street Transvestite Action Revolutionaries) with Sylvia Rivera and became a marshal with ACT UP (the AIDS Coalition to Unleash Power). She often said that her middle initial stood for "pay it no mind" because that’s what she would say when people asked about her gender.

Ma Rainey

The police arrested blues star Ma Rainey for hosting illegal queer house parties, called Buffet Flats. Her alleged lover, the famous singer Bessie Smith, bailed her out of jail. The arrest did not stop Ma from flaunting her sexuality — she recorded Prove It On Me Blues, which celebrated her queerness and taunted the cops.

Lynn Conway

Even after getting fired from IBM for pursuing gender affirmation, trans pioneer Lynn Conway went on to work at other major computer companies, including Memorex and Xerox, and revolutionized microchip computing.

Abraham Lincoln

Honest Abe was big on bed-sharing. Before becoming president, he shared a bed with Joshua Fry Speed for several years, and he had intimate relationships with at least four men throughout his life. During the Civil War, Lincoln would often share a bed with military Captain David Derrickson, who also slept in the president’s nightshirt.

King James

In a letter to his lover, the Duke of Buckingham, King James called him his "sweet child and wife" and called himself Buckingham's "dear dad and husband." King James later had a secret passage built at one of his estates that connected his bedroom with that of another of his alleged lovers.

Josephine Baker

International superstar (and super spy) Josephine Baker had several relationships with both men and women, including affairs with famous French novelist Colette and perhaps even Mexican painter Frida Kahlo. During WWII, she harnessed her celebrity status to the Allies’ advantage, attending parties with Axis powers and sneaking off to the bathroom to take notes of things she had overheard.

Jose Sarria

Sarria was already a local San Francisco legend when he became the first openly gay person in the United States to run for office back in 1961. He was a beloved drag queen, known for his iconic falsetto opera performances, which he would often end by singing "God Save Us Nelly Queens."

Joan of Arc

St. Joan faced seventy charges when she was prosecuted for being a heretic, fourteen of which had to do with her gender offenses, including cross-dressing. In an examination, she said: "For nothing in the world will I swear not to arm myself and put on a man's dress."

Harry Allen

Outlaw cowboy Harry Allen shocked the police after he revealed that he was assigned female at birth and had been presenting as a man for years. Even as a kid, Harry wore masculine attire, herded cattle and broke in broncos.

Glenn Burke

Pro-baseball player Glenn Burke became a queer icon when he came out to the public in an interview on "The Today Show." His career had been cut short by the Los Angeles Dodgers due to homophobic discrimination, and he went on to win several medals in the first-ever Gay Games.

Eleanor Roosevelt

First Lady and feminist hero Eleanor Roosevelt had a longstanding affair with journalist Lorena Hickok, to whom she wrote 10-15 pages every day. The 16,000 surviving pages of correspondence contain many saucy, erotic exchanges. Hickok even lived with Eleanor and FDR in the White House!

Bayard Rustin

When Civil Rights activist Bayard Rustin, the chief architect of the 1963 March on Washington, went to jail as a conscientious objector during the Vietnam War, he did not hide his sexuality even a little bit. He had sexual relationships with other inmates, and prison officials often described him as unapologetically and flagrantly homosexual.

Alan Turing

Even though many laud Turing’s patriotism for his outstanding contributions that helped end WWII, the British government prosecuted him for homosexuality. Authorities discovered that he was gay when he reported a home burglary and told the authorities he thought the robber might be his male lover. Instead of finding the culprit, they charged Alan with "gross indecency" under an anti-homosexuality law from 1885.

Akhenaten

Gender-bending pharoah Akhenaten bucked the traditional gender binary and aligned himself with both masculinity and femininity, depicting himself with broad shoulders, breasts, wide hips, and a strong chin. Though he was married to Nefertiti, some scholars believe Akhenaten also had sexual relations with men.

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