A History of Lesbianism

[Sky Dancer]

How they came into the world,
the women-loving-women
came in three by three
and four by four
the women-loving-women
can in ten by ten
and ten by ten again
until there were more
than you could count

they took care of each other
the best they knew how
and of each other's children,
if they had any.

How they lived in the world,
the women-loving-women
learned as much as they were allowed
and walked and wore their clothes
the way they liked
whenever they could. They did whatever
they knew to be happy or free
and worked and worked and worked.
The women-loving-women
in America were called dykes
and some liked it
and some did not.

the made love to each other
the best way they knew how
and for the right reasons.


Judy Grahn

 

[yidnar]

 

[Sky Dancer]

GLBT History Quiz

Q: Event marking the beginning of the gay, lesbian, bisexual, and transgender rights movement in the United States?

Q: Symbol for Gay Pride that originated in Nazi Concentration Camps?

Q: Prolific Gay American Playwright who won two Pulitzer Prizes and four New York Drama Critics Circle Awards for best play?

Q: Greek philosopher who authored the first extensive writings on love between men?

Q: British archaeologist and military strategist who carved a statue of his Turkish partner and placed it on top of their home?

Q: Author who first used the word “gay”, meaning homosexual, in print?

Q: Nineteenth Century writer who boldly proclaimed his pride in being gay

Q: First professional athlete to come out of the closet while still actively competing?

Q: Who said, “If a bullet should enter my brain, let that bullet destroy every closet door.”?

Q: Pulitzer Prize winning author of The Color Purple who discussed her bisexuality in a later work?


Q: Openly gay U.S. Congressman from Massachusetts?

Q: Openly gay advisor and speechwriter for Martin Luther King, Jr. who was the chief organizer of the 1963 March on Washington, in which Dr. King proclaimed, “I have a dream" ?

Q: Gay Russian composer who started his professional life working as a civil servant for the St. Petersburg department of justice?

Q: Sculptor and Painter who wrote poetry inspired by the love of men?

Q: Greek Poet whose home gave rise to the modern use of the word “’lesbian" ?

Q: Macedonian King who, in his grief over his male lover’s death, visited the oracles to learn if his lover was a god?

Q: Nobel Peace Prize winning suffragette and founder of the Hull House who shared her life for 40 years with Mary Rozer Smith, her “spouse-surrogate" ?

 

[Sky Dancer]

Famous Gays and Lesbians in History

Sappho (600 B.C.) Greek Poetess

Socrates (470-399 B.C.) Greek Teacher and Philosopher

Plato (427-347 B.C.) Greek Teacher and Philosopher

Alexander The Great (356-323 B.C.) Macedonian King and Military Leader

Wu (140-87 B.C.) Chinese Emperor

Hadrian (76-138 A.D.) Roman Emperor

Richard the Lion Hearted (1157-1199) English King and Crusader

Edward II (1254-1327) English King

Leonardo da Vinci (1452-1519) Italian Renaissance Artist, Teacher, Scientist and Inventor

Michelangelo (1475-1564) Italian Renaissance Artist and Sculptor

Montezuma II (1480-1520) Aztec Emperor

Julius III (1487-1555) Catholic Pope

Ieyasu Tokugawa (1542-1616) Japanese Shogun and founder of the Edo Shogunate

Sir Francis Bacon (1561-1626) British Statesman and Writer

Christopher Marlowe (1564-1593) English dramatist and poet

Christina (1626-1689) Swedish Queen

Peter the Great (1672-1725) Russian Czar (pictured at left)

Frederick the Great (1712-1786) Prussian King and Military Leader

Madame de Stael (1766-1817) French Writer and Intellectual

Lord Byron (1788-1824) British Poet

Hans Christian Andersen (1805-1875) Danish Poet and Writer

Margaret Fuller (1810-1850) Euro-American Writer and Journalist

Henry David Thoreau (1817-1862) Euro-American Philosopher, Naturalist, and Peace Activist

Walt Whitman (1819-1892) Euro-American Poet

Herman Melville (1819-1891) Euro-American Writer

Chief Crazy Horse (Tashunca witco) (1849-1877) Oglala Sioux Chief

Peter I. Tchaikovsky (1840-1893) Russian Composer (pictured at right)

Oscar Wilde (1854-1900) Irish Writer and Dramatist

Dame Ethel Smyth (1858-1944) British Composer, Writer, and Activist

Marcel Proust (1871-1922) French Writer

Sergei Diaghileff (1872-1929) Russian Ballet Impresario

Vita Sackville-West (1892-1962) British Writer

Vaslav Nijinsky (1890-1950) Russian Ballet Dancer

Edward Carpenter (1844-1929) British Author and Gay Rights Pioneer

Willa Cather (1873-1947) Euro-American Writer and Critic

Colette (1873-1954) French Writer and Actress

W. Somerset Maugham (1874-1965) British Writer and Dramatist

Alice B. Toklas (1877-1967) Euro-American Writer; Stein's Domestic Partner

Gertrude Stein (1874-1946) Euro-American Writer and Art Collector (pictured at right, photo by Carl Van Vechten); Toklas' Domestic Partner

Bessie Smith (1894-1937) African-American Blues Singer and Entertainer

E.M. Forster (1879-1970) British Writer

Virginia Woolf (1882-1941) British Writer and Publisher

Ernst Rohm (1887-1933) German Nazi and SA Leader

T.E. Lawrence (Lawrence of Arabia) (1888-1935) British Soldier

Jean Cocteau (1889-1963) French Writer and Filmmaker

John Maynard Keynes (1883-1946) British Economist and Nobel Prize Winner

Cole Porter (1893-1964) Euro-American Composer

Bayard Rustin (1910-87) African-American Civil Rights, Labor Rights, & Peace Activist/Leader

Alan Turing (1912-1954) British Mathematician and Computer Scientist

James Baldwin (1924-1987) African-American Writer and Civil Rights Activist

Truman Capote (1924-1984) Euro-American Author

Tennessee Williams (1914-1983) Euro-American Dramatist

Marguerite Yourcenar (1903-1987) Belgian-American Writer

Federico Garcia Lorca (1894-1936) Spanish Poet and Dramatist

Christopher Isherwood (1904-1986) British Author

W.H. Auden (1907-1973) British Poet and Writer

Harvey Milk (1930-1978) Euro-American Politician

Audre Lorde (1934-1992) African-American Writer and Activist

Billie Jean King (1943 - ) Euro-American Tennis Champion and Activist

Martina Navratilova (1956- ) Czechoslovakian-American Tennis Champion and Activist

Andy Warhol (1930-1987) Euro-American Pop Artist

Frieda Kahlo (1907-1954) Mexican Artist and Activist

Gore Vidal (1925- ) Euro-American Writer

Rudolf Nureyev (1938-1993) Russian dancer The Rudolf Nureyev Foundation

Freddie Mercury (1946-1991) British Singer/songwriter/musician

Elton John (1947 - ) British Singer/songwriter/musican

Janis Ian (1951 - ) Euro-American Singer/songwriter/musician

Nathan Lane (1956 - ) Euro-American Actor

Ellen Degeneres (1958 - ) Euro-American Comedian/actor

Melissa Etheridge (1961 - ) Euro-American Singer/songwriter/musician (pictured at right) Click here for a sample of Melissa's music from her official website. Requires Real Player

k. d. lang (1961 - ) Canadian Singer/songwriter

Gays and Lesbians in History

 

[strollingbones]

freddie mercury was not british.....

 

[California Girl]

*Raises hand politely*

I have a question. WTF is a 'euro-American'?

 

[Sky Dancer]

*Raises hand politely*

I have a question. WTF is a 'euro-American'?

Isn't that what Willow calls herself?

 

[Sky Dancer]

freddie mercury was not british.....

Freddie Mercury (born Farrokh Bulsara (Gujarati: ફારોખ બલ્સારા*), 5 September 1946 – 24 November 1991)[2][3] was a British musician, singer and songwriter, best known as the lead vocalist of the rock band Queen. As a performer, he was known for his flamboyant stage persona and powerful vocals over a four-octave range.
Freddie Mercury - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

 

[kwc57]

I don't give a flying fuck who they like to pork, I consider them people like anyone else. Your sexuality should never define you as a person as it is simply one small facet of your life.

 

[California Girl]

*Raises hand politely*

I have a question. WTF is a 'euro-American'?

Isn't that what Willow calls herself?

Probably.

Personally, I'm good with American-no hyphen.

 

[Sky Dancer]

I don't give a flying fuck who they like to pork, I consider them people like anyone else. Your sexuality should never define you as a person as it is simply one small facet of your life.

Sexuality doesn't really define anyone. The point is that gays and lesbians have lived closeted lives for most of history. That is changing. We are being known in our truth.

 

[California Girl]

Sky, I have another question.

In the past few minutes, in another thread, I was informed that I am a lesbian. Now, I have no problem with that - except that it is technically not true but whatever... So, my question is... if I can't answer any of the questions on the 'Lesbian Test' above, can I still be a lesbian?

 

[Sky Dancer]

Sky, I have another question.

In the past few minutes, in another thread, I was informed that I am a lesbian. Now, I have no problem with that - except that it is technically not true but whatever... So, my question is... if I can't answer any of the questions on the 'Lesbian Test' above, can I still be a lesbian?

LOL. That is funny. Do you want me to vouch for you?

CALIFORNIA GIRL IS NOT A LESBIAN!

signed, sky, obnoxious lesbian poster.

I OUGHT TO KNOW I'VE GOT GAYDAR!

 

[JScott]

I dont mind lesbians at all. As long as I can party with them

 

[California Girl]

Sky, I have another question.

In the past few minutes, in another thread, I was informed that I am a lesbian. Now, I have no problem with that - except that it is technically not true but whatever... So, my question is... if I can't answer any of the questions on the 'Lesbian Test' above, can I still be a lesbian?

LOL. That is funny. Do you want me to vouch for you?

CALIFORNIA GIRL IS NOT A LESBIAN!

signed, sky, obnoxious lesbian poster.

I OUGHT TO KNOW I'VE GOT GAYDAR!

On the bright side, there are a couple of "men" on this forum that would certainly make me consider lesbianism as an option.

 

[rdean]

I would have to see it for myself before I can judge.

 

[AVG-JOE]

freddie mercury was not british.....

Freddie Mercury - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

 

[AVG-JOE]

*Raises hand politely*

I have a question. WTF is a 'euro-American'?

Isn't that what Willow calls herself?

I think she goes with the full handle of 'European American'.

I believe it's a contrast to 'African American', 'Asian American', 'Native American', and my self described race of 'American Mutt', but I've never asked her, so I'm speculating.

 

[Sky Dancer]

For California Girl:

Am I a Lesbian?

 

[Moonglow]

I don't give a flying fuck who they like to pork, I consider them people like anyone else. Your sexuality should never define you as a person as it is simply one small facet of your life.

I grew up in OKC/Moore ok 1961-1985