As promised, here is the follow-up of famous LGBTQ historical figures! Happy LGBTQ History Month!
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Oscar Wilde (October 16, 1854 – November 30, 1900)
Writer of The Picture of Dorian Gray and The Importance of Being Earnest, you probably knew Oscar Wilde was gay—it’s pretty famous. But I wanted to include him again because his life story is so, dare I say, wild???? Actually, I’m not even going to tell you his story. I want you to look it up and fully experience and digest that information. It’ll be worth it. (Picture: Oscar Wilde, left, with Lord Alfred Douglas)
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Sigmund Freud (May 6, 1856 – September 23, 1939)
Ah, Freud. As you probably know, Freud had a lot to say about sex. And, well, a lot of the stuff he has to say is projecting his own thoughts onto other people. Case in point: Freud thinks that everyone is really obsessed with penises. Turns out, Freud was really the only one obsessed with penises. Also, he had a big ol crush on his friend Wilhelm Fliess.
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Virginia Woolf (January 25, 1882 – March 28, 1941)
For many years, Woolf had an affair with Vita Sackville-West. She wrote in her diary that, “Vita shines in the grocers shop in Sevenoaks…pink glowing, grape clustered, pearl hung…There is her maturity and full-breastedness: her being so much in full sail on the high tides, where I am coasting down backwaters; her capacity I mean to take the floor in any company, to represent her country, to visit Chatsworth, to control silver, servants, chow dogs; her motherhood…her in short (what I have never been) a real woman.”
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Eleanor Roosevelt (October 11, 1884 – November 7, 1962)
First Lady to Franklin Delano Roosevelt, who also had many an affair, Eleanor’s great love was Lorena Hickok (pictured, left). Hickok, an out lesbian, was a reporter who covered the Roosevelt’s during the presidential campaign. The two exchanged many, many letters, where Eleanor writes, “I want to put my arms around you & kiss you at the corner of your mouth,” and, “I can’t kiss you, so I kiss your picture good night and good morning!”
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Tennessee Williams (March 26, 1911 – February 25, 1983)
American playwright of “A Streetcar Named Desire,” “Cat on a Hot Tin Roof,” and “The Glass Menagerie,” Tennessee Williams had many a boyfriend in his day. Kip Kiernan, Pancho Rodríguez y González, Rafaello, Frank Merlo (pictured, sitting), and Robert Carroll were all boyfriends of Williams. Unfortunately, Williams struggled with depression and drug addiction, which you can feel through his work, and he would eventually die alone.
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Billie Holiday (April 7, 1915 – July 17, 1959)
The beautiful jazz singer was somewhat openly bisexual, and was rumored to have affairs with many famous actresses in Hollywood. She is confirmed to have had an affair with star Tallulah Bankhead (who referred to herself as “ambisextrous”). However, Holiday also had many turbulent and abusive affairs with men, and fell victim to drug and alcohol addiction, which led to her early health failure at the age of 44.
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Malcolm X (May 19, 1925 – February 21, 1965)
One of the most famous Civil Rights Activists of all time, Malcolm X was involved with many men in his younger years. In his teens and 20s, he was a male sex-worker for rich businessmen, and later had an affair with Willie Mae. While he would remain faithful to his wife Betty Shabazz, Malcolm X was definitely bisexual.
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Andy Warhol (August 6, 1928 – February 22, 1987)
The pop artist most famous for his Marilyn Monroe piece, Warhol was openly gay. His lovers included John Giorno, Billy Name, Charles Lisanby, Jon Gould, and Jed Johnson, whom he was with for 12 years. He produced many homoerotic pieces, such as that pictured, and had some of his art rejected from galleries for being “too gay.”
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Anne Frank (June 12, 1929 – 1945)
The Diary of a Young Girl is one of the most important books of the 20th century. And if you look closely, you’ll find that as a 15 year old girl, Anne Frank was questioning her sexuality: “I remember that once when I slept with a girl friend I had a strong desire to kiss her, and that I did do so. I could not help being terribly inquisitive over her body, for she had always kept it hidden from me. I asked her whether, as a proof of our friendship, we should feel one another’s breasts, but she refused. I go into ecstasies every time I see the naked figure of a woman, such as Venus, for example. It strikes me as so wonderful and exquisite that I have difficulty in stopping the tears rolling down my cheeks. If only I had a girl friend!”
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Marlon Brando (April 3, 1924 -July 1, 2004) & James Dean (February 8, 1931 – September 30, 1955)
The Godfather (pictured, left) and the original teen heartthrob (pictured, middle) were both Hollywood playboys. The two had a sexual affair over several months, but they also had sex with basically everyone in Hollywood during the 50s. Both men slept with Marilyn Monroe; Dean’s lovers include Elizabeth Taylor, Judy Garland, and Rock Hudson. Brando, for his part, once said, “Like a large number of men, I too have had homosexual experiences and am not ashamed.” What a guy.
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Freddie Mercury (September 5, 1946 – November 24, 1991)
Queen singer Freddie Mercury struggled with his sexuality for a while, but in 1976 he broke up with his girlfriend Mary Austin after telling her that he was gay. He had a series of flings shortly after, until 1885 when he began what would be a lifelong relationship with hairdresser (not the actor) Jim Hutton. Supposedly, Hutton gave Mercury a wedding ring that he was wearing when he died.
Well, there you have it! Some people you hopefully knew from history that you may not have known were LGBTQ!