No Way!

By: B W
(© 2012 by the author)

The author retains all rights. No reproductions are allowed without the author's consent. Comments are appreciated at...

“Mr. Hammond, you’re gay?  Right?” one of my students asked. 

I’m a history teacher and don’t generally advertise this fact, for obvious reasons, but I won’t deny the truth either. 

“Yes, I am,” I admitted.  “Why do you ask?” 

“My father says that gays, or guys who do stuff like that, have never done anything important or ever become really famous,” the boy responded.  “Is that true?” 

“I would definitely say it is not,” I replied, “but claims of that nature are sometimes hard to prove or disprove, for many reasons.” 

“Like what?” he challenged. 

“First of all, at different times throughout history people who were gay may have felt that it would be best if they either hid their sexuality or possibly even participated in a heterosexual relationship as well, so they wouldn’t be suspected,” I offered.  “These individuals might have done this merely to protect themselves, because being gay wasn’t the accepted norm at the time, as judged by religious, societal or cultural standards.  If their sexual orientation had become known, the penalties for engaging in homosexual acts could be very harsh, so it might have landed them in prison or worse.  It most likely would have also created a stigma around them that would have limited their employment and other opportunities.”  

“So we don’t know the truth, because some of them wanted to keep it hidden,” the boy observed. 

“That would be one reason,” I confirmed, “but another factor could have been that some of the people who were recording history might have changed certain details about an individual or a group.  If the person writing the information down felt the facts conflicted with his personal beliefs or thought it would look better if some details weren’t mentioned, he could have very easily changed or omitted the offending information.” 

“So some things we learn aren’t actually true?” he wondered. 

“There may be hazy areas of fact that we may never be able to confirm,” I answered.  “As Winston Churchill, the British orator, author and politician once said, although he may not have been the first to point this out, ‘History is written by the victors.’  This doesn’t merely refer to those who were victorious in battle, but sometimes history is also written, or rewritten, by those who are victorious in elections or had gained power by other means.  Those in positions of authority may choose to echo either their own moral standards or the moral consensus of the time and ignore or falsify information that does not conform to their viewpoint.”

“I don’t understand,” he stated, looking bewildered. 

“Let me give you another example, one that you can visualize,” I offered.  “There have been periods in history when the depiction of nudes in art was acceptable and no one objected to it.  Then at a later time, after a new moral code became popular, the same painting or sculpture suddenly became objectionable.  During those times when it was no longer deemed appropriate, the people in charge may have had fig leaves or clothing painted or draped over the areas they believed improper to expose, thus changing the historical accuracy of that work of art.  It no longer reflected the artist’s vision or his original intension.  Similar types of revisions may have also happened to the oral and written history as well, so we can never be positive about the accuracy of some of the information we currently possess, especially things that happened, say more than a hundred years ago.” 

“Oh, I get it now,” the boy replied, while looking as if a light had just gone on in his head.  “It’s kind of like if I do something, but then when my parents confront me about it, I change some of the details, so it doesn’t look so bad.” 

“Yes, that may be a limited example of how things like this may happen,” I agreed.  “It’s also possible that these types of distortions suddenly became more difficult to enact after the invention of photography, tape and digital recordings and motion pictures.  Once it was possible to record images of what happened or hear people describe what had taken place, it became harder to refute those events and offer your own interpretation of what occurred later, unless you could destroy the evidence.” 

“Ok, I get it now,” he confirmed.  “So tell me about some of the famous gays then.”  

Since I knew I wouldn’t be able to pull up all of these facts from memory, I quickly opened a file on my computer – one that I had saved for a situation such as this. 

“Let’s start with the ancient Greeks then,” I began.  “First of all, they didn’t share the same types of negative views about same-sex relationships that are so prevalent today.  In fact, same-sex interactions were quite common and possibly, in some cases, even encouraged.  Socrates and Aristotle, and most likely Plato, who were some of the history’s greatest philosophers and teachers, at some point during their lives had at least one relationship with a member of their own sex.  They may have also been married, like Socrates, but it didn’t preclude interaction with other males. 

“Other famous Greeks might have been exclusively gay, such as the male poet, Sophocles, and the female poet, Sappho.  She came from the island of Lesbos, which most likely is the origin of the term Lesbian and refers to a woman who is only attracted to other women.”  

“I didn’t know that,” one of the girls stated, although judging by the expression on her face after she made her comment, it was most likely just a spontaneous outburst and done inadvertently. 

“So it was pretty much just the artsy-fartsy types, like my father would say, and not the athletes, soldiers or really important people,” my original questioner commented. 

“Not in the least,” I stated.  “This would have been common at all levels of society and even included the famous general, Alexander the Great.  He had been a student of Aristotle and by the age of thirty ruled one of the largest empires in the ancient world.  In addition to his wives, it was believed that Alexander had at least one male love interest, another general, friend and bodyguard named Hephaestion. 

“In addition to Alexander, there was a separate group of warriors, called the Sacred Band of Thebes, which consisted of 150 same-sex couples.”

“They were thieves,” the boy blurted out, interrupting me. 

“Not thieves, but Thebes, with a ‘b’,” I corrected.  “It’s a city in Greece.  In ancient times, cities in the region formed their own armies, which often engaged in battles against the other cities.” 

“Oh, I see,” he assured me. 

“The Sacred Band of Thebes became famous for winning some impressive battles where they were greatly outnumbered,” I continued.  “They were finally defeated by Phillip II of Macedon, and his son, Alexander, who was later to become Alexander the Great.  It is said that all 300 warriors died fighting that day, as they defended their city, as well as their lovers.” 

“Wow, they must have been pretty brave then!” another boy exclaimed. 

“It seems that way,” I concurred.  “The Theben General, Pammenes, once said of this group, ‘For men of the same tribe little value one another when dangers press, but a band cemented by friendship grounded by love is never to be broken.’  This comment must have been deemed important, because it was recorded and preserved by the famous Greek historian, Plutarch.” 

“So guys who do stuff with other guys aren’t just all wimps,” the same boy observed. 

“No, just like heterosexuals, they come in a variety of shapes, sizes and have a wide range of attributes,” I replied.  “Many of the Roman Emperors, some of whom were also experienced and successful military leaders, often had same-sex partners.  Some of them were also what we’d consider as being exclusively gay, rather than bisexual, such as Trajan, Antoninus and Hadrian.  In fact, after Hadrian’s lover, Antinous, died, he tried to have his lover deified, or declared a god, because of his deep affection for him.” 

“That’s so sweet,” one of the girls observed.  Her comment elicited more than a few strange looks from the boys. 

“Of course, the Roman society didn’t look at sex the same way we do today either,” I added.  “Rather than using the gender of the participants to judge the appropriateness of the relationship, the Romans were more likely to make the distinction based upon who played what role.  There wasn’t any stigma attached to the one assuming the dominant-masculine role, or the one doing the penetrating, as opposed to the submissive-feminine role, or the one being penetrated.  Those in positions of power and authority would choose to be the dominant partner, no matter who they were with, or else it might have potential to destroy their reputation.” 

“So they really didn’t care who they were having sex with then?” someone else asked. 

“Not in the same way we view it today,” I answered.  “For them, the most important factor was the role the individual assumed during the sex act.”

“So was it only the Greeks and Romans that did things like this?” another timid voice asked. 

“Absolutely not,” I responded.  “Other societies and historical figures were also known to have had no problem with same-sex relationships.” 

“Like who?” another student challenged. 

 

“Well, for starters, the cultures in the Orient seemed fairly open to these types of things,” I responded.  “The ancient Chinese apparently had no problem with it, because many of the early Chinese Emperors were known to have had same-sex partners.  Homosexuality was also an accepted practice and possibly even the norm, among the Japanese Samurai class, and although Japanese Buddhist monks weren’t permitted to have sexual relations with women, relationships with males wasn’t expressly prohibited. 

“Moving to a different part of the world,” I continued, “Aristotle reported that the ancient Celts, a group of peoples that once inhabited large portions of central Europe and the British Isles, appeared to ‘esteem homosexuality.’  Many pre-Columbian Native American tribes, meaning those that were present prior to the arrival of Christopher Columbus in the Americas, often allowed homosexual encounters.  This fact was widely reported by both the Spanish and French explorers, as well as by the early missionaries. 

“That should give you a sufficient number of examples, because I’m not going to try to list all of the societies where these things were permitted.” 

“Can you give me some examples of specific people that I may know about who had homosexual relations?” one of the boys asked. 

“Sure.  For those of you who are interested in military figures, there was Baron Von Steuben, who was at Valley Forge and served under George Washington during the Revolutionary War.  Then there was also T. E. Lawrence, the British officer who was renowned for his role in the Arab Revolt against Ottoman Turkish rule, during 1916 – 1918, and gained the nickname, ‘Lawrence of Arabia.’  Then, there was Joan of Arc, the French peasant girl turned soldier who may have been a transgender.  Although it was claimed that she was burned at the stake for being a witch, she was charged with ‘dressing as a man.’ 

“There were also several rulers who presumably had same-sex relationships,” I continued, “including Saladin, the Sultan of Egypt; Suleman the Magnificent, a ruler of the Ottoman Empire; Montezeuma II, an Aztec ruler; Fredrick the Great, King of Prussia; and Peter the Great, a Russian Czar.  Louis XIII of France was also said to have preferred men and even Marie Antoinette, the French Empress who was beheaded during the French Revolution, was said to have had affairs with Ladies of the Court.” 

“You mean even leaders of those countries did things like that?” one of the girls wondered.  

“Yes, and the ones I mentioned weren’t the only ones,” I replied.  “The British monarchy had their share too, with King Richard I, also know as Richard the Lionhearted when he fought in the Crusades, King Edward II and King James I, who was also King James VI of Scotland.” 

“Was he the King James they named the Bible after?” another girl wanted to know. 

“Yes, he was the King who commissioned a new translation of the Bible, which became known as the Authorized King James Version,” I confirmed.  “It wasn’t only the Kings either, because Queen Anne was believed to have had a female lover, Sarah Churchill, who was one of her ladies of the bedchamber.  They maintained a very close friendship and were known to refer to each other using pet names,” 

“Like Fido and Spot?” one of the boys joked. 

“No, Sarah called Queen Anne Mrs. Morley, and she called Sarah Mrs. Freeman, rather than using their more formal titles.” 

“That seems silly,” one of the girls stated. 

“Yes, it probably does,” I agreed “but the use of titles and formal means of addressing each other were not only important, but frequently required.  Back then, the use of familiar or nicknames in addressing one’s superior would have been looked at as highly irregular and disrespectful,” 

“So was she the only queen to have a female lover?” another girl wanted to know.   

“Probably not,” I noted.  “There was also a lot of speculation about the sexuality of Queen Elizabeth I, since she never married and was often referred to as the ‘Virgin Queen.’  Even though she tried to encourage the notion that she was merely chaste, or pure, others had a different explanation for her lack of desire to have a consort.  In fact, although she was quite old at the time, it was said the Queen fell into a ‘severe melancholy,’ or depression, after the deaths of two of her close, female friends and died shortly thereafter.”

“But didn’t kings and queens need to have children, so they could take over after their parent died?” someone wondered. 

“Yes, and for that reason the majority of royals had sexual relations with the opposite sex as well, although for some of them it may have been quite limited and done solely to produce heirs,” I confirmed.  “Those who didn’t have children would either adopt, such as Julius Caesar had done with Augustus Caesar, decree that a distant relative or military leader succeed them, or merely let others worry about who would replace them, once they were gone.” 

“Well, maybe those other countries had rulers who were gay or bi, but none of the American Presidents were,” another boy commented, while looking quite smug. 

“Don’t be too sure about that,” I challenged.  “James Buchanan, the 15th President, was a lifelong bachelor and rumored to have had homosexual lovers.  Even our 16th President, Abraham Lincoln, was thought to have had gay affairs, the first of which might possibly have been with Billy Green.  They lived together and shared a very narrow bed when Lincoln was 22, although the occurrence of men sharing a bed was not uncommon for the time. 

“Later, it was rumored that Lincoln and his friend, Joshua Fry Speed, might have also been involved.  They shared a room as well, but this one had a large double bed, which they slept in together.  Another possibility was Captain David Derickson, who was Lincoln’s bodyguard, and it was said that he often shared a bed with Lincoln whenever Mrs. Lincoln was absent.” 

“I don’t believe that about Lincoln,” another boy objected. 

“Which is your prerogative, because the accuracy of those claims will probably never be proven, so we’ll never know for sure if anything actually happened between them,” I agreed.  “As I said earlier, people often hid those sorts of relationships and didn’t make them public, which meant they also made certain that nothing remained behind that might have been seen as incriminating later, such as letters or photographs that could possibly confirm such speculation.” 

“So who else?” someone else pressed. 

“It was rumored that one First Lady, Eleanor Roosevelt, wife of President Franklin D. Roosevelt, may have had a lesbian affair with a female journalist,” I answered.  “There was also Harvey Milk, who became the first openly gay person ever elected to a political office, and then later there was Congressman Barney Frank, a Democrat from Massachusetts, who married his longtime partner in 2012 and became the first Congressional leader to have a same-sex spouse.  Other gay Congressmen would have included Gerry Studds (D-MA), Steve Gunderson (R-WI), Tammy Baldwin (D-WI) and Jared Polis (D-CO), but there may be others we don’t know about.

“There were other important figures that may have also had same-sex relationships as well,” I continued.  “There were quite a few rumors about J. Edgar Hoover, the longtime Director of the F.B.I., which may have started because Hoover never married and for many years he shared a very close relationship with his unmarried second-in-command and friend, Clyde Tolson.  They not only worked together, but they also ate two meals a day with each other, socialized together during off-duty hours, went on joint vacations and Hoover’s will bequeathed his entire estate to Tolson, upon his death.

“Not only that, but a letter was later discovered in Tolson’s personnel file that stated, ‘Words are mere man-given symbols for thoughts and feelings, and they are grossly insufficient to express the thoughts in my mind and the feelings in my heart that I have for you.  I hope I will always have you beside me.’  That was written by Hoover to Tolson in 1943.” 

“Were there any other modern world leaders that weren’t American?” someone else wondered.  

“During roughly that same time period that Hoover was at the F.B.I., Dag Hammerskjold became the second Secretary-General of the United Nations and led that organization from 1953 to 1961,” I answered.  “He was Swedish, and definitely gay, a fact that wasn’t commonly known while he was in-charge of that international peacekeeping body.  He may not have wanted this information to get out, because he understood that knowledge about his sexual orientation might have prevented him from gaining the position in the first place, due to sentiment about homosexuals at the time.  Not only that, but it could have also greatly limited his negotiating ability with certain groups and reduced his overall effectiveness.

“Moving on to another historical figure, letters have recently been discovered that may indicate that Mohandas Gandhi, who is often referred to as Mahatma Gandhi, might have had a same-sex affair,” I added.  “A collection of correspondence, written between Gandhi and a German architect, Hermann Kallenbach, has recently come under public scrutiny.  The government of India has spent large sums of money in an attempt to keep this information from coming to light, possibly because it could be considered a blot upon Gandhi’s reputation.  This may be due to the fact that, as some claim, these letters reveal that Gandhi may have left his wife so he could pursue a gay relationship with Kallenbach.  Gandhi is a national hero there, because he led a non-violent movement that helped India gain independence from British-rule, during the middle of the 20th century.”

“All of these things are interesting,” one of the girls pointed out, “but like someone else said earlier, I thought gays were mostly into art and creative stuff?  You know, like painting, writing, acting, singing, dancing, interior design, fashion and cosmetology.” 

“Yes, and I’m not surprised that you pointed out some of those specific professions and trades,” I replied, with a grin, “so let me try to point out some of those that would fit into your idea of being gay.  For starters, there is Gianni Versace, the fashion designer, Russian ballet dancers, Rudolf Nuryev and Waslaw Nijinsky, as well as the American dancer and choreographer, Tommy Tune. 

“When it comes to music, there are Americans Johnny Mathis, Melissa Etheridge, Joan Baez, Janis Joplin, Alicia Bridges, Clay Aikin, Lance Bass and of course the great pianist and showman, Liberace.  The English have given us Dusty Springfield, Freddie Mercury, Elton John, Boy George and George Michael, and then there’s the Canadian, k. d. lang. 

“I should probably also add Katharine Lee Bates to this list, since she wrote the poem, which was adapted to a tune Samuel A. Ward wrote for a hymn, and would become the patriotic song, ‘America the Beautiful.’  Since it was first published, this particular song has frequently been suggested to replace, or at least be given equal status to, the National Anthem.”

“If you’d rather talk about classical music, there’s the German-English composer, George Frideric Handel; British composer, Benjamin Britten; Russian composers, Peter Tchaikovsky and Igor Stravinsky; and American composers Cole Porter, Aaron Copeland and Leonard Bernstein.” 

“Wow, that’s a pretty impressive list,” one of the students pointed out, after I paused to check the next group.   

“It certainly is, but we still have more to go in other areas,” I continued.  “Just to name a few, there are English actors Charles Laughton, Vivien Leigh, Sir Laurence Olivier, Rupert Everett and Ian McKellen.  Then there are the American actors, James Dean and Montgomery Clift, as well as Marlon Brando, who was probably bi, but was believed to have had affairs with Dean and Clift.  There was also Rock Hudson, Sal Mineo, Tony Perkins, Spencer Tracy, Katherine Hepburn, Neil Patrick Harris, Jodie Foster, Rosie O’Donnell, Ellen DeGeneres, David Hyde Pierce, Jane Lynch and Japanese-American, George Takei.” 

“I don’t know all of them, but I recognize some of those names,” another girl added. 

“Yes, some of them are still quite popular,” I agreed.  “Now, as for the authors, this list is quite lengthy, so I’ll only mention those I think are most relevant. 

“I’ll start with the French authors, Jules Verne, who wrote ‘Twenty Thousand Leagues Under the Sea’ and ‘A Journey to the Center of the Earth’, and Marcel Proust, who wrote ‘In Search of Lost Time.’  Then there’s a Danish author that I’m sure most of you are familiar with, Hans Christian Andersen, who wrote such works as ‘The Little Mermaid’ and ‘The Ugly Duckling.’  There is also the Spanish writer, Frederico Garcia Lorca, who is best known for his plays, ‘The House of Bernarda Alba,’ and ‘Blood Wedding,’ and finally, there’s the Swedish author, Selma Lagerlof, who became the first woman to win the Nobel Prize for Literature, with her work ‘The Wonderful Adventures of Nils.’ 

“I’ve read stuff by Hans Christian Andersen and Jules Verne before, but I didn’t know they were gay,” one boy observed. 

“And now you do,” I teased.  “Now, we’ll move on to the British authors, which would include the poet, Lord Byron, who wrote ‘She Walks in Beauty’ and ‘Childe Harold’s Pilgrimage;’ Oscar Wilde, who is famous for ‘The Picture of Dorian Gray’ and ‘The Importance of Being Earnest;’ Sir James M. Barrie, who wrote ‘Peter Pan;’ Virginia Woolf, who is famous for ‘Mrs. Dalloway’ and ‘A Room of One’s Own;’ E. M. Forster, who wrote ‘Howards End,’ ‘Maurice’ and ‘A Room with a View;’ and playwright Christopher Marlowe, who is noted for ‘Doctor Faustus’ and ‘Tamburlaine.’  William Shakespeare is widely suspected of being at least bisexual because of the themes and wording in some of his sonnets, and finally there is playwright Noel Coward, who wrote ‘Private Lives’ and ‘Blithe Spirit’.” 

“But you haven’t told us about any American authors,” one girl pointed out. 

“Ah, yes.  That’s the next group I was about to mention,” I confirmed.  “I’ll start with the poets, Emily Dickinson, who composed ‘Because I Could Not Stop For Death’ and Walt Whitman, who is famous for his work ‘Leaves of Grass.’  Then I’ll move on to Ralph Waldo Emerson, who wrote the essay, ‘Nature;’ Herman Melville, who wrote ‘Moby Dick’ and ‘Billy Budd;’ Horatio Alger Jr.’s rags to riches stories ‘Ragged Dick’ and ‘The Store Boy;’ Langston Hughes, who wrote ‘Not Without Laughter’ and ‘The Ways of White Folks;’ James Baldwin, who is famous for ‘Go Tell It on the Mountain’ and ‘Giovanni’s Room;’ and, finally, Truman Capote, who is known for his works ‘Breakfast at Tiffany’s’ and ‘In Cold Blood,’ both of which were made into movies. 

“Now, I’ll move on to the American women authors, beginning with Willa Cather, who won the Pulitzer Prize for her novel, ‘One of Ours,’ Amy Lowell, who won the Pulitzer Prize for Poetry for her work, ‘What’s O’Clock;’ Edna Ferber, who won the Pulitzer Prize for ‘So Big,’ but she also wrote ‘Show Boat,’ which was made into a musical and a movie, and ‘Giant,’ which was also made into a movie.  Finally, there is Gertrude Stein, who wrote ‘Three Lives’ and ‘The Autobiography of Alice B. Toklas,’ which she wrote about her longtime partner, but as seen from Alice’s point of view. 

“I’ll end with the American playwrights, Edward Albee, who was famous for ‘Who’s Afraid of Virginia Woolf?’ and Tennessee Williams, who won Pulitzer Prizes in Drama for both ‘A Streetcar Named Desire’ and ‘Cat on a Hot Tin Roof,’ which were also made into movies. 

“Wow!  Those authors sure won a lot of prizes,” one of the girls observed. 

“That they did,” I agreed. 

“But you haven’t mentioned any painters or sculptors,” one boy prodded.  “I’m sure some of them must have been gay too.” 

“Yes, you are correct about that,” I concurred, “so let’s take a look at what we have.  I’ll start with the American painter, Andy Warhol, whose most famous paintings are probably those of a Campbell’s Tomato Soup can and the one of Marilyn Monroe.  Then, there’s the work of Vincent van Gogh, who was probably best know for his bouts with mental illness and for cutting off his own ear, as well as for his painting, ‘The Starry Night.’ 

“Finally, there are the Renaissance artists, starting with Sandro Botticelli, who is probably best known for his painting, ‘The Birth of Venus,’ where she is shown emerging from a giant clamshell.  Then there’s Michelangelo, who was a painter and a sculptor.  His most famous works are his paintings on the ceiling of the Sistine Chapel at the Vatican, and his sculptures, ‘David’ and the ‘Pieta,’ which depicts Mary holding the body of the crucified Christ across her lap.  Lastly, there’s probably the greatest of them all, Leonard Da Vinci.  Not only was he a noted painter and sculptor, but he was also a true genius.  In addition to his fame for his art prowess, he was also an accomplished architect, scientist, musician, mathematician, engineer and inventor, along with many other talents.  You probably know him best for his paintings, ‘The Last Supper’ and the ‘Mona Lisa.’ 

“Wait!  Didn’t those last guys all do a lot of work for the church?” one of the girls asked.  “How could they be gay and still work for the church and create religious artwork, if the Bible condemns homosexuals?” 

“That’s a very good question and it would be difficult to claim that church leaders didn’t know about their tendencies before they hired them,” I confirmed.  “It all boils down to the fact that these particular individuals were the most talented artists of their time and highly sought after, so as long as they didn’t flaunt their sexuality and do things in public, those in positions of authority elected to turn a blind eye to this situation.  Besides, some of the Popes were also suspected of being homosexuals.” 

“How can that be, if members of the clergy are supposed to be celibate and they condemn homosexuality?” she continued. 

“You probably all realize, especially after hearing recent news accounts, that although some religious officials are supposed to be celibate, not all those wearing the ecclesiastical robes are good at maintaining their vows.  Just so you know, various Popes, such as John XII, Benedict IX and Julius III were all thought to have been gay.” 

“Man, how can they go around saying being gay is a sin when they are gay themselves?” a boy challenged. 

“How can priests abuse boys or have sex with men continue to condemn it from the pulpit, yet we know they do,” I replied.  “Not only that, but there are other members of the clergy who have been known to have had sexual relations with girls or women, so how can they explain that, if they’ve vowed to be celibate?  They don’t all do things like this, but there is plenty of evidence to show that some have.” 

“That doesn’t seem right,” a girl noted. 

“No, it probably doesn’t,” I agreed, “but it doesn’t mean that it hasn’t happened.”

“Well, I bet there aren’t any gays in sports,” another boy challenged, looking fairly confident. 

“I’d take your bet on that, but then I’d feel guilty about taking your money,” I joked.  “Even though you may not realize it, there have been plenty of gay and bisexual athletes, although some of them may have tried to hide the fact while they were actively competing.  That could be due to the reaction they suspected others would have about changing with them in the locker room or washing up in a communal shower together afterward.” 

“Yeah, I’m sure most people wouldn’t want to do that with someone they thought might be checking them out,” the same boy offered. 

“You may be correct about that,” I concurred, “but some of the athletes still chose to come out, while others waited to do so until after their playing days were over.  Some gay or bisexual athletes that we know about are Americans Babe Didrikson Zaharias, golf; Billy Jean King and Martina Navratilova, tennis, although Martina is a Czech-American; Bruce Hayes, swimming; Greg Louganis, diving; J. P. Calderon, volleyball; and Johnny Weir, figure skating.  That last category would also include Canadians Brian Orser and Matthew Hall.” 

“Yeah, but those are all pretty much sissy sports, because no one is getting hit or doing anything really tough,” he jeered. 

“Ok, but then what would you say about these American athletes?” I countered.  “Matthew Rush, bodybuilding; Jim Barnett, wrestling; Emile Griffith, boxing; Ed Gallagher and Brian Sims, football; Brendan Burke, ice hockey; Kyle Hawkins, lacrosse; and Will Sheridan and Sheryl Swoopes, basketball.  And then there is the English soccer player, Justin Fastanu and Welsh Rugby player Gareth Thomas.  Do you still feel the same way now?” 

“Ok, so maybe I was wrong,” he conceded, “but I’ll bet there aren’t a lot of them.”

“I’m sure there are a great many more than I’ve just mentioned, some who are open about it and others who don’t want it known, at least not yet,” I observed.  

“Aren’t there any gays or lesbians who went into something like science or other things where they can do something to help others?” asked a girl who seemed to be growing bored with our conversation. 

“Oh, there are plenty of examples of them as well,” I answered.  “To begin with there’s several notable British citizens that fit this category.  You have Francis Bacon, the noted scientist and philosopher; John Maynard Keynes, the famous economist; Florence Nightingale, the renown nurse; Sophie Wilson, an inventor; and Alan Turing, a mathematician who is widely considered to be ‘The Father of Computer Science.’  I might also include Cecil Rhodes in this group.  He was a businessman, mining magnate and politician who was instrumental in founding the De Beers Diamond Company.  He also financed the famous ‘Rhodes Scholarship,’ which was named in his honor.” 

“Aren’t there any Americans that would fit in here?” she pressed, showing her impatience. 

“There are, but I just hadn’t gotten to them yet,” I confirmed.  “I’ll start with Dr. Howard Brown, an NYC Health Commissioner; Sara Josephine Baker, who was known for her work in medicine, public health and child hygiene; Harry Stack Sullivan, a noted psychiatrist; Ethel Collins Dunham, who worked in pediatrics and neonatology; Martha Mary Eliot, who worked in pediatrics, public health and child welfare; Alan L. Hart, who worked in medicine, public health and radiology; and Dr. Tom Dooley, a medical doctor and missionary.  I’ll also include Ann Bancroft, who was an author, teacher and adventurer, and she made successful expeditions to both the arctic and Antarctic.” 

“No way!  You expect me to believe that all of those people were gay?” one of the skeptics argued. 

“No, I’m not saying they were all gay, but historical records and anecdotal information from the time period in which they lived suggests that if they weren’t homosexual, then they were at least ‘homoflexible.’” I replied, with a wink. 

“So gays, lesbians and bisexuals have been involved in just about everything,” she gasped, with her eyes bulging from their sockets. 

“Probably in just about anything you can think of,” I agreed.

“Then if they’re into all of those things and have done so much good, why do they still feel they have to stay hidden and not let others know about them?” a smallish boy wanted to know. 

“Even though they may have enjoyed success and made great accomplishments, it didn’t mean there weren’t other problems,” I explained.  “They might have been accepted by some of their peers or certain segments of society, but not by everyone, so they weren’t immune from harassment, assault and even arrest.”  

“Like who?” someone challenged. 

“We can start by looking way back in history to Socrates, who lived in a fairly accepting Greek society, but he was still forced to drink hemlock, a slow-acting poison, for ‘corrupting the minds of the youth of Athens.’  There are even more examples of this throughout history, but let’s skip them for now and jump to more modern times,” I urged. 

“Oscar Wilde, who I mentioned earlier, as a gay author, was convicted of ‘committing acts of gross indecency with other male persons’ and forced to endure two years at hard labor.  He never recovered from that experience and it basically ruined his reputation and career.  Wilde died a broken man a short time later, at the age of 46. 

“In 1930,” I continued, “Adolf Hitler began his rise to power in Germany and asked his close friend, Ernst Rohm, to take command of the ‘SA’ or Sturmabteilung (Storm Battalion in English).  The SA was also known by the more common phrase, the ‘Brown Shirts,’ due to their paramilitary brown uniforms and this group was vital in bringing Hitler to power.  Part of that success could be attributed to Rohm’s efforts and he was highly regarded by Hitler.  Throughout this period, Rohm was the only Nazi official who could address Hitler as ‘Adolf,’ rather than being forced to use the more formal, ‘mein Fuhrer,’ or ‘my leader,’ as everyone else had to do.  Rohm was also allowed to refer to Hitler as ‘du,’ which is the more familiar form of the word ‘you’ in German, when speaking with him. 

“During this period, Hitler used the SA to attack the ‘Reds,’ or communists, and Jews, but they were also used to intimidate anyone who was believed to be a threat to the Nazi cause.  The SA also took the side of the workers during strikes and labor disputes, and they would attack any strikebreakers who tried to cross the picket lines.  They also did everything they could to disrupt the left-wing political parties, so those groups couldn’t gain enough support to defeat them.  Over time, the SA became notorious as drinkers and brawlers. 

“Even though Hitler knew of Rohm’s homosexual tendencies,” I added, “he was willing to overlook this ‘moral character flaw’ as long as Rohm was useful to him.  This began to change after some of Rohm’s letters to a friend were acquired by a reporter and then published in one of the newspapers.  Those letters included discussions of sexual affairs he’d had, which meant his homosexuality was now public knowledge.  After this happened, some of the other powerful Nazis felt that Rohm had become an embarrassment to the party and decided that they had to find a way to get rid of him.  With that in mind, they started to plot against Rohm and convinced Hitler to use the SA less and less.  Some of their reasoning for this was that it was also known that many of the other members of the SA had participated in homosexual activities as well, so now they were all considered expendable. 

“Rohm’s enemies then took their plan a step further and told Hitler that Rohm was plotting to overthrown him.  These were trumped-up charges, but they incorporated some statements from Rohm’s volatile outbursts to support the assertions, which made the accusations seem believable, so Hitler was quickly convinced that they were true.  Angered by this treachery, but without raising Rohm’s suspicions, Hitler ordered Rohm to assemble all of his SA officers for a special conference.  Then, as part of the ‘Night of the Long Knives,’ Hitler went to this meeting, where he arrested Rohm personally and had him imprisoned.  Even though he’d had Rohm locked up, Hitler was reluctant to order his execution, possibly due to their longstanding friendship, so he gave Rohm a chance to commit suicide instead.  When he refused to do this, Hitler ordered that Rohm and his deputy, Edmund Heines, be shot. 

“During their years in power, the Nazis outlawed all homosexual acts, banned homosexual organizations and destroyed all known homosexual hangouts.  They also burned all scholarly works about homosexuality, as well as many publications that referred to sex in general.  Any person suspected of being gay, and to a lesser extent lesbian and bisexual, was either shipped off to prison or a concentration camp, but some of them were also murdered, if they wouldn’t conform to the ‘German ‘norm’ and agree to no longer participate in homosexual affairs.  Some of those who were sent to the concentration camps, as identified by the pink triangles they were forced to wear, also ended up being exterminated, along with the Nazi’s other victims.” 

“No way!  They killed the gays too?” a boy shouted. 

“They did, and a quite substantial number of them,” I confirmed, “but, unfortunately, they haven’t been the only political or religious group to outlaw gay activities and carry out harsh punishments against them, although the Nazis may have eliminated the greatest numbers.” 

“Why?  Who else did it?” someone followed. 

“Well, many Muslim countries have very harsh penalties for those exhibiting homosexual behavior,” I offered, “but there are other countries with harsh punishments against anyone who does things like that as well.  Even some countries that no longer consider being gay a crime, weren’t always so accepting.  After World War II, the British arrested cryptologist, Alan Turing, whom I mentioned earlier as being the Father of Computer Science.  Even though Turing had helped the allies break the ‘Enigma Code,’ which was being very effectively used by the Germans, and his doing this probably helped the allies win the war, they still arrested him for being gay.  In 1952, Turing was charged with ‘gross indecency,’ because it had been discovered that he engaged in homosexual acts, and he was eventually convicted.  Rather than go to prison, Turing agreed to undergo chemical castration, but this left him severely depressed and he ended up committing suicide in 1954, at the age of 42.” 

“That doesn’t seem right,” the smallish boy observed. 

“No it doesn’t,” I agreed, “but that’s what happened.  I’d love to continue this discussion with you, but our time is nearly over, so we’re going to have to stop here for now,” I announced.  “I hope you’ve all learned something from this little exchange.” 

“Oh, we did,” a few of them confirmed, just before the bell rang and they all disappeared.

THE END.

I’d love to hear what you thought of this story.  Thank you. 

Posted: 09/28/12