I just heard Karl Rove say that gay marriage goes against 5,000 years of world history. Just for fun, I went online and found a pretty sizable list of famous gays and lesbians in history (along with references for those of you who might find this hard to believe).
What does this list have to do with 5,000 years of history where gay marriage wasn?t a factor? How about this: Just because the legal representation of marriage wasn?t allowed to some of these people, does not mean that they didn?t have stable, committed and loving relationships with people of the same sex. So, basically we?re denying this right simply because it?s never been done before.
When the first heart surgery was done did people say, ?Wow, that goes against every piece of medical history out there. Bad idea.? I think not.
I guess being moral is all about telling people who are different from the majority, ?Hey. Fuck off.?
Famous Gays and Lesbians in History
1.Sappho (600 B.C.) Greek Poetess
2.Socrates (470-399 B.C.) Greek Teacher and Philosopher
3.Plato (427-347 B.C.) Greek Teacher and Philosopher
4.Alexander The Great (356-323 B.C.) Macedonian King and Military Leader
5.Wu (140-87 B.C.) Chinese Emperor
6.Hadrian (76-138 A.D.) Roman Emperor
7.Richard the Lion Hearted (1157-1199) English King and Crusader
8.Edward II (1254-1327) English King
9.Leonardo da Vinci (1452-1519) Italian Renaissance Artist, Teacher, Scientist and Inventor
10.Michelangelo (1475-1564) Italian Renaissance Artist and Sculptor
11.Montezuma II (1480-1520) Aztec Emperor
12.Julius III (1487-1555) Catholic Pope
13.Ieyasu Tokugawa (1542-1616) Japanese Shogun and founder of the Edo Shogunate
14.Sir Francis Bacon (1561-1626) British Statesman and Writer
15.Christopher Marlowe (1564-1593) English dramatist and poet
16.Christina (1626-1689) Swedish Queen
17.Peter the Great (1672-1725) Russian Czar
18.Frederick the Great (1712-1786) Prussian King and Military Leader
19.Madame de Stael (1766-1817) French Writer and Intellectual
20.Lord Byron (1788-1824) British Poet
21.Hans Christian Andersen (1805-1875) Danish Poet and Writer
22.Margaret Fuller (1810-1850) Euro-American Writer and Journalist
23.Henry David Thoreau (1817-1862) Euro-American Philosopher, Naturalist, and Peace Activist
24.Walt Whitman (1819-1892) Euro-American Poet
25.Herman Melville (1819-1891) Euro-American Writer
26.Chief Crazy Horse (Tashunca witco) (1849-1877) Oglala Sioux Chief
27.Peter I. Tchaikovsky (1840-1893) Russian Composer
28.Oscar Wilde (1854-1900) Irish Writer and Dramatist
29.Dame Ethel Smyth (1858-1944) British Composer, Writer, and Activist
30.Marcel Proust (1871-1922) French Writer
31.Sergei Diaghileff (1872-1929) Russian Ballet Impresario
32.Vita Sackville-West (1892-1962) British Writer
33.Vaslav Nijinsky (1890-1950) Russian Ballet Dancer
34.Edward Carpenter (1844-1929) British Author and Gay Rights Pioneer
35.Willa Cather (1873-1947) Euro-American Writer and Critic
36.Colette (1873-1954) French Writer and Actress
37.W. Somerset Maugham (1874-1965) British Writer and Dramatist
38.Alice B. Toklas (1877-1967) Euro-American Writer; Stein's Domestic Partner
39.Gertrude Stein (1874-1946) Euro-American Writer and Art Collector; Toklas' Domestic Partner
40.Bessie Smith (1894-1937) African-American Blues Singer and Entertainer
41.E.M. Forster (1879-1970) British Writer
42.Virginia Woolf (1882-1941) British Writer and Publisher
43.Ernst Rohm (1887-1933) German Nazi and SA Leader
44.T.E. Lawrence (Lawrence of Arabia) (1888-1935) British Soldier
45.Jean Cocteau (1889-1963) French Writer and Filmmaker
46.John Maynard Keynes (1883-1946) British Economist and Nobel Prize Winner
47.Cole Porter (1893-1964) Euro-American Composer
48.Bayard Rustin (1910-87) African-American Civil Rights, Labor Rights, & Peace Activist/Leader
49.Alan Turing (1912-1954) British Mathematician and Computer Scientist
50.James Baldwin (1924-1987) African-American Writer and Civil Rights Activist
51.Truman Capote (1924-1984) Euro-American Author
52.Tennessee Williams (1914-1983) Euro-American Dramatist
53.Marguerite Yourcenar (1903-1987) Belgian-American Writer
54.Federico Garcia Lorca (1894-1936) Spanish Poet and Dramatist
55.Christopher Isherwood (1904-1986) British Author
56.W.H. Auden (1907-1973) British Poet and Writer
57.Harvey Milk (1930-1978) Euro-American Politician
58.Audre Lorde (1934-1992) African-American Writer and Activist
59.Billie Jean King (1943 - ) Euro-American Tennis Champion and Activist
60.Martina Navratilova (1956- ) Czechoslovakian-American Tennis Champion and Activist
61.Andy Warhol (1930-1987) Euro-American Pop Artist
62.Frieda Kahlo (1907-1954) Mexican Artist and Activist
63.Gore Vidal (1925- ) Euro-American Writer
64.Rudolf Nureyev (1938-1993) Russian dancer
65.Freddie Mercury (1946-1991) British Singer/songwriter/musician
66.Elton John (1947 - ) British Singer/songwriter/musican
67.Janis Ian (1951 - ) Euro-American Singer/songwriter/musician
68.Nathan Lane (1956 - ) Euro-American Actor
69.Ellen Degeneres (1958 - ) Euro-American Comedian/actor
70.Melissa Etheridge (1961 - ) Euro-American Singer/songwriter/musician
71.k. d. lang (1961 - ) Canadian Singer/songwriter
References and Resources:
1.Boswell, John. Christianity, Social Tolerance & Homosexuality, U. of Chicago Press, 1980.
2.Cowan, Thomas. Gay Men & Women Who Enriched the World, Wm. Mulvey, Inc., CT, 1988.
3.D'Emilio, John. Sexual Politics, Sexual Community, University of Chicago Press, Chicago, 1983.
4.Demystifying Homosexuality: A Teaching Guide About Lesbians and Gay Men, Irvington Publishers, NY, 1984.
5.Duberman, Vincinus, Chauncey, eds. Hidden From History: Reclaiming the Gay and Lesbian Past, Penguin, NY, 1990.
6.Grahn, Judy. Another Mother Tongue, Beacon Press, Boston, 1984.
7.Harbeck, Karen. Coming Out of the Classroom Closet, Haworth Press, Binghamton 1992.
8.Homophobia: Discrimination Based on Sexual Orientation (a high school curriculum), 1991/94; GLAAD/LA, 8455 Beverly Blvd. #305, Los Angeles, CA 90048; 213-658-6775.
9.Katz, Jonathan. Gay American History, Avon Books, NY, 1976.
10.Russo, Vito. The Celluloid Closet, Harper & Row, 1987.
11.Rutledge, Leigh. The Gay Book of Lists, Alyson Publications, Boston, 1987.
12.Wallace, Wallace, and Wallechnisky. The People's Almanac Presents The Book of Lists, William Morrow, NY, 1977.
13.Williams, Walter. The Spirit and the Flesh: Sexual Diversity in American Indian Culture, Beacon Press, Boston, 1986.