They wore fashionable pointed shoes and grew their hair long. But he filled his court with attractive young men. His red face earned him the nickname William Rufus and he had a paunch. He extended his rule into Wales, brought the Scottish King Malcolm under his influence and established peace in Normandy. He made himself unpopular through his taxes and by imposing the death penalty on people who hunted deer in great swathes of forest he claimed for royal use.īut he was also a brave general. And the country was still sharply divided between the English people and their new Norman overlords. William II came to the throne just 21 years after his father, William I, had conquered England. William II was ‘addicted to every kind of vice, particularly lust and especially sodomy,’ according to Frank Barlow, the leading medieval historian.
Most famous gay men in history series#
King William Rufus (1087 – 1100) Handsome men were promoted in William II’s court, just as in the TV series Merlin. This is the incredible history of their secret love lives, stormy reigns, tragic sicknesses and grisly murders. And they include some of the most famous rulers in British history. Of 41 monarchs since William The Conqueror, we’ve identified seven who were likely lesbian, gay or bisexual. In this lesson, students will discuss the similarities and differences between the civil rights and gay rights movements.England’s ‘gay’ kings and queens defied society – during perhaps the most homophobic era of human history – to have same-sex lovers. Later in life, Rustin was more vocal and became an advocate for gay rights in ways that had eluded him in his earlier years. Earlier in his life, Rustin was open about his homosexuality in private circles, but remained publicly silent about it. Rustin’s life elucidates the similarities between the modern civil rights movement and the current gay rights movement.
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In this lesson, students will read Rustin’s words and engage with a historian’s assessment about his activism and legacy. Martin Luther King Jr.’s closest advisors, and the organizer of the 1963 March on Washington. Rustin was not only dedicated to orchestrating the civil rights movement he was also one of Dr. Lesson Four: Bayard Rustin: The Fight for Civil and Gay Rights addresses the issue of activism. Murray, an overlooked figure, was instrumental in connecting civil rights, gay rights and women’s rights. This lesson explores the life, activism and ideas of a woman, African American and lesbian who fought discrimination in the areas of race, gender and sexuality. In this lesson, students will study Murray’s biography and delve into the distinctions she made between Jim Crow and Jane Crow. Murray was an accomplished lawyer and intellectual. Lesson Three: Pauli Murray: Fighting Jane and Jim Crow focuses on issues of justice. Hansberry’s sexual politics and advocacy for LGBT rights is the subject of this lesson. Hansberry never publically shared her sexual orientation, but she is often described as a closeted lesbian by those who have studied her life and politics. While Hansberry has long been recognized as a significant figure in black history, less is known about her advocacy for lesbian and gay rights.
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Her 1959 play, A Raisin in the Sun, blazed a trail for African Americans into mainstream theater and entertainment. Some scholars consider Lorraine Hansberry to be a literary genius because she masked radical black politics through the construction of seemingly unthreatening African-American characters.
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Lesson Two: Lorraine Hansberry: LGBT Politics and Civil Rights examines the battle over how history has remembered one of the United States’ important mid-20th century playwrights. Baldwin’s life illuminates not just the intersection between gay rights and civil rights, but perhaps more important, the connections among self-identification, artistic expression and political activism. Far ahead of his time, Baldwin was “out and proud” before that term became a popular cultural idiom. Students will read a New York Times obituary, written the day after Baldwin’s 1987 death from cancer, and listen to an interview conducted by National Public Radio. Lesson One: James Baldwin: Art, Sexuality and Civil Rights discusses how James Baldwin’s identity shaped his art and political activism. This series introduces students to four LGBT people of African descent with whom they may not be familiar, yet who were indispensable to the ideas, strategies and activities that made the civil rights movement a successful political and social revolution. Most history textbooks lack inclusion of the significant contributions LGBT African-Americans made to the civil rights movement.