Alexander the Great is often considered to be bisexual or an opportunistic homosexual, and it's hard to deny his accomplishments, especially knocking out the Persian Empire (or the Achaemenid Empire, for the historical purists out there), who was considered a power house at the time.
It's always been hard for me to find ones I really admire or relate to, though I can name a few: The two that I most respect are both British Authors; Sake (H.H. Munroe) (1870-1916) & William Somerset Maugham (1874-1965)
I'm reluctant to attribute queer labels to historical figures before a certain point. They lived in different times and had different views of sexual behavior. Kinda feels like the Mormon church baptizing the dead when figures like Leonardo Da Vinci and William Shakespeare are brought up. 19th and 20th centuries are fair game though.
I heard Da Vinci participated in some gay activities, but since some of those also involved a member of the Medici family, it was all very well hidden. The one who painted the Sistine Chapel, Michelangelo was probably gay too. Frederick the Great of Prussia is not that famous but he actually made Prussia the most powerful European state in terms of military. He was most likely gay as well and there's this tragic story about how his strict father executed his friend/lover in front of him.
Can I use women aswell ---------- Post added 10th Sep 2015 at 01:08 PM ---------- My favourites David bowie Freddie mercury ---------- Post added 10th Sep 2015 at 01:09 PM ---------- I bet no-one knows malcom X was bi
^ of course If da Vinci was truly queer he is certainly one of our best representatives out there... (so far as can be said for someone you've never met, anyway)
William Shakespeare, although that's debatable. Cary Grant. I only found out he was gay a few months back. Tennessee Williams. I'm reading ASND for Eng Lit and didn't realise he was gay. There's that story, too, about Marlon Brando & James Dean being in a homosexual relationship with each other but I don't know whether that's true. These two are both gay icons in their own right, and according to rukkle - Where Distraction Lives
How about the other Michelangelo---Michelangelo Merisi da Caravaggio, also simply known as “Caravaggio.” I wrote a paper on this guy for a capstone class in Art History. Finally we’ve gotten to the point that most art historians will reluctantly admit that he was probably bisexual. I think he’s more of a male leaning bisexual considering the clothes just keep falling off the boys in his early paintings. Finally on two occasions he just strips the clothing completely off of his assistant. For Caravaggio’s women, however, cleavage is showing, but they are fully clothed. Gravity just doesn’t seem to have the interest in the fabric covering these women as it does for the guys’ clothes. The man whom some art historians think was his assistant, Francesco “Cecco” Boneri painted one heck of a piece called “Cupid at the Fountain.” Google that one. Oh boy. And this is, more likely than not, Caravaggio’s assistant who fled Rome with him when Caravaggio was under bandito capitale. I don’t think even the most loyal assistants are going to flee with their masters when they’re under a Papal death warrant. Something else had to be going on. Interesting reading, anyway. Try: Caravaggio: A Life Sacred and Profane by Andrew Graham Dixon and M: The Man Who Became Caravaggio by Peter Robb if the idea of a bisexual (possibly homosexual) guy who painted masterpieces for the Church while committing a series of crimes that culminated in murder and exile, and left a lead paint poisoned, badly scarred corpse along a beach in Italy at the age of 39 sounds like a fun read to you. His friend Orazio Genileschi's daughter, Artmesia Gentileschi, also became a notable female painter in a time where painting was not considered a "suitable activity" for women. She's one of the most important, first female painters of the Early Modern Era and living with her father who was a friend of Caravaggio's, I'd like to think that maybe she'd received a lesson or two from the master himself.
Kurt cobain used to say he was proud to be gay even though he wasn't if thhat counts... It doesn't, does it...
A few people have named David Bowie...I could be wrong here but I thought that he only called himself bisexual for his image? The "sexual orientation" bit of his wikipedia page is a bit confusing. He did call himself bisexual in an interview with Advocate (I think that was it), but that was just once so it's hard to say for sure whether he was or not. I'm pretty sure Lou Reed was bi though, if he counts. Also Alan Turing of course.
In ancient Rome, it was considered to be the norm for men to be bisexual. Women, not so much, because they were rarely allowed to leave the house.
Allan Turing, father of modern computers & cracker of the enigma code. Musically, Mercury and Halford are my go-to.
It always comes back to Artemisia at some point doesn't it? Wrote my undergrad thesis on her representation of the Magdalen figure. I'm searched the thread for Warhol and didn't find him, so I will submit his name for consideration. Also Gertrude Stein.
