thread of figures through history who were LGBTQ+ that you may or may not know about

k, first and foremost, to make things clear:
-spanish is my mother tongue so i apologise if my grammar isn't correct or if i have too many typos
-not all of these figures have helped change the LGBTQ+ history but im gonna mention em bc u may know em
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-this list is INCOMPLETE so if u have any suggestions please comment em!! let's all educate each other!
and now, without further due:
thread of LGBTQ+ ppl throught history u may or may not know

1. SAPPHO
Sappho was a greek poet (born in Lesbos, Greece circa 610/650 b.c) whose poems in which she talked romantically about other women have turned Sappho into one of the first LGBTQ+ historical figures. Her influence is such that nowadays the therm 'sapphic',+

used to refer to lesbian women, comes from her. However, in Ancient Greece sexual fluidity was pretty common, hence that masters used to have intercourse with their male students (as other historical figures such as Socrates or Plato did).

2. KHNUMHOTEP AND NIANKHKHNUM
K&N were two male ancient Egyptian servants, which are considered to be 'lovers' based on the fact they have a joint tomb and that they were representated rubbing their noses. This way, they're considered to be the first recorded same-sex couple,+

but since homosexuality then wasn't perceived the way it is nowadays, there are lots of open debates about whether they were an actual same-sex couple or not.

3. AL-HAKAM II
Al-Hakam II was an arab caliph of Córdoba (Spain). As all the caliphs before and after him, he had a harem of women to entertain him who were also supposed to carry his children.However,Al-Hakam II was unable to bear any children, reason why Subh+

(one of his concubines) agreed to dress up as a man (under the fake name of Yafar) so that he could impregnate her. This way, they had Hisham II, Al-Hakam's offspring and next caliph of Córdoba.

4. JULIUS CAESAR
Julius Caesar was a roman general and statesman, born 12 of July, 100 B.C.
He's well known for being one of the greatest dictators of Ancient Rome, but what not everyone knows is that he had a lover once - the king Nicinedes IV of Bithynia.+

However, as mentioned before, sexuality was normally fluid back in Ancient Greece and Rome, so it's unclear if Julius Caesar was actually gay or not.

5. ALEXANDER THE GREAT
Alexander was a king of the ancient Greek kingdom of Macedon (born in 356 B.C). Alexander's sexuality had always been in the spotlight and even his mom was worried that he would be unable to beget offspring since he didn't seem to care about women.+

Alexander's mom would beg him to sleep with a hired courtesan,but he wasn't successful at it. This said, Alexander was supposedly another greek man's lover,called Hephaestion, who studied under the tutelage of Aristotle, just as Alexander did. Even Aristotle would talk abt their+

relationship in a tone historians have identified as 'romantic', implying that they were, indeed, lovers. Also, Sufjan Stevens included a reference to this couple in his song 'Mystery of Love':

6. LEONARDO DA VINCI
Leonardo da Vinci was an italian polymath of the Renaissance, with studies in quite diverse areas (science, painting, sculpture, mathematics, literature, etc). Allegedly, he used to have personal relationships (indentified as romatic relationships)+

with some of his closest students (such as Salai or Francisco Melzi). However, relationships such as Leonardo's with his students were pretty common then, in a way that same-sex relations were not inusual at all. Actually, there's a word in german (florenzer) witch refers to+

'sodomites' or gay men, which comes from the reputation Florence had back when gay sex was 'utterly common' in that italian city.

7. OSCAR WILDE
Oscar Wilde was an irish poet and playwright, born in the 19th century, author of well-known books such as The Picture of Dorian Gray. Even though Wilde married a woman who he had 2 kids with, he was rumoured to be homosexual, reason why he was imprisoned.+

Wilde met a man called Alfred Douglas, nicknamed 'Bosie', an Oxford undergraduate and poet who was supposedly Wilde's own Dorian Gray, his muse. The love letters he exchanged with this young man weren't unnoticed, leading to Bosie's father reporting Wilde.+

Wilde was arrested on charges of 'gross indecency' with same-sex partners. Trials were held and Wilde's reputation ended up being completely ruined. He wrote a letter to Bosie on the eve of the final trial, and another one right after he was released from prison.+

We have access today to Wilde's correspondence with Bosie. In fact, Wilde wrote a letter to a Sheffield solicitor, which was the only publisher interested in Wilde's books after his post-prison years, in which he confirmed that Bosie and him were, indeed, together.

8. FEDERICO GARCÍA LORCA
Federico was a spanish poet (and also my favorite poet), born in 1898. He never hid his sexuality, reason why he was harassed by some other famous artists of the time (such as Dalí, who was supposedly a closeted gay). He's one of the most well-known+

poets in our literature (spanish literature), and also a member of the so-called Generation of '27. However, Lorca was a communist, being this what led to his assassination in 1936, when the Spanish Civil War had just started. He was shot by fascist forces due to his political+

ideology, and probably because of his homosexuality, but to this day it's still unclear if his sexuality played a role in his murder. His remains are believed to be in a burial pit (where corpses were deposited during the civil war), and they've never been found.

9. LILI ELBE
Lili was a danish transgender woman and one of the first people to ever go through a reassignment surgery. She successfully transitioned in 1930, legally changing her name to Lili and her surname to Elbe, inspired by the Elbe River. She was a painter, married to+

Gerda Wegener. She was looking forward to her bottom surgery, involving a uterus trasplant and construction of a vagina. However, these procedures were not successful, which lead to Lili's death from cardiac arrest due to the infections the procedure caused on her.+

There's actually a movie based on her story: The danish girl.

10. MARSHA P. JOHNSON
Marsha P. Johnson was an American trasgender woman, being one of the prominent figures in the Stonewall riots back in 1969. Alongside activist Sylvia Rivera, she was the co-founder of the S.T.A.R (Street Transvestite Action Revolutionaries).+

She was one of the first woman to go to the Stonewall Inn right after they began allowing women inside. She's supposedly the first one to throw a brick to the police forces who were trying to shut down the rioting, but that information remains unclear. We owe her+

our rights so please let's not forget about the brave black queer women who fought for us back in the 60s.

11. ELISA AND MARCELA
Elisa and Marcela were a couple of lesbian women who lived in Galicia (Spain), back in the early 1900s. They were the first same-sex marriage in Spain. To achieve it, Elisa dressed up as a man - and adopted a full male identity as Mario Sánchez-+

so that they could get legally married. This union took place more than 100 years before same-sex couples were permitted to be married in Spain. Nonetheless, the couple were exposed by spanish newspapers, which led into the both of the losing their jobs. They managed to board+

a ship destined for South America, where they stayed to live. There's a movie which tells their beautiful story on Netflix who was released last year.

12. FRIDA KAHLO
Frida was a mexican painter, born in the early 1900s. Although she got married to mexican painter Diego Rivera, she was open about her sexuality, which she never hid. She was a bisexual woman who had sex with both men and women (such as Leon Trotski and singer+

Chavela Vargas. To this day, she's one of the most famous female painters in history, with beautiful yet sad paintings that reflect the pain she went through after and iron handrail impaled her thorugh the pelvic area in an accident, suffering horrid consequences.

She's also an iconic figure to the feminist movement, since she was a reivindicative and free woman who dressed in a quite unconventional way, wearing also an unibrow which is one of the most famous features of Frida.

13. SPECIAL MENTIONS
Activist Sylvia Rivera, who was also a transgender woman who founded the S.T.A.R organization alongside Marsha P. Johnson.

Alan Turing, british mathematician, considered to be the father of theoretical computer science, whose labor was crucial to break the enigma code during WW2. However, he was discriminated bc of his homosexuality, which led to his suicide.

Florence Nightingale, one of the first so-called nurses. She was a very religious figure, and although she had male lovers, she never got married. She had friendships with a some women who are speculated to be Florence's lovers.

Singers Elton John and Freddie Mercury

Hollywood actress Marlene Dietrich, member of 'the sewing circle', a private group of bisexual and lesbian women.

if u have read the whole thread:
1)im SO SORRY for the typos lol
2) ilysm
3) thanks for reading!! if u have any suggestions pls feel free to tell me !!