Queer Ancestor Spotlight: Thomas Morton and Merrymount
Morton was a much more liberal leader than his contemporaries. In addition to making anyone who resided there free men he also maintained close relationships with the surrounding indigenous communities. In 1627, Morton made the decision to commemorate the renaming of the colony by holding a May Day celebration and erecting an 80-foot high pole, covered in garlands and ribbon, and topped with deer antlers. During the several days of celebration men and women from the local indigenous communities were invited to join. Some accounts claim the residents danced in a manner evocative of Ganymede and Zeus, figures that were often used to represent same-sex coupling.
Queer Ancestor Spotlight: Wilum Hopfrog Pugmire
While at NecronomiCon this year I attended one of two sessions about zines and weird horror/fiction. The session was about W.H. Pugmire, and artist, author, and zine-maker I’d never heard of before. Before the session was even done I’d ordered three collections of his short stories.
Queer Ancestor Spotlight: Mark Ashton
In this current socio-political moment I want to write about unexpected allies and coalition building. I think a great example is Mark Ashton, a gay rights activist and co-founder of Lesbians and Gays Support the Miners. He was an influential figure in the 1980’s under the conservative Thatcher government in the UK.
Queer Ancestor Spotlight: Leonard Matlovich
Leonard Matlovich was an American Vietnam War veteran, recipient of the Purple Heart and the Bronze Star, and was the first openly gay service member to purposely out himself to the military in order to fight their ban on gay men serving in the armed forces. He is also the first named openly gay person to appear on the cover of a U.S. news magazine.
Queer Ancestor Spotlight: David Kato
David Kato Kisule was a Ugandan teacher and LGBTQ+ rights activist, considered by many to be the father of the Ugandan gay rights movement. He was a founding member of Sexual Minorities Uganda (SMUG) and was deeply involved with the underground LGBTQ+ rights movement in his home country.
Queer Ancestor Spotlight: Federico García Lorca
Federico del Sagrado Corazón de Jesús García Lorca was a Spanish poet, playwright, and theater director. He is considered one of the most important Spanish poets of the 20th century. He was a member of the Generation of ‘27, which was a group of poets who brought modern European artistic movements into Spanish literature. During the Spanish Civil War in the 1930’s he toured rural Spain and put on free theatrical shows of classical Spanish theatre before being arrested by Nationalist militias and assassinated.
Queer Ancestor Spotlight: Tryals of Thomas Vaughan and Thomas Davis
Glory holes. Arguably one of the most recognizable cultural artifacts of contemporary gay culture due to it's relationship to cruising and anonymous sex, something that marked the reality of the gay male experience in the Western world for centuries. When loving the person you want, either romantically or physically, is against the law and can land you in prison, an asylum, or worse, you find ways to satisfy your needs as safely and discreetly as possible.
Queer Ancestor Spotlight: Christopher Isherwood
Christopher Isherwood was an author, diarist, playwright, screenwriter, and autobiographer. He is best known for A Single Man, his semi-autobiographical novel Goodbye to Berlin which inspired the musical Cabaret, and his memoir Christopher and His Kind which connected him with the ongoing gay liberation movement.
Queer Ancestor Spotlight: Kiyoshi Kuromiya
Kiyoshi Kuromiya was a Japanese-American author, advocate, and activist who was involved in the civil rights movement, the anti-Vietnam War protests, gay liberation, and HIV/AIDS activism. He worked alongside Martin Luther King Jr., and was one of the founders of the the first medical treatment and competency guidelines produced by people living with HIV/AIDS for their community.
Queer Ancestor Spotlight: UpStairs Lounge Fire
The UpStairs Lounge was a gay bar located on the second floor of a three-story building located at 604 Iberville Street in New Orleans, Louisiana. On June 24, 1973 the bar was set on fire and thirty-two people died. It remained the deadliest attack on the LGBTQ+ community until the shooting at the Pulse nightclub in Orlando in 2016.