Queer Ancestor Spotlight: Sor Juana Inés de la Cruz
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Queer Ancestor Spotlight: Sor Juana Inés de la Cruz

Sor Juana Inés de la Cruz, also known as Doña Inés de Asbaje y Ramirez de Santillana, a Hieronymite nun who lived in colonial Mexico in the 17th century. She was a writer, philosopher, composer, and poet. She predominantly self-educated and would become on the acclaimed masters of the Spanish Golden Age, gaining the nicknames “The Tenth Muse” and “The Phoenix of America.” As a nun she focused on issues of love and feminism, which would lead to her condemnation by the Bishop of Puebla.

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Queer Ancestor Spotlight: El Baile De Los Cuarenta y Uno
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Queer Ancestor Spotlight: El Baile De Los Cuarenta y Uno

El baile de los cuarenta y uno, or ‘The Dance of the Forty-One’, refers to a social scandal in early 20th century Mexico. As with many aspects of queer society in this era this event revolves around a police raid of a private home during a dance at which 19 men were dressed in drag. The Mexican government attempted to suppress discussion of this event since it involved elite members of society but it became heavily satirized in the Mexican press and media. Some, such as writer Carlos Monsiváis, refer to this event as the invention of homosexuality in Mexico.

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Queer Ancestor Spotlight: Matthew Shepard
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Queer Ancestor Spotlight: Matthew Shepard

This month’s Queer Ancestor Spotlight is deeply personal to me. The story and legacy of Matthew Shepard’s death functions almost as bookends to my coming out process and finding affirming queer community. I was just starting to realize I was not exactly like my other male friends when Matthew’s death became a national story. I traveled the inner journey of coming out to myself while his death rippled through the politics of the United States. I came out publicly shortly before the act bearing Matthew’s name codified sexual orientation and gender identity in federal hate crime law. And I found myself on the other side of the historic legalization of same-sex marriage as a married gay man, surrounded and supported by queer community in the Washington National Cathedral as we gathered to celebrate the life and legacy of Matthew as his ashes were finally laid to rest.

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Queer Ancestor Spotlight: The Lady Chablis
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Queer Ancestor Spotlight: The Lady Chablis

I am so very excited to share a spotlight on The Lady Chablis! She is not only an iconic figure, but also part of the rich cultural legacy of one of my favorite cities - Savannah, GA - and my favorite book - Midnight in the Garden of Good and Evil.

The Lady Chablis, also known as The Grand Empress and The Doll, was born in Quincy, FL on March 11, 1957. Chablis did not prefer to go by any labels other than “The Lady Chablis” and did not personally identify as a drag queen. Through exposure in John Berendt’s best-selling 1994 book, Midnight in the Garden of Good and Evil, and subsequent film adaptation Chablis became one of the first trans performers to be introduced to a national audience.

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Queer Ancestor Spotlight: Chevalier d'Éon
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Queer Ancestor Spotlight: Chevalier d'Éon

Charles-Geneviève-Louis-Auguste-André-Timothée d'Éon de Beaumont, usually known as the Chevalier d'Éon, was born in October 1728 in Burgundy to a minor noble family. Due to their androgynous physical characteristics and natural abilities as a mimic they served as a French diplomat and spy in England and Russia. For the first 49 years of their life they appeared publicly as a man but after 1777 lived as a woman.

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Queer Ancestor Spotlight: Gay and Lesbian Kingdom of the Coral Sea Islands
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Queer Ancestor Spotlight: Gay and Lesbian Kingdom of the Coral Sea Islands

This month we remember a short-lived micronation that was born as a political response to LGBTQ+ discrimination in Australia. This micronation was founded in 2004 and lasted until 2017. The territory was comprised of small and mostly uninhabited islands and reefs in the Coral Sea, northeast of Queensland, Australia.

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Queer Ancestor Spotlight: William Stringfellow and Anthony Towne
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Queer Ancestor Spotlight: William Stringfellow and Anthony Towne

William Stringfellow and Anthony Towne were charged by the U.S. government in December 1970 for harboring a fugitive - a Jesuit priest named Daniel Berrigan. Father Berrigan was part of a group known as the ‘Catonsville Nine’ who had been charged with destroying federal property for burning hundreds of draft cards during a protest against the Vietnam War. After evading federal authorities for months he was eventually found at Stringfellow and Towne’s home on Block Island, Rhode Island.

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