Across the world, homosexuals are often persecuted for their sexual orientation. As a result, large populations of gay people have formed communities that support them.

In its most basic definition, a “gay district” or “gay village” is a place where a large number of gay people live and hang out. Gay districts, which are often located in major cities, are highlighted by their many gay-friendly businesses, including bars, bookstores, boutiques, and restaurants.

Often, the pride flag (aka rainbow flag) can be seen proudly on display in these establishments. In fact, Pride Month 2020 is happening right now. Pride Month occurs in June each year because the Stonewall riots in June 1969 ignited the gay rights movement around the world.

On June 28, 1969, New York City police raided the Stonewall Inn, a Greenwich Village gay club. Patrons and employees of the club fought back when police physically harassed or arrested them. The confrontation became violent, leading to a riot and days of protests. The following year at the first US gay pride parade, participants chanted, “Say it loud, gay is proud.”

Many of today’s gay districts were originally sections of cities that had fallen into squalor. As large populations of the ostracized gay community moved to these areas, they gradually became more attractive. Over time, these portions of the cities often became the most fashionable and expensive. Here are 10 of the world’s most popular gay districts.

10 Enlightening Facts About Gay And Trans People

10 The Castro
San Francisco, US

The Castro, a neighborhood in San Francisco, California, was one of the first gay districts in the US. It is also one of the largest in the country. Although most of the gay community in the area lives in the Castro, some reside in surrounding neighborhoods like Haight-Ashbury, which played a large role in the formation of the 1960s hippie movement.

During World War II, the US military dropped off thousands of gay servicemen in San Francisco. These men gathered in the Castro neighborhood, named after Jose Castro, a leader of the Mexican opposition to US rule after Monterey and San Francisco were taken by US forces in the 19th century.

Jose Castro’s life and resistance to oppressive rule parallels that of Harvey Milk, one of the Castro’s most famous residents. In the early 1970s, Milk opened Castro Camera in the district and began a movement as a prominent gay activist. Sadly, on November 27, 1978, fellow politician Dan White assassinated Milk. This popularized the now-infamous legal defense called the “Twinkie Defense.”^[1]

9 Old Compton Street/Soho
London, England

Soho, named after an old English hunting cry, is located in Westminster in the West End of London. On Old Compton Street in Soho, dozens of businesses survive on the “pink pound,” which is the purchasing power of the gay community.

Tragically, a horrific event occurred at the Admiral Duncan pub in the heart of the Soho gay district on April 30, 1999. Neo-Nazi David Copeland planted a nail bomb inside the pub that left three dead and 70 injured. Copeland hoped to stir up racial and homophobic tensions.

However, his plan backfired. The gay and straight communities came together in support. After the attacks, the Metro Police commission set up a crime scene van to take witness testimony. The van was entirely staffed by gay officers. This event became a turning point for what had been a tense relationship between the gay community and the police.^[2]

8 Nollendorfplatz
Berlin, Germany

Nollendorfplatz is a fascinating study when one realizes its proximity to the Nazi regime. Before Adolf Hitler rose to power, Nollendorfplatz had theaters and clubs that catered to the gay community. The Nazis attempted to eliminate all evidence of this subculture by closing and destroying many of the district’s most popular hangouts.

After World War II, the area south of Nollendorfplatz reprised its role as Berlin’s gay mecca and continues to be a major gay nightlife hub today. A small memorial plaque, known as the “Pink Triangle,” sits near the south entrance of the Nollendorfplatz U-Bahn station. The plaque’s unique color and shape commemorate all the homosexual victims of the Nazi regime who were forced to identify themselves by sporting a pink triangle.^[3]

7 Church And Wellesley
Toronto, Canada

Named after the two main streets that intersect in the middle of the neighborhood, Church and Wellesley is one of Canada’s largest gay neighborhoods. The area was prominently put on the map of Toronto’s gay community after the events of the 1981 Toronto bathhouse raids.

On February 5, 1981, Metropolitan Toronto Police’s “Operation Soap” targeted four popular gay bathhouses, seeking to silence and put out of business these establishments. On that day, approximately 150 police officers arrested 300 innocent men, destroying the bathhouses in the process.

In the months following the raids, Canada’s gay and straight communities banded together to protest what they saw as the evolution of Canada’s “police state.” In Toronto’s Cawthra Park, the AIDS Memorial holds the names of community members who died of AIDS. The names are etched in bronze and forever remembered as pioneers.^[4]

6 Le Marais
Paris

Le Marais is an emerging gay district in Paris, France. Also known for its large Jewish population, Le Marais is replete with notable architecture and trendy boutiques, all meant to be discovered in a maze of narrow cobblestone streets.

Paris was one of the first capital cities to elect an openly gay mayor. In office from 2001 to 2014, Bertrand Delanoe championed an increase in quality of life for all Parisians while criticizing Pope Benedict XVI’s comments about the ineffectiveness of condoms in reducing the spread of AIDS.^[5]

10 Gay Myths From Antiquity

5 Oxford Street
Sydney

Whereas Le Marais continues to grow as a gay district, Oxford Street in Sydney, Australia, is becoming more “straight,” much to the displeasure of the gay community who once frequented it nearly exclusively. Now, straight bars outnumber gay bars. A few nightclubs even sponsor popular wet T-shirt contests.

Many heterosexual individuals find the gay bars to be a nice change of scenery. Although this increase in visitors has brought more business, it has also spawned negative headlines. Today, Oxford Street has seen a rise in crime, specifically aggression toward the gay community.

Not everything is dire on the street that runs through Darlinghurst, however. Every year in early March, the streets are closed to traffic so that the world-famous Sydney Gay and Lesbian Mardi Gras, one of Australia’s largest tourist draws, can be celebrated by hundreds of thousands of people from around the world.^[6]

4 Ni-chome
Tokyo

Ni-chome has the world’s highest concentration of gay bars, with approximately 150 bars and nightclubs densely housed together. In a country where a person’s private life is highly prized, most nightclubs are small, holding no more than a couple dozen people.

Marriage is valued in the Japanese culture, which leads many closeted men to marry women and then visit Ni-chome when the nightlife comes alive. Ni-chome’s gay subculture began to emerge after the Prostitution Prevention Law of 1956 made prostitution illegal.

Many of the bars in Ni-chome cater to specialized interests, including the bear community, BDSM, or younger men. Oddly enough, dancing is prohibited at some of these nightclubs. One of the more popular and larger clubs is “Arty Farty,” which elicits a snicker from those of us who are still immature at heart.^[7]

3 Amberes Street
Zona Rosa, Mexico City

Since the 1990s, Zona Rosa, particularly Amberes Street, has become the most popular gay neighborhood in Mexico City. One of three areas in the city where gay bars operate, Zona Rosa is the largest with over 200 businesses spread over 16 blocks.^[8]

Walking the sidewalks, one will encounter many gay couples openly holding hands and being affectionate in public. Zona Rosa and its gay community still face controversy, however.

A few government officials and advocacy groups claim that minors are often prostituted on Amberes Street. Locals refute these claims. They say that those who are antigay are exaggerating the problem so that the gay community will move elsewhere.

Though the truth probably lies somewhere in the middle, many young men and women flock to Zona Rosa to escape the pressures of the machismo culture that surrounds them in Mexico.

2 Barrio de Chueca
Madrid

The Chueca quarter lies in the middle of Madrid. It is an avant-garde community that prides itself on its tolerance and open-mindedness. Here, intellectuals and artists gather during the day for a cup of coffee and conversation and at night to dance and drink.

Famous for its annual Gay Pride Parade in late June, Chueca is celebrated for successfully hosting Europride in 2007, a popular event that welcomed over 2.5 million visitors. Based off this experience, WorldPride named Madrid host of its celebration in 2017, where sporting and artistic events celebrated gay culture.^[9]

Madrid as a whole is also known for being one of the first major cities to accept gay marriage.

1 Farme de Amoedo
Rio de Janeiro

A famous street in the Ipanema district of Rio de Janeiro, Farme de Amoedo Street is Brazil’s place to be. In fact, the gay beaches of Ipanema have been voted the best gay beaches in the world. The area is affectionately nicknamed “Barbie Land” for the muscular men who populate the sidewalks.

Rio Carnival is celebrated throughout the city. The most popular Carnival event for the gay crowd is the Banda de Ipanema street parade. First celebrated in 1965, Banda de Ipanema was declared part of Rio’s cultural heritage in 2004. Along with a marching band playing local music, another highlight of the parade is the many drag queens in elaborate costumes walking up and down the parade route.^[10]

10 Historical Figures Who May Have Been Gayer Than You Think

About The Author: A. Greazy currently lives in the vibrant city of Nashville, Tennessee. He enjoys writing, baseball, and licking nacho cheese off his fingers. You can contact him with any questions, comments, or inquiries at [email protected].

Many people who only encounter the Greek and Roman myths as children never learn just how weird some of them are. In the versions told to young people, the gods can be capricious and cruel, but the darker aspects of their actions are often hidden. Zeus’s sexual conquests alone could fill a book with bizarre forms of assault.

Yet there is another aspect of the old myths and legends that is also often left out—their homosexual and transgender themes. The Greeks and Romans were a lot less squeamish about sex than we tend to be, and they celebrated it in all its forms. Here are ten myths from the ancient world with gay and trans stories to tell.

10 Karpos And Kalamos

In Nonnus of Panopolis’s epic poem the Dionysiaca is the sad tale of Karpos and Kalamos, two young boys in love. Kalamos was a handsome youth who lived by the river Meander—in fact, he was the son of the god who lived in the river. While Kalamos was quick and athletic, his friend Karpos was more attractive than any mortal. Together, the two would play and gambol along the riverbank. When they raced on land, Kalamos let Karpos win by pretending to stumble. When they had a swimming race, however, things went dreadfully wrong.^[1]

Kalamos again held back so that his beloved could win. When a jealous wind drove a wave into Karpos’s mouth, he was washed under and drowned, leaving a heartbroken Kalamos to swim to shore and cry out for him. In anguish, he offered himself up as a sacrifice, saying, “I cannot see the light for one later dawn without Karpos. Karpos and Kalamos had one life, and both one watery death for both together in the same stream.”

Saying that, Kalamos dove into the water and drowned himself. Though he died, his body was transformed into reeds. Wherever reeds are found beside water, you will hear the sound of sighing as they brush against each other, and that is the sound of Kalamos lamenting his lost love.

9 Hyacinthus

There are two versions of the death of the Greek hero Hyacinthus in myth, and both involve same-sex love.

In the first, the god Apollo falls in love with Hyacinthus, a prince of Sparta, because the boy is so handsome and quick. The two lovers, mortal and immortal, would often go hunting together in the mountains.^[2] One day “when the youth and Apollo were well stripped, and gleaming with rich olive oil, they tried a friendly contest with the discus.” Apollo cast the discus up into the clouds, and Hyacinthus raced after it to show his speed. Instead of Hyacinthus catching it, the discus caught the boy full in the face and killed him. Apollo mourned his lover and commanded the hyacinth flower to grow in memory of him.

The second version of the myth tells the same story, but it is no mere accident that slays Hyacinthus. The West Wind, Zephyrus, was also a lover of the boy but had been spurned for Apollo. Unable to contain his anger at being rejected, the god of the wind blew Apollo’s discus at Hyacinthus. If he couldn’t have Hyacinthus, then no one could.

8 Tiresias

Tiresias is a figure who turns up in many Greek myths. According to legend, he was a skilled soothsayer who could predict the future with uncanny accuracy. In some stories, he was struck blind for his prophecies by the gods, who felt he was stepping on their territory, but there is another tradition.

One day while walking on Mount Cyllene, Tiresias came across two snakes mating. For whatever reason, he struck them with a stick. This upset Hera, queen of the gods, and she “punished” Tiresias by transforming him into a woman. Tiresias now went about her life as a woman—even marrying and having children.^[3] Apparently untroubled by this gender-swap, Tiresias spent seven years as a woman before returning to the spot where he had injured the snakes to see if she could become a man again. Hera relented, and Tiresias underwent a second transformation.

Unfortunately, his time as a woman would cause Tiresias greater problems. One day, Zeus and Hera argued about whether women or men had more pleasure during sex. There was only one person who could say for sure, so they asked Tiresias. Tiresias said that women had ten times more fun during sex than men, which was not the answer Hera wanted, so she struck him blind. To make up for his lost eyesight, Zeus then gave Tiresias the gift of prophecy.

7 Eurybarus And Alcyoneus

Once, there was a huge cave in Mount Cirphis that was home to a terrible monster known as Sybaris. Every day, the monster would emerge from the gloom to gobble up flocks of sheep and even the shepherds who guarded them. People were so afraid that they thought of abandoning their towns and moving elsewhere. Finally, they asked the oracle at Delphi how they could get rid of their tormentor. The oracle gave them only one solution—they must offer a human sacrifice.^[4]

The person chosen was the beautiful and brave boy Alcyoneus. The priests of the town placed a garland of flowers on his head and led Alcyoneus toward his death. As luck, or the gods, would have it, however, just as they were leaving, Eurybarus happened by. He was so overcome with love for the handsome boy that he refused to let him be killed. Eurybarus grabbed the crown of flowers and put it on his own head, telling the priests to take him as a sacrifice instead.

When Eurybarus reached the cave of Sybaris, instead of being killed, he attacked the monster and cast her down the cliff to her death.

6 Achilles And Patroclus

For thousands of years, people have been wondering just what went on in Achilles’s tent. In the Iliad, the poet Homer tells us of the love between Achilles and Patroclus but never explicitly shows them as romantic lovers—but that hasn’t stopped people from thinking there was more than friendship between the two. The ancient playwright Aeschylus apparently wrote a play called The Myrmidons, which showed the two as lovers. Unfortunately, not enough of the play survives to tell us how he envisioned their relationship.

From the Iliad, however we can see just how much Patroclus means to Achilles. During the siege of Troy, Achilles, the greatest of the Greek heroes, feels insulted, so he goes to his tent and sulks. During his absence from the battlefield, the war begins to turn against the Greeks. To put heart into the army, Patroclus puts on Achilles’s armor to make them think the latter is back among them. All goes to plan until the Trojan Hector kills Patroclus.^[5]

Now Achilles does return to the fight. Nothing will stop his homicidal rage at the death of his “friend,” except the death of Hector. Achilles manages to kill him, lashes Hector’s corpse to his chariot, and drags it around the city of Troy. Back in the Greek camp, he throws elaborate funeral games for Patroclus. Sexual or not, love can make you do crazy things.

5 Narcissus

Many people have heard of the myth of Narcissus. Because he was so attractive, Narcissus was used to being lusted after by everyone, and this made him arrogant. In the most famous tale, he ignores the love of the nymph Echo, and she wastes away, leaving nothing but her voice, which can still be heard reflecting back whatever is said to her. Many people will also know that Narcissus fell so in love with his own reflection in a pool of water that he died of starvation, unable to tear himself away. But many will not know why this happened.

According to legend, one of the people who loved Narcissus was a man called Ameinias. Narcissus cruelly gave Ameinias a sword, with the clear hint that he should kill himself. Ameinias took the sword and plunged it into his chest on Narcissus’s doorstep—as well as calling down a curse on the proud young man.^[6] Nemesis, goddess of revenge, heard his plea, and it was she who made Narcissus fall so suicidally in love with his own image.

4 Orpheus And Calais

The most famous myth of Orpheus, the greatest of all singers, is a very straight one. When his wife Eurydice dies and goes to the underworld, Orpheus follows her to win her back. He is promised that she will walk just behind him as he leaves the underworld, but if he looks back even once, she will be returned to death. Unable to resist a little glance to be sure she is there, Orpheus loses his wife.

Other myths have Orpheus as one of the famous Argonauts who went in search of the Golden Fleece. The poet Phanocles tells us that while on the ship, Orpheus fell in love with Calais “the son of Boreas, with all his heart, and went often in shaded groves still singing of his desire, nor was his heart at rest. But always, sleepless cares wasted his spirits as he looked at fresh Calais.” Other ancient sources describe Orpheus as a hater of women and someone who seduced husbands away from their wives.^[7]

Orpheus’s misogyny was apparently repaid in his death. When he refused to sing in honor of any god but Apollo, a group of female worshipers of Dionysus ripped the singer to pieces.

3 Heracles And Hylas

Heracles was quite the man. He once deflowered 49 out of 50 daughters of a king and impregnated all of his conquests. Yet there was another side to him. The ancient writer Plutarch tells us that his male lovers were beyond count. One lover, though, is worth particular mention—Hylas. One poet described how “even Amphitryon’s bronze-hearted son [Heracles], who defeated the savage Nemean lion, loved a boy—charming Hylas, whose hair hung down in curls. And like a father with a dear son he taught him all the things which had made him a mighty man, and famous.”

While on the adventure of the Argonauts, Heracles and Hylas became separated. While out collecting water at a spring, Hylas was seen by the nymphs who lived there. Falling in love with the beautiful youth, they decided they must have him.^[8] They pulled him under, and Hylas was never seen again.

Heracles was unable to leave without Hylas, so the rest of the Argonauts carried on without the great Heracles. Whether Hylas was happier with the nymphs or Heracles is not recorded.

2 Ganymede

In many museums, there are strange classical statues of a boy looking fondly at an eagle. These are images of Ganymede and the god Zeus, in avian form. Even when other stories of the homosexual loves of the gods were suppressed or ignored, the story of Zeus and Ganymede remained popular. For gay men on the Grand Tour of Europe, images of Ganymede became a symbol they could display without too much shame.

According to myth, “Verily wise Zeus carried off golden-haired Ganymede because of his beauty, to be amongst the Deathless Ones and pour drink for the gods in the house of Zeus.”^[9] Zeus did this because Ganymede was said to be extraordinarily attractive. But Zeus was not one to make his move in a normal way. Instead of simply offering Ganymede the chance for a date, he swept down on the young man while Ganymede was tending to his flock in the form of an eagle and hauled him up to heaven.

Given the role of cup-bearer to the gods, Ganymede became an immortal and was worshiped. When Ganymede’s father mourned the loss of his son, Zeus repaid the grieving father with some nice horses, which he was apparently very thankful for.

1 Callisto

Artemis was known as one of the virgin goddesses. This hunting deity had no time for sexual relations, and she demanded equal purity in her followers. When Callisto joined the goddess’s company, she was sworn to virginity. It was not a promise that the overly sexed god Zeus would let her keep.

In some versions of the myth, Zeus approached Callisto while taking the form of Artemis. While still in the guise of a woman, Zeus seduced Callisto.^[10] Even as a woman, Zeus was potent, so a pregnancy arose from the lesbian affair. This was not something that could be hidden, as the company of Artemis often bathed together. When Artemis saw one of her maidens was pregnant, she was outraged. “Why?” asked Callisto. It was Artemis’s child, Callisto thought. Callisto had her child and called him Arcas. For her impudence, Artemis turned Callisto into a bear and sent her away.

When Arcas grew up, he became a mighty hunter. One day, he saw a bear that did not try to flee from him or attack him. As it approached, he slew it. The bear was Callisto, and she had simply been trying to see her son. Zeus took pity on the woman he had wronged and placed her in the heavens as the constellation Ursa Major—the Great Bear.

Some people seem to think that before it became legal gay people simply did not exist. Since February is LGBTQ history month it might be a good idea to look back in history and see some of the writings that have survived by and about gay people. It turns out that there have always been examples of same-sex attraction that would be labelled gay today and some gay people have written movingly about their experiences.

Here are ten of the most fascinating gay texts from history.

10 Strange Attempts To Create A Real-Life Gaydar

10 Sappho

Sappho of Lesbos was one of the most revered poets of the ancient world. Born around 630 BC she was called by some ‘the Tenth Muse’ because of the beauty of her words. Her poetry was collected and preserved in the Library of Alexandria in nine whole scrolls – unfortunately almost all of it is now lost. Only a few quotations and fragments recovered from the sands of Egypt are all we have.

It was the subject of Sappho’s poetry that is and was most shocking. In a time when women were meant to be sedate and mostly invisible she wrote explicitly about the love that developed between women. There’s a reason both Sapphic and Lesbian came to signify homosexual relations between women. Some of her poems express the joys that love between same-sex love can bring. Others address the pain that comes with parting.

Frankly I wish I were dead
When she left, she wept
a great deal; she said to me,
“This parting must be
endured, Sappho. I go unwillingly.”

9 Catullus

Catullus was a Roman poet of the first century BC. He knew all the most important people in Rome and often included them in his poetry. Cicero, Pompey the Great, and Julius Caesar all feature in his work. Not all of them were happy, given the tone of his work. Catullus was a scathing writer who lampooned other people’s foibles. Caesar thought that Catullus had seriously harmed his reputation with his poetry but when Catullus apologised he invited him to dinner.

One of Catullus’ favourite topics was love, or at least sex. Every sort of relationship makes an appearance. In his gay works Catullus talks about his own relationships with men.

“Your honeyed eyes, Juventius,
if one should let me go on kissing still,
I would kiss them three hundred thousand times,
nor would I think I should ever have enough,
not if the harvest of our kissing,
were thicker than the ripe ears of corn.”

Not all of his poems are so tender. One is almost untranslatable because of the filthy language he addresses to two of his male critics.

“Because you’ve read of my countless kisses,
you think less of me as a man?
I will sodomise you and skull-f**k you.”

8 Alcuin

“O cuckoo that sang to us and art fled,
Where’er thou wanderest, on whatever shore
Thou lingerest now, all men bewail thee dead,
They say our cuckoo will return no more.”

These are the words of one of the greatest minds of the 8th century mourning one of his male ‘friends’ leaving his monastery. Alcuin of York was a monk and scholar who became one of Charlemagne’s closest advisors. He also became very close to some of the other monks he lived and worked with. The cuckoo of the poem above was one of Alcuin’s associates who had to leave. “Alcuin the old man thinks long for thee.”

It was not only in poetry that Alcuin expressed his love for other men. Some of his letters to other men have been regarded as beautiful examples of gay love letters.

“I think of your love and friendship with such sweet memories, reverend bishop, that I long for that lovely time when I may be able to clutch the neck of your sweetness with the fingers of my desires. Alas, if only it were granted to me… to be transported to you, how I would sink into your embraces,…how much would I cover, with tightly pressed lips, not only your eyes, ears and mouth, but also your every finger and toe, not once but many a time.”

7 Nuns

If you keep people in a same-sex environment for long periods of time you often find that deep emotional bonds form. Sometimes these spill over from the bounds of friendship into romantic pairings. It is true now and it was true in the almost entirely female world of medieval nunneries. The nuns of these establishments have left written records of their devotion to one another that it is very easy to read as gay.

“I love you above all else,
You alone are my love and desire…
Like a turtledove who has lost her mate
And stands forever on the barren branch,
So I grieve ceaselessly
Until I enjoy your love again.”

This letter was written between two Bavarian nuns in the 1100s and there are others of a similar age that survive.

“Everything pleasant and delightful
Without you seems like mud underfoot.
I shed tears as I used to smile,
And my heart is never glad.
When I recall the kisses you gave me,
And how with tender words you caressed my little breasts,
I want to die
Because I cannot see you.”

6 Virgil

“The shepherd Corydon with love was fired
For fair Alexis, his own master’s joy:
No room for hope had he, yet, none the less,
The thick-leaved shadowy-soaring beech-tree grove
Still would he haunt, and there alone, as thus,
To woods and hills pour forth his artless strains.”

So begins the second Eclogue of Virgil, the national poet of the Romans. Much better known for his epic poem The Aeneid Virgil also wrote poems about the joys of the countryside. And in the second Eclogue one of those joys is the love between the shepherd Corydon and a boy called Alexis.

Corydon mourns that Alexis is not content to be the lover of a poor shepherd.

“Ah! were you but content with me to dwell.
Some lowly cot in the rough fields our home.”

Instead of being some happy pastoral Brokeback Mountain this poem shows the pain that unrequited love can inflict on gay people, just as it does straight people. The name Corydon was later borrowed by the writer Andre Gide for the title of his book of dialogues on homosexuality.

5 Michelangelo

Michelangelo di Lodovico Buonarroti Simoni, better known as simply Michelangelo, was one of the greatest artists of the Renaissance. Despite his mastery of painting and sculpture there is something distinctly odd about the women he depicted. Oddly muscular, manishly proportioned, and with stuck-on breasts they often look like very handsome men.

Michelangelo seems to have fallen in love with an Italian nobleman called Tommaso dei Cavalieri who the artist described as “light of our century, paragon of all the world.” One biographer of the time said “Infinitely more than any other friend, Michelangelo loved the young Tommaso.” Tommaso sparked art and poetry from the older Michaelangelo. When Michelangelo’s homoerotic poetry was published after his death his descendent changed all the pronouns from male to female. In one poem Michaelangelo dreamed of being a silkworm so that he could be turned into clothes that would be worn next to Tommaso’s skin.

“All through the day he’d clasp me! Would I were
The shoes that bear his burden! When the ways
Were wet with rain, his feet I then should kiss!”

4 Achilles and Patroclus

The Iliad begins by describing the wrath of Achilles. Achilles, greatest of the Greek warriors is a wrathful person, as well as being petulant and arrogant. The only person he seems to show any tenderness towards is his young colleague Patroclus. When Patroclus is killed in the course of battle the poem describes Achilles’ breakdown at the news.

“A black cloud of grief enwrapped Achilles, and with both his hands he took the dark dust and strewed it over his head and defiled his fair face, and on his fragrant tunic the black ashes fell. And himself in the dust lay outstretched, mighty in his mightiness, and with his own hands he tore and marred his hair. And the handmaidens, that Achilles and Patroclus had got them as booty, shrieked aloud in anguish of heart… And over against them Antilochus wailed and shed tears, holding the hands of Achilles, that in his noble heart was moaning mightily; for he feared lest he should cut his throat asunder with the knife.”

While the Iliad is never explicit about the romantic relationship between Achilles and Patroclus even people in the ancient world recognised it as such. Plato mentions that they were lovers. Fragments of a lost play by Aeschylus describe the pair’s “frequent kisses” and “devout union of the thighs.”

3 David and Jonathan

The Bible has been quoted by many who have homophobic attitudes to support their views. But some have read in the story of King David a gay love that was incorporated into the canon of the Bible. For some there was more than friendship between David and Jonathan.

1 Samuel 18 begins “After David had finished talking with Saul, Jonathan became one in spirit with David, and he loved him as himself.” This partnership only deepens. “Jonathan made a covenant with David because he loved him as himself.” The Bible then records how “Jonathan took off the robe he was wearing and gave it to David, along with his tunic, and even his sword, his bow and his belt.” Several times it is said that Jonathan loved David “as he loved himself.”

When Jonathan dies David exclaims “I grieve for you, Jonathan my brother; you were very dear to me. Your love for me was wonderful, more wonderful than that of women.” Some have disputed the homosexual reading of this story but it has brought comfort to some gay Christians.

2 De Profundis

When love goes wrong, be it gay or straight, it can go very wrong. For Oscar Wilde it went just about as wrong as it could possibly go. Wilde suffered one of the worst falls from the heights of success in the Victorian era. A poet, author, and playwright Wilde was a father and husband but he also had a predilection for gay sex in male brothels and with young lovers. When the Marquess of Queensbury objected to Wilde’s relationship with his son Alfred ‘Bosie’ Douglas (sixteen years his junior) it led to trials that saw Wilde locked up for two years.

In his jail cell Wilde had time to consider his relationship with Bosie. The result was a letter to his lover called De Profundis – From The Depths. Bosie was a terrible person by all accounts and now Wilde recognised just how low his love for Bosie had brought him.

“Out of my nature has come wild despair; an abandonment to grief that was piteous even to look at; terrible and impotent rage; bitterness and scorn; anguish that wept aloud; misery that could find no voice; sorrow that was dumb. I have passed through every possible mood of suffering.”

The letter is a minute dissection of how whether you are gay or straight love can change your life. Wilde tells Bosie “Of course I should have got rid of you,” but he never did. Despite everything Wilde was not able break off his affection for Bosie.

1 Plato’s Symposium

Have you ever heard the term ‘finding your other half’? It can be traced all the way back to the writings of Plato and a text that includes one of the most moving images for what love is. In The Symposium a group of upper class and well educated men meet to discuss the topic of love. Since it takes place in ancient Greece the love under discussion tends towards the homosexual. When it is time for Aristophanes, the Greek comedian, to give a speech on love he tells a myth that explains the creation of love – homosexual and heterosexual.

In the beginning, Aristophanes says, “the sexes were not two as they are now, but originally three in number; there was man, woman, and the union of the two.” These original people were like two people stuck together back to back with two faces, four legs, and four arms. Some were two men stuck together, some two women, and some a man and a woman. Unfortunately these people got arrogant and displeased the gods. Zeus cut them in two.

Now, according to this story, we are all just half people wandering around in search of our other half. When a man was originally part of double-man he is homosexual, when a woman was part of a double-woman she is lesbian, and the mixed people became heterosexual. It is only when we find the half that has been cut from us that we feel complete – and that is why love feels so good.

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