We’ve Always Been Here, Part 3: Even More Queer History Through the Ages

June 8- Idet and Ruiu

While still up for debate, historians, Egyptologists, critics, and fans alike often disagree on whether homosexuality as we know it existed in ancient Egypt. An 18th Dynasty statue depicting two women named Idet and Ruiu is one of the items at the center of this dispute.

 Guy Curtois of the World History Encyclopedia identified the statue of the two women as “possibly mother and daughter, sisters, or a same-sex couple” (Curtois, 2021). Despite this equivocation, there still exist records of homosexuality that lend creedence to the interpretation of Idet and Ruiu as a lesbian couple. Moses ben Maimon (better known as Maimonides) was a Sephardic rabbi and prolific philosopher of the Middle Ages (1135/1138 – 1204) who lived and worked in both Morocco and Egypt as a rabbi, physician, and philosopher (Kramer, 2005; Nuland, 2008). His take on Egypt? He believed lesbianism and polyandry to be the “acts of Egypt,” while male-male homosexual relationships were typically attributed to Sodom, Gomorrah, and Amalek (Alpert, 1997). Rashi, an 11th-century CE French rabbi, was said to have described an “Egyptian practice for women to have multiple husbands” (Alpert, 1997).

Keeping these things in mind, one could also examine the deliberate seating arrangement of most, if not all, Egyptian statues and artwork. The right seat is typically reserved for those of higher importance and is considered a place of honor, while the left is of lesser prominence by rank. The inscriptions call Idet the “lady of the house” or ‘nebet per’ and states, “to Osiris… lord of eternity, that he may give… every good and pure thing, and the pleasant breeze of the north wind, to the ka (‘soul’) of the lady of the house Idet, justified” (Museo Egizio). The formula is repeated on the opposite side for Ruiu, but it contains several variations to the script, with no mention of a title.

What’s so interesting is how the two women are posed. This statue was found in a Theban necropolis and comes from the same dynasty as another statue featuring a woman named ‘Ruiu’ but where the former is of her and Idet, the latter depicts this Ruiu with her husband, Pashedu (World History Encyclopedia, 2017). Both feature the same pose with Ruiu on the left and her spouse on the right, with an arm around each other. That pose was used for married couples and could give more credence to the polyandry and lesbianism Rashi and Maimonides were talking about.

Sources:

~Lady Sága mac Cianain (she/they)

June 7- Francesco Calcagno

Francesco Calcagno (1528-1550) was an Italian friar affiliated with the Fransciscan order who became infamous for his radical views, and was ultimately executed by the Venetian Inquisition. Calcagno’s case stands out in the historical record for its intersection of blasphemy, heresy, and open expressions of homoeroticism, all factors that deeply unsettled both the religious and civic authorities of the time. According to Church records, Calcagno was accused of promoting and engaging in sodomy and of making many blasphemous claims, including denying the existence of God and the immortality of the soul (Tucker, 1997). During the investigation conducted by the Holy Office of the Venetian Inquisition, a witness testified that Calcagno slept with a different man almost every night. Among the most inflammatory claims recorded during his trial was his belief that Jesus Christ had maintained a homosexual relationship with St. John (Felici, 2024). 

Calcagno’s worldview was shaped by the libertine ideals that were circulating in radical intellectual circles of sixteenth-century Italy. Despite theological condemnation, particularly of sodomy, libertine ideas flourished in cities like Rome and Venice, where intellectual circles promoted freethinking and homoerotic discourse. Influenced by figures like Lauro di Gilsenti da Vestone, a notable atheist of his time, Calcagno espoused a materialist and skeptical perspective that rejected religious orthodoxy. Gilsenti reportedly claimed that “he did not believe in anything except what was seen,” a statement reflective of the broader libertine tendency to prioritize empirical reality over religious dogma (Dall’Orto, 2004). Through Gilsenti was also how Calcagno became engaged with provocative literature, including La Cazzarìa, a text rich in erotic and anti-clerical content by Antonio Vignali, which further shaped Calcagno’s unorthodox beliefs (Dall’Orto, 2004). 

The implications of Calcagno’s beliefs were profound. His case underscored the perceived threat posed by sodomy and libertinism to early modern state and ecclesiastical order. Homosexual acts, when coupled with overt theological heresy, were seen not merely as sins but as subversions of the divine and civic hierarchies that underpinned society. As Giovanni Dall’Orto (2004) notes, the history of sodomy has often been framed by authorities as a destabilizing force that undermines the natural, religious, and political structures central to social cohesion. In this sense, Calcagno’s execution was not just a punishment for personal behavior, but a public reaffirmation of ideological and moral boundaries in Counter-Reformation Italy. His tragic fate reveals both the rigidity of the institutional orthodoxy and the radical potential of early modern dissent.

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~Aisha bint Allan (they/ them)

June 6- Leendert Hasenbosch

Forcing isolation upon others has always been a tool of the oppressors to ensure no voices could band together and freely rise up, and in the case of Leendert Hasenbosch this was not just some psychological or metaphorical isolation, he was left, truly alone and abandoned.

Leendert Hasenbosch, a Holland native, was born around 1695, and grew up with his sisters under the care of his father until they moved away, around the time Leendert would have been a young teen. In 1714 at 19 years old he struck out as a soldier with the Vereenigde Oostindische Compagnie, VOC (Dutch East India Company). He served in Batavia, modern day Indonesia for a year, before moving on with the VOC to India where he served until 1720. He returned to Batavia having been promoted to Corporal and by 1724 he had become a book keeper and naval military writer for a different ship, which would prove to be his last command. In 1725 he was accused of intimate relations with another man, tortured for a confession and, finally relenting to his accusers and confessing, was punished by way of marooning on Ascension Island, an uninhabited place in the southern Atlantic. 

He was left upon the volcanic island with precious little in the way of supplies: a small tent canvas, two buckets, a frying pan, some rice and seeds, a cask of water, an empty musket, and materials with which to write. His journal entries begin on May 5th, describing his situation, his provisions, and his faith in his god for protection. His journal ends with precious few words describing his last days, from October 9-14th, stating simply “I liv’d as before.” 

In January the following year, his journal and the accountings of his time on the island were found by the members of an East India Company ship named Compton. Neither his skeleton nor any proof of his demise were found in the search of his camp and the island, though it is believed, based on his own writings, that he succumbed to dehydration, hallucinations, and lack of adequate sustenance. His journal was published as Sodomy Punish’d and within his writings we see his attempts at finding food, regular sources for hydration, his faith in rescue or relief from rain, and his psychological spiral; his writing wavered between begging forgiveness, expressing extreme bouts of loneliness (which he attempted to assuage through keeping a pet bird,) and hinting at an eventual mental break which resulted in his talking to dead turtles and hallucinating old paramours. 

The story of his unjust punishments and the brutality with which he was handled for the sake of his sexuality is a heart wrenching tale. His journal is a grave reminder of what hatred and bigotry can result in, especially when isolated, alone, and unsupported. The document is an important read, and we would do well to meditate on its message, if only to remind us to seek fellowship and remember that we stand stronger together.

Sources:

~Lord Ragnall Cennétig (he/him)

June 5- Isaac Newton

Isaac Newton is one of the most highly regarded scientists in history, often regarded as a father of modern science. His theory of gravity and laws of motion are a staple in any scientific education, but his personal life is not well documented, which can be attributed to his very private and secretive nature. There are many theories that Newton was either bisexual or homosexual, and he is said to have boasted on his deathbed that he never touched a woman. However, as the visibility and acceptance of asexuality increases, the theories about his actions and love life (or lack thereof) have started to change our understanding of Newton’s life.

Isaac Newton’s beginnings are not uncommon for the time. Newton’s father died about three months before his birth. His mother remarried Barnabas Smith before he was three and he was sent to live with his grandmother. After his stepfather’s death, Newton’s mother was hopeful that he would learn to manage the family estate. He was enrolled at King’s School, Grantham in 1654. In 1658, he stopped attending school to manage the estate. All records we have point to Newton being incompetent and neglectful, so much so that his mother was convinced to return him to school. He began his attendance of Trinity College in 1661, supporting himself as a tutor or servant for higher class fellow students and a small money lending business.

In 1663, he became friends with his roommate, John Wickins. The two would live together for the next 20 years. We know very little about Wickins and his relationship with Newton. However, one source, a note written by Wickins’ son in 1728, described that the intimacy between the two ‘came by mere accident.’ The note goes on to describe an argument between Newton and Wickins, which resulted in Newton pouting and them both agreeing to set aside the argument. Newton and Wickins parted ways in 1683 and there is no evidence that they ever had contact with one another again.

In 1687, Newton met Nicholas Fatio Duillier, a Swiss mathematician and another member of the Royal Society. For the next four years the two shared a close intellectual and personal relationship, which is well documented in what many refer to as love letters. There is no evidence that their relationship was ever physical but the amount of affection they held for each other is undoubted. Fatio was also instrumental in defending Newton’s development of calculus against fellow mathematician Gottfried Wilhelm Leibniz. Around 1692, the relationship between Newton and Fatio ended abruptly with the two never resuming contact. Newton suffered an emotional breakdown around the same time, which has been attributed to a variety of causes: the end of his relationship with Fatio, a friend trying to set him up with a woman, depression, and mercury poisoning.

Though we will never know for sure about Isaac Newton’s sexuality, or if he would consider himself homosexual or asexual in the language we use today, it is obvious that he prided himself on three things: his dedication to his work, his development of calculus, and the fact that he never touched a woman.

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~Lady Bak Nabiya (she/her)

June 4- Felipa de Souza

Born in the city of Tavira, Portugal, in 1556, Felipa de Souza is remembered as one of the earliest known LGBTQ+ individuals in Brazil. While not officially the first, Felipa embodied a bold spirit of defiance, living her best life in the face of adversity. A woman of some status and previously married to a weaver of fine silks until her husband’s death, she enjoyed certain privileges—being well-read, educated in writing, and possessing refined etiquette. She was considered a distant “New Christian” of Hebrew descent, as her family had previously encountered the Church of Rome when it coerced its religion upon the previously unconverted population in 1496 through inquisition-pushed efforts.

Felipa later moved to Salvador, in what was then the captaincy and is now the state of Bahia, where she made a living as a seamstress for women of high society. Through these connections, she found the freedom to live without a husband or children, engaging in romantic relationships with women she met through her work. While records reveal she had six lovers during her short 35 years, it is believed the actual number may have been closer to forty. Felipa was known as a prolific seductress who lived authentically, largely unbothered by the colonial authorities or the Inquisition—at least for a time—in the culturally diverse city of Salvador. A hopeless romantic, she once expressed that she felt “great love and carnal affection” so deeply that it overcame her inhibitions, and that simply seeing a beautiful woman was enough to stir strong attraction.

Her recorded affairs began with Maria Peralta in 1583, another “New Christian” in Salvador, who Felipa continued to visit even after Maria married a man from the neighboring captaincy of Pernambuco. Felipa also admitted to other brief relationships, including with several married women such as Maria Lourenço, Paula Antunes, and Paula de Sequeira, the wife of a bookkeeper.

Felipa earned a reputation as a womanizer, yet faced little interference from the Church or colonial authorities until the arrival of the Inquisition. Her relationship with Paula de Sequeira appears to have lasted nearly three years, during which they exchanged amorous letters and gifts. Despite their closeness, Paula ultimately confessed their involvement to inquisitor Heitor Furtado de Mendonça. It remains unclear why Paula turned Felipa in, or whether the information was volunteered or extracted. It is also uncertain whether Felipa had been open about seeing other women during their relationship. Some speculate the exposure may have stemmed from jealousy, frustration, or betrayal. Paula was not the only one to denounce Felipa; others, hoping for mercy and forgiveness, claimed they were unaware their actions were sinful and confessed their involvement.

In the end, Felipa was summoned before the Inquisition on December 28, 1591, to confess. She bravely shared her reasons, fully admitting to her actions and offering detailed testimony—living openly as a proud lesbian and loving without fear. Remarkably, she was spared execution, a fate that had befallen others for living their truths. Instead, she was sentenced to “physical punishments,” which included lashings, banishment, and fasting as penance, along with a fine of 992 réis. She was also banished from the captaincy of Bahia.

Together this Pride month, we look to Felipa de Souza for inspiration on what it means to live true to yourself, without fear of loving who you love and to bravely face those who would tell us to closet ourselves – no matter your identity.

Sources:

  • de Jesus, Iara Silva. “Mulheres sodomitas nas visitações do Santo Ofício na Bahia.” Dissertação (Mestrado acadêmico – PPGHIST) Universidade do Estado da Bahia. Departamento de Ciências Humanas. Programa de Pós-Graduação em História Regional e Local – ( PPGHIST), Campus V. 2022. https://ppghis.uneb.br/wp-content/uploads/2024/09/Iara-Silva-de-Jesus.pdf
  • Guimarães, Anderson Fontes Passos. ““Uma lésbica é uma mulher?”: vozes e silêncios.” Dissertação (mestrado) – Universidade Federal da Bahia, Faculdade de Filosofia e Ciências Humanas, 2013. https://repositorio.ufba.br/bitstream/ri/14306/1/Anderson.pdf
  • Mott, Luiz. “Sodomia Faeminarum: Inquisition and the Manumission of Lesbianism in the Portuguese World, 1646.” Pol. Hist. Soc., Vitória da Conquista, v. 20, n. 1, p. 45-66, Jan.-Jun. 2021. https://app-testes-periodicos.uesb.br/politeia/article/view/8999/6099
  • Santos, Shirley Romera dos. “A educação sexual no Brasil colônia prescrita nos Regimentos do Santo Ofício da Inquisição Portuguesa (1552-1774).” Dissertação (mestrado) – Universidade Estadual Paulista Júlio de Mesquita Filho, Faculdade de Ciencias e Letras (Campus de Araraquara), 2014. http://hdl.handle.net/11449/115934
  • Viega, Edison. “Quem foi Felipa de Sousa, processada por lesbianismo pela Inquisição e hoje ícone do movimento LGBT. BBC News Brasil, 27 June 2020, https://www.bbc.com/portuguese/geral-53190229

~Lady Luiza Vincente (she/they)

June 3- The Leveret Spirit

The tale of the Leveret Spirit, or Rabbit God, as recounted in Yuan Mei’s Zibuyu, offers a compelling window into the complexities of gender, sexualtiy, and religious expression in Qing Dynasty China. First published in 1788, Zibuyu (“What the Master Does Not Speak Of”) is a collection of 747 short supernatural stories that explore various dimensions of life, including ghosts, sex, betrayal, revenge, and corruption. The work was later censored by the Qing government in 1836 due to its controversial and unorthodox content (Szonyi, 1998). The Qing Dynasty, which spanned 1644 to 1912, was the last imperial dynasty of China and upheld strict Confucian moral codes, particularly regarding gender roles and sexuality. One of the most provocative stories in Zibuyu is that of Hu Tianbao, a provincial official who falls in love with another man and is punished with death after spying on him. Hu returns from the grave in the form of a leveret, a young hare, in the dream of a village elder. In the dream, he demands that a temple be erected in his honor for the purpose of aiding men in “affairs of men” (Szonyi, 1998). 

The story inspired the rise of a popular cult in Fujian province, particularly in the city of Fuzhou, where Hu Tianbai was worshipped as a divine intermediary for men who desired romantic or sexual relationships with other men. The Qing authorities, wary of any deviation from the prescribed norms, attempted to suppress the cult, which they viewed as immoral and subversive. The primary evidence for the cult’s existence comes not from its worshippers, but from state officials such as Zhu Gui, who described the cult’s iconography as featuring “two men embracing one another; the face of one is somewhat hoary with age, the other tender and pale” (Szonyi, 1998). Worshippers were said to pray for assistance in pursuing young men and offered thanks by smearing pork intestine and sugar on the idol’s mouth (Szonyi, 1998). 

Although Hu Tianbao came to be known as the Rabbit God, this moniker is likely a result of later slang in which homosexual men were called “rabbits” in Chinese culture (Jie, 2008). Szonyi (1998) argues that the image of the rabbit deity was a poetic invention by Yuan Mei, as there are no other sources from the region that predate his account. It is also important to not confuse Hu with Tu’er Ye, the moon rabbit of traditional Chinese mythology. Despite this fictionalized origin, the cult of Hu Tianbao was historically real and widely documented, proving that religious movements can thrive even when built on new mythologies, especially when they serve the needs of marginalized communities. 

Sources:

  • Hu, N. (Trans.). (n.d.). Tu Er Shen (Rabbit God) by Yuan Mei: A translation of Tu Er Shen story from Zibuyu. Scribd. https://www.scribd.com/document/232222865/6679-the-Rabbit-God
  • Szonyi, M. (1998). The cult of Hu Tianbao and the eighteenth-century discourse of homosexuality. Late Imperial China, 19(1), 1–25. https://doi.org/10.1353/late.1998.0004
  • Zhang, J. (2008). Investigation into depictions of homosexuality in pre-modern China (p. 228). Yunan Renmin Chubanshe.

~Aisha bint Allan (they/ them)

June 2- Pepi II Neferkare

During the Sixth Dynasty of Egypt, sometime in the 2200s BC, a six year old boy was crowned as the next Pharaoh. His name was Pepi II Neferkare, a name meaning “Beautiful is the Ka of Re” (or, beautiful is the life essence/soul of the sun god Re). Guided by his mother Ankhesenpepi II and her brother Djau, a vizier under the previous Pharaoh, Pepi II Neferkare is considered the last significant ruler of the Old Kingdom. He ruled an estimated 60 years, though some speculation puts his reign as long as 90 years.

With multiple wives and consorts, it would be easy to conclude his heteronormativity, but Pepi II Neferkare holds a rather special place in ancient Egyptian literature which might contradict such a notion. The story “King Neferkare and General Sasenet” is one with heavy suggestions of homoeroticism. While the story is incomplete, portions of it are found to be repeated in several places of archeological discovery. The story tells the of a voyeur named Tjeti son of Hentu, watching the Pharaoh as he ventures to the house of one of his generals, a man stated to have no wife or woman in his house, in the darkest hours of night, to do “what he desired with him.” A portion of the story is relayed here: 

“[…] Then [he (i.e.,Tjeti the son of Hentu) saw] the Majesty of the King of Upper and Lower Egypt Neferkare going out at night all alone, with nobody with him.

Then he moved away from him so as not to be seen by him. Tjeti son of Hentu stood still, being concerned and saying: “Obviously it is true what people say, that he goes out at night!” Tjeti son of Hentu followed this god closely, without letting his heart restrain him, in order to see everything that he was going to do. He (the King) arrived at the house of the general Sasenet. Then he threw a brick and stamped with his foot, so that a [ladder (?)] was lowered to him. He climbed up, while Tjeti son of Hentu stood waiting till His Majesty would return. After His Majesty had done what he desired with him, he returned to his palace and Tjeti followed him. When His Majesty had returned to the palace (I.p.h.), Tjeti went home. Now His Majesty went to the house of the general Sasenet in the course of the fourth hour of the night, he spent the next four hours in the house of the general Sasenet, and he entered the Palace when four hours remained till dawn. And Tjeti son of Hentu followed His [Majesty] every night without letting his heart restrain him, and (each time) after [His] Majesty had entered [the house of the general Sasenet (?)/the Palace (?), Tjeti…].”

It is normal to find symbolism and allegory in Egyptian art and literature, and some speculation has been given to the time table mentioned within the tale. The fourth hour of the night he went calling, followed by four hours “spent” with his general, after which there are still 4 hours before dawn. The time when Pepi II Neferkare spends with his general is a period of the night which the Egyptians refer to as “profound darkness” and it is mentioned that the visitations repeat nightly. This journey reflects the journey of the sun god Re during the most crucial part of his resurrection journey in the underworld: during the fourth hour of his journey, Re finds Osiris laying motionless and seemingly dead, and the two gods unite, becoming one god. “Re has come to rest in Osiris and Osiris has come to rest in Re.” Following this union Re is reborn after the period of “profound darkness” and continues his journey to bring the dawn. This unification is the main object of worship in the Litany of Re, known as “Book of Adoring Re in the West and of Adoring the United One.” While it is never explicitly described in sexual terms, the texts do mention that the gods “embrace each other” and Re becomes one with Osiris. 

The story of King Neferkare and General Sasenet closely mimics the story of Re and Osiris, both alluding to homosexual acts. Like so much ancient Egyptian literature, the story remains incomplete, its ending lost to time and erosion. However, it is clear that men loving one another was not an unknown concept to the ancient Egyptians, their monarchs, or their gods.  

Sources:

~Lord Ragnall Cennétig (he/him)

June 1- Here we are again

On May 6, 1933, a Nazi youth group attacked the Institut fur Sexualwissenschaft (Institute for Sexual Science) in Berlin. The institute was created by Magnus Hirschfeld, the founder of Wissebschaftlich-humanitares Komitee (Scientific Humanitarian Committee,) a group believed to be the first homosexual organization of the modern age, one that campaigned for queer rights and tolerance during the Weimar interwar era in Germany. The institute opened in 1919 and housed a library devoted to research on gender, same-sex love, and eroticism. During the attack on the building, much of the contents of the collection were destroyed. Four days later, the items that had somehow avoided destruction during the first attack by the students were dragged into the street and publicly burnt by members of the SA in coordination with the youth group.

The loss of the institute’s library represented a significant setback to research on sexuality of all kinds, but especially research around intersexuality and same sex love. There are anecdotes about bits and pieces from the collection surviving, but few materials have actually been accounted for. Despite stipulations in the institute’s charter and Hirschfeld’s will about the distribution of assets to the Humboldt University of Berlin and several of his students, these requests were never carried out: the West German legal system found that the Nazi seizures were legal, and the students, being gay men, were not able to claim recompense for the destroyed property.

The destruction of the Institut fur Sexualwissenschaft is one of many entries in the list of attempts to erase queer stories from history. No matter how many books or buildings are burnt, though, the queer community resurfaces, reestablishes, and reminds the world of its existence as a part of the human experience. Setbacks happen in every generation, but we continue to move forward and hold tighter to that which we have learned.

This year, as we honor Pride month in the East Kingdom, as we honor all people in the queer community past and present, we will again be posting the stories of queer figures from the SCA period and beyond every day this month. Easterners will be sharing their research on people from the queer community across a wide range of times, places, and circumstances, providing us with a daily reminder: They were here, they lived, and they deserve to be remembered, and this office will continue to preserve their stories for posterity.

~Maistresse Mariette de Bretagne (she/her)
Deputy Minister of Arts & Sciences for Education
Chief of Staff to Their Majesties Ryouko’jin and Indrakshi

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