How many times have you heard variations of the phrase, “Being LGBTQIA+ is a modern phenomenon”? The truth is people from the LGBTQIA+ community have existed for as long as humankind and there have been many trailblazers among them who have made many historical strides.
Meet some of these celebrated Pride icons who broke stereotypes and challenged the suppression of their voices.
Anne Lister
Born in 1791, Anne Lister was an English landowner in Halifax, West Yorkshire and is seen by many today as “the first modern lesbian”. Lister maintained a androgynous look, with a muscular build and dressed in all black. She was pejoratively nicknamed, “Gentleman Jack”.
Apart from the tedious task of managing her vast estates, Lister was also an avid diarist. She jotted down her experiences as a lesbian in Regency Britain in tricky codes that she devised herself! She married her longtime lover Ann Walker in what is dubbed “the first lesbian marriage to be held in Britain”. Anne was also a keen globetrotter, setting out on many adventures with Walker across the dangerous Pyrenees, the beautiful Swiss Alps and the exciting St.Petersburg. She passed away in 1840, with her partner by her side, while travelling in Georgia.
Bakhtawar Khan Mohammad
Bakhtawar Khan Mohammad belonged to a group of ‘elite eunuch slaves’ in the Mughal court of Aurangzeb. Many renowned transgender officers before them had left their mark on the history of the Indian subcontinent, as political masterminds and administrative geniuses. Bakhtawar, however, preferred to lean into their intellectual side and became one of the most prominent historians of 17th century India. Bakhtawar’s Miraat-ul-Alam is considered a crucial primary source to understand the political, intellectual and cultural landscape of the first ten years of Aurangzeb’s reign. It is used by scholars today to complement the official annals or Alamgir-nama, from the period. Bakhtawar was also a renowned patron of the arts, supporting the careers of many poets, writers and ulemas within the Mughal court.
Josephine Baker
Josephine Baker was one of the most widely loved artists within early 20th century jazz circles and an icon of the Roaring Twenties. She was also an openly bisexual woman, speculated to be associated with other celebrated icons such as Frida Kahlo, Colette and Clara Smith. Born in St. Louis, Missouri, Baker established herself as an A-List dancer, singer and actress in Europe, especially in Paris. However, much of Baker’s most cherished accolades came from her achievements as an activist. She took an active part in the French Resistance movement during World War II and for this was venerated with awards such as the Resistance Medal, Croix de Guerre and named a Chevalier of the Legion of Honour. She was also a constant figure in the civil rights movement in the United States, frequently displaying her support for Martin Luther King Jr.
Elagabalus
Marcus Aurelius Antoninus, better known as Elagabalus, had a short stint as the mega-powerful Roman Emperor between 218-222 AD. Born a male, to an influential senatorial family in Roman Syria, Elagabalus soon developed a deep disconnect with her gender assigned-at-birth. One of her biographers, Cassius Dio famously documented her saying “Call me not Lord, for I am a Lady”. Dio’s accounts also mentions Hierocles, a former slave and chariot driver as Elagabalus’s husband. Dio writes widely of Elagabalus’s enthusiasm for makeup and wigs as well as her hunt for a capable physician who could give her a sex reassignment surgery. In 2023, the North Hertfordshire Museum, United Kingdom announced that they perceived Elagabalus to be a transgender person and were to henceforth use female pronouns while referring to her in accordance with her expressed wishes.
Essex Hemphill
Essex Hemphill was an openly gay American poet whose work mainly centred around the issues facing the African-American gay community. Beginning his poetic journey at the very early age of fourteen, Hemphill was one of the firsts to address the experiences of Black gay people at the intersections of race and sexuality. He critiqued the institutionalised racism within the gay community and the rampant sexual objectification of African gay men within the community’s culture. His work reflected the perpetual loneliness he felt upon suffering a dual rejection from the predominantly White gay community as well as the African-American community. Yet, he believed that this difficult journey only made him stronger and helped him strive to create a system of support and belonging. In 2019, Hemphill was inducted into the National LGBTQ Wall of Honor at the Stonewall National Monument.
Many more LGBTQIA+ pioneers throughout history have gone against commonly held biases and moulded modern-day understanding of inclusion and belonging. Let’s begin conversations about LGBTQIA+ inclusion by learning the community’s diverse histories of strife, joy and exploration.
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Picture Credits
- Cover Image – Staff and performers at Mona’s 440 Club, circa 1940’s. Mona’s, the only lesbian-oriented nightclub in wartime San Francisco. Courtesy of Gay, Lesbian, Bisexual, Transgender Historical Society
- Anne Lister – Portrait of Anne Lister (Ref: SH:2/M/19/1/1, WYAS Calderdale)
- Bakhtawar Khan Mohammad – https://www.rekhta.org/authors/mohammad-bakhtawar-khan/ebooks
- Josephine Baker – French US-born singer and dancer Josephine Baker poses in Paris in the 1930s. AFP PHOTO PICTURE TAKEN AT THE STUDIOS HARCOURT (Photo by – / various sources / AFP) (Photo by /HARCOURT/AFP via Getty Images)
- Elagabalus – Portrait bust of Elagabalus, Musei Capitolini, Rome
- Essex Hemphill – Photo by Robert Giard. © Estate of Robert Giard.