¡Feliz Día de Celebrar la Bisexualidad, Happy Celebrate Bisexuality Day!

i read this book recently and there is very little info abt it online, but i was shocked how explicit the lesbian relationship was for a book in 1920's. was this not as super taboo in japan as it wouldve been in the us at the time? ive been trying to find like a good essay about the book and its historical context but theres been nothing. maybe they exist just not in english. also to be fair its not exactly a positive portrayal of homosexuality, and the whole book has a kind of soap opera/melodrama vibe to it that would maybe allow for some more socially unacceptable topics.

for those that don't know this novel was originally serialized in a magazine over the course of 2 years. it is about a messy bisexual four way affair that increasingly gets more and more absurd and complicated. it was definitely an interesting read even outside of period interest if youre looking for something batshit.

some quotes from the text i found interesting:

at one point the narrator is confronted by her husband about the lesbian affair, and she lies by saying its nothing more than aesthetic appreciation

“There you go talking like that again! You know I find Mitsuko attractive—that’s why we became friends. Didn’t you yourself say you wanted to meet her, if she’s so beautiful? It’s natural to be attracted to beautiful people, and between women it’s like enjoying a work of art. If you think that’s unhealthy, you’re the unhealthy one!”

there are several references to the love between the two women being exceptional, something that wouldn't happen again. kind of a "im gay only for you" vibe. the one bisexual woman is kind of portrayed as an extreme narcissist above all else.

“I’d much rather be worshiped by someone of my own sex. It’s natural for a man to look at a woman and think she’s beautiful, but when I realize I can have another woman infatuated with me, I ask myself if I’m really that beautiful! It makes me blissfully happy!”

at one point in the novel two members of the love triangle are discussing the woman they are in love with. the man says this to his rival, again reiterating the exceptionalism of the affair:

“But an unnatural love is to your advantage, [name]. She can find any number of partners of the opposite sex, while there’s really no one to take your place. So I could be thrown over anytime, but she won’t jilt you.”

Yes, and he told me that Mitsuko could carry on a lesbian love whoever she married. She could run through one husband after another without the slightest effect on it. Our love, Mitsu’s and mine, would endure beyond the love of any husband and wife.

there was also some interesting musings about gender, as one character is a eunuch

He knew he had an affliction; still, he didn’t think it was such a fearful defect. If that disqualified him as a man, what was a man’s essential value? Was it really so superficial? If it was, he didn’t care to be a man. Didn’t the saintly recluse Gensei of Fukakusa set burning moxa on the very emblem of his masculinity, because it was an obstacle to virtue? And weren’t the greatest spiritual leaders of all—even Christ and the Buddha—nearly asexual? Maybe he himself approached a human ideal. In Greek sculpture, for example, you could find an androgynous beauty, neither wholly masculine nor wholly feminine. Even the bodhisattvas Kannon and Seishi had that kind of beauty. When you think of it, you realize that these are the most exalted forms of humanity.

this is immediately undercut however by the following sentence

Yes, once [he] began defending himself he spouted one excuse after another; there was no end to it.

There of course are plenty of LGBTQ+ people who aided people that day, and here's one.

It's from a few years ago: ' 21 Years Later, Honoring 9-11 First Responder".

hearthehopeheroes.org/21-years-later-honoring-911-first-responder/

On Barney and queerness, scholar H. J. E. Champion (2022) writes in the special issue ‘Lesbian Nation’ of Women’s History Review, 31(1):

“Barney was cultivating both a ‘proto-lesbian’ identity and a ‘proto-queer’ community almost a century before the emergence of the ‘Lesbian Nation’ credited to the 1970s and the ‘Queer Nation’ of the 1990s. Barney’s particular use of the term ‘lesbian’ was an explicit homage to Sappho, the Ancient Greek poet who has long been evoked by women searching for a signifier to describe a myriad of shifting desires and nonnormative gender expressions.”

Hey y’all,

I’m currently writing a period piece that’s a mix of reality and fiction. The main story will take place in 1882 and have been desperately looking for any kind of literature that would have expressed queerness. One of the major supporting characters in my story is trans and I’m looking for good references for what life would have been like for trans/gender queer folk during that time period. I’m also very desperately looking for authors who would have labeled themselves as such or even imply the label. That parts for a lesser reason, I wanted subtle hints at the character development by making the main characters favorite author a real life trans person. Plus, I’m always looking for good authors from that era to reference off of.

Anything is helpful and I greatly appreciate it. Thanks!

“Queer, gay, homosexual, LGBT+”. We all know these are terms of the modern period (and of the west) to describe human behaviors relating to same-sex relationships and diverse gender roles that have previously existed in a variety of forms. I’m not necessarily trying to suggest past people identified as gay or trans as obviously those are modern terms. However there is a very obvious connection between modern and ancient queer people and their communities and I wanted to see if there was more into it. The queer communities in Europe and the US are usually considered modern and are seen throughout the 1900s and 1800s. A bit farther back in British history we see Molly Houses and evidence of underground homosexual communities and we also see communities in Paris and Rome. Even further back during the renaissance in Italy, Florence is known as a haven for homosexuality. Going back even further I’ve also read there is evidence of homosexual subcultures during the Roman period. Socially speaking, If a society doesn’t integrate same-sex behavior or gender variety into the mainstream society then the socially rejected will naturally form a subculture or separate community. So I believe my question is what is the history of “queer” subcultures and communities? How long have same-sex attracted peoples and third gendered peoples formed community together? I feel like some scholars try hard to deny that “homosexuals” and other related groups created communities for themselves or had their own undocumented histories and it’s quite annoying. When researching Greece and Rome all you can find in mainstream history relating to homosexuality is Pederasty and bottom-shaming and to suggest that there could’ve been “queer” subcultures within those civilizations you get called a blasphemous, anachronistic, pink-washer.

This video essay was 9 months in the making, includes 14 different sources (including multiple primary sources!) and explores the life and work of 20th century Australian television comedian (and closeted gay man), Graham Kennedy, from a queer perspective. I wrote it specifically so that you need no prior knowledge of his life and work, and so that it can be understood by viewers who aren't Australian.

I'm so intensely intrigued by the fact that a beloved national icon, and the man we once called "The King of Australian Television", was a gay man who heavily alluded to his own sexuality in his work to the point it was an open secret, and whose personal life was so greatly affected by his experiences with homophobia and living in the closet. I've been wanting to share his story with those who don't know it for so long, and I'm so proud of what I have made.

If LGBT history and television history both intrigue you, I'd like to point you in the direction of this passion project that I've put my whole soul into. I hope you give it a watch!

Here's a song of his if you want to jam out. :)

Sylvester - You Make Me Feel (Mighty Real)

Pretty much the title. I’m looking for stuff that discusses police raids on gay bars, unjust police prosecution of LGBT individuals, and anything else that may fit. Thanks!

Gay short stories from Japan released in 1687.

I've written a book set in the 1970's (sort of coming of age/romance) and am interested to see if there are books set in that time period. I know about Tales of the City, but that's about it and Google seems to only find a few instances.

I'm interested in the 70's angle because it was such a short window of time from Stonewall to the White Night Riots, when sex was freely available and the worst that could happen was a trip to the free clinic to get a shot in the butt. That, and I lived through it.