Queen is gay
13 LGBTQ royals you didn’t learn about in history class
The Dutch monarchy made international news last week after announcing that royals can marry a queer partner without giving up their right to the throne. But while the Netherlands, which in 2001 became the first country to legalize gay marriage, has paved the wave for a queer royal to officially wear the crown, LGBTQ people have prolonged been doing so unofficially.
While it’s tough to assign current labels to figures from the past, there were notable leaders from centuries — even millennia — ago, who crossed sexual and gender boundaries. Some were celebrated by their subjects, others vilified.
In flash of the Dutch monarchy’s recent announcement and in honor of LGBTQ History Month, which is celebrated in October, here are 13 queer royals you didn’t learn about in school.
Emperor Ai of Han (27 - 1 B.C.)
Made emperor of the Han Dynasty at age 20, Ai was initially well received by his subjects but eventually became related with corruption and incompetence. He was also widely recognizable to have been romantically involved with one of his ministers, Dong Xian, though both men were married to women.
In the “Hanshu,” or
Freddie Mercury’s Sexuality Remained a Mystery Even to His Queen Bandmates
They didn't know. Maybe, they didn't want to know.
Queen never talked much about Freddie Mercury's sexuality, and even less about the disease that eventually killed him. "We were very close as a group," drummer Roger Taylor said, not long after Mercury died of AIDS in 1991. "But even we didn't understand a lot of things about Freddie."
Still, Mercury's bandmates were confident of one thing: He couldn't be defined in some superficial, binary way. That simply doesn't reflect the complexity that shot through every element of Mercury's life and, of course, the band he once fronted.
If anything, some say, Freddie Mercury was bisexual, long before that became such a commonly discussed thing. "I don't think even he was fully cognizant in the beginning," guitarist Brian May once told the Daily Express. "You're talking to someone who mutual rooms with Fred on the first couple of tours, so I knew him pretty good. I knew a lot of his girlfriends, and he certainly didn't have boyfriends in those days, that's fo
I’m here today to tell you that Queen Esther is a gay icon.
What exactly qualifies someone to be a gay icon? Amazing question. There isn’t a 100% distinct definition that every single gay person agrees with, but I think kingly legend and playwright Charles Busch, while describing what made Judy Garland a gay icon, framed it best. He said what linked her to the LGBTQ+ community was not her tragic nature, but rather her ability to “dredge up joy.” I think what Busch meant by this is that despite Judy’s downs in life, she was able to stay up — to fight through troubles with beauty and strength.
If we are using this definition to choose what makes a queer icon, then Queen Esther is it.
Queen Esther is the main personality and hero in the story of Purim, recounted in the Book of Esther. You’re probably familiar with the tale, but let’s do a swift recap.
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The Purim story begins in Persia, where w
Queen's Freddie Mercury is voted the UK's greatest queer icon, ahead of George Michael and Elton John
3 July 2024, 13:54
He's certainly one of the nation's favourite music icons.
But in a recent survey, Freddie Mercury has always taken the top spot as the UK's greatest homosexual icon too.
The Queen frontman was an imperious oblige of nature when it came to taking the stage. There was nobody quite like him.
Blending his enviable vocal range, instinctive flamboyance, and ability to control a crowd - no matter what size - in the palm of his hand, he ensured he'd go down in rock music history as one of the very best.
There's a valid reason why Queen's 20-minute set at Inhabit Aid in 1985 has gone down as the greatest concert of all time.
Though, despite his noticeable playfulness when it came to expressing himself, Freddie never publicly admitted he was gay.
The day before his tragic death on 24th November 1991 however, he revealed the AIDS diagnosis that sadly killed him, and people position two and two together when it came to his sexuality.
According to new research undertaken by Durex however, Freddie's story has helped the nation learn more abo