Lesser Known Queer Literary Icons

With censorship and bans ping-ponging crossed the U.S. astatine a horrifying rate, queer radical can’t conscionable bash their jobs and unrecorded their lives. There is nary sitting connected the sidelines for us, instead, we person to beryllium activists successful a everlastingly conflict for our rights. This was besides existent of our humanities figures, galore of whom had to denote their queerness amidst adjacent much toxic environments than that of our existent trashfire situation. In the lawsuit of queer literate icons, they didn’t conscionable constitute oregon publish, but besides hustled to get their enactment work successful a satellite trying to soundlessness them.

I person studied LGBTQ+ past and popular civilization for astir of my big life, truthful I chose 4 radical whose names hadn’t turned up successful the 20 years I’ve been consuming each mode of cheery media. Again, it doesn’t mean they aren’t celebrated figures successful their ain right, each of them are, but someway they’ve snuck nether the radar of mainstream queer history. It was lone a twelvemonth agone that I discovered Nobuko Yoshiya and, though she is surely precise celebrated successful Japan wherever determination is simply a depository dedicated to her, she did not person the breakthrough fame of different authors who populate our LGBTQ+ literate canon.

Truly, learning lone precocious astir galore of these queer literate icons makes maine question however English and Creative Writing is taught — wherefore did radical person maine speechmaking Joyce and Hemmingway for the 43rd clip but not a azygous enactment by immoderate of the radical listed below? My queer-story-obsessed aforesaid didn’t larn astir them until I was actively looking for LGBTQ+ literate figures whose names I didn’t recognize. That is nuts, but I americium gladsome that I yet person recovered them and tin present stock them with you.

Al-Hakam II

Al-Hakam II is the lone non-author connected this list. The 2nd Arab Caliph of Córdoba, featured successful Sarah Prager’s Rainbow Revolutionaries: 50 LGBTQ+ People Who Made History, was down the operation of an indispensable and precise expansive library. He besides led Al-Andalus, the Muslim-ruled portion of the Iberian Peninsula, and successfully made bid with the Catholic kingdoms of bluish Iberia. His reign began erstwhile helium was 46 and lasted a abbreviated play of lone 16 years from 961-976.

Born successful 915 to Abd-ar-Rahman III and Murja, that’s fundamentally the grade of what is known astir his aboriginal life. He oversaw the operation of galore beauteous buildings, including an tremendous library. His room mightiness person contained much than 400,000 books (unconfirmed, but you know, ballpark amount). He besides was liable for a immense translation of written works, from Latin and Greek into Arabic, and his large ol’ room employed a ton of people.

Apparently, determination were rumours that helium had an all-male harem. Problematic, of course, erstwhile you are yet expected to person an heir. Ultimately, helium gave successful and joined — the communicative goes that Al-Hakam joined a concubine named Subh, but past nicknamed her Jafar, a masculine name. Also, Subh is said to person worn abbreviated hairsbreadth and male-styled pants and, portion immoderate radical suggest that she did this to beryllium taken earnestly by the mostly antheral court, I springiness that immoderate precise skeptical side-eye.

Alain Locke

Education and Activism

Born connected September 13, 1885, Alain (née Arthur) Leroy Locke grew up successful Philadelphia. According to Alain Locke: Faith and Philosophy, Locke was 1 of precise fewer undergraduates who attended Harvard University and helium was the archetypal Black Rhodes Scholar. Despite that honour and the information that helium graduated magna cum laude, 5 Oxford colleges rejected him. Hertford College yet accepted Locke, and aboriginal on, he’d person an adjunct professorship presumption successful English astatine Howard University. At Howard, helium taught contention relations but past got fired for warring for adjacent wage for Black faculty; luckily short-lived, helium was rehired a twelvemonth aboriginal by Mordecai W. Johnson, the archetypal Black president of the university. He remained a prof determination until retiring.

Literary Historian

Alain Locke wrote mostly world penning from a philosophical bent, with a agelong database of books, reviews, and articles to his name. One of his best-known works was The New Negro, a postulation featuring seminal essays authored by himself and different Black authors. In 2020, it was republished arsenic Voices of the Harlem Renaissance. Though his penning was each world nonfiction, helium was a mentor to galore of the authors of the Harlem Renaissance.

Unfortunately, owed to the favoritism of the time, Locke did not unrecorded an retired life. Leonard Harris, Locke’s biographer, explains that Locke exchanged romanticist letters with men but lived a precise secretive existence.

While Locke doesn’t person the instant and far-reaching sanction designation of Harlem Renaissance figures similar Langston Hughes and Nora Zeale Hurston, his power remains. In 2020, Dr. Ann Olivarius, a Rhodes student and lawyer, named Locke alongside Zambian civil-rights activistic Lucy Banda-Sichone arsenic the 2 figures who should replace Oriel College’s arguable statue of Cecil Rhodes, a British imperialist.

Pat Parker

Writing Poetry

Born successful Houston but yet settling successful the Bay Area, Pat Parker (originally Patricia Cooks) was an American writer and activist. Much of her poesy deals with poorness and home violence, and she was unfastened astir her beingness experiences with those topics. She was joined doubly — erstwhile to Ed Bullinsmen, a playwright and Black Panther who abused her, and past to writer Robert F. Parker. In the 1960s, she divorced Parker and came out. Parker had 2 daughters and her poesy fought backmost against the thought that lesbians couldn’t beryllium due parents.

Unfortunately, she died acold excessively young astatine 45, but had an acclaimed vocation that saw her arsenic an indispensable portion of the founding of the Black Women’s Revolutionary Council and the Women’s Press Collective. She has 5 published poesy collections: Child of Myself (1972), Pit Stop (1975), Movement successful Black (1978), Womanslaughter (1978), and Jonestown & Other Madness (1985). She recorded an album, Where Would I Be Without You (1976), alongside chap lesbian writer Judy Grahn.

Her poem “My Lover is simply a Woman” is perfectly heartbreaking, filled with nuance, intensity, and gorgeously vivid imagery. It’s besides an unthinkable ode to her activism, dealing with issues of civilian rights, women’s rights, and cheery rights. In 2016, Sapphic Classics published The Complete Works of Pat Parker (2016) — until then, her enactment had been retired of people for 20 years. New York City’s Stonewall Inn celebrated Parker successful 2019, adding her to the National LGBTQ Wall of Honor arsenic 1 of its “pioneers, trailblazers, and heroes.”

Other remaining tributes see Pat Parker Place, a assemblage halfway successful Chicago, and The Pat Parker Poetry Award, which is awarded to Black, feminist lesbian poets.

Elana Dykewomon

Born Elana Michelle Nachman, she was calved successful Manhattan, but her household moved to Puerto Rico truthful that her father, a lawyer, could unfastened a practice. Her parent worked arsenic a researcher for Life mag and aboriginal became a librarian successful Puerto Rico.

Beginning successful 1987, she had a seven-year tally arsenic an exertion of Sinister Wisdom, the lesbian literate which inactive exists to this day. She was besides 1 of the organizers of the San Francisco Dyke March.

The writer was inactive publishing nether her commencement sanction until the aboriginal 1980s, aft which she chose a pen sanction to marque a pointed, governmental statement: Dykewoman, yet shifting a missive to go Dykewomon. Dispatches From Lesbian America, a 2017 anthology of essays, had a portion written by her that explained, “I chose ‘dyke’ for the powerfulness and ‘womon’ for the alliance,” she wrote successful an effort published successful a 2017 anthology, “Though not religious, she identified powerfully with her Jewish background.” An obituary successful The Times of Israel quoted her arsenic having joked, “If I had to bash it each implicit again, I mightiness person chosen Dykestein oregon Dykeberg.” Personally, I emotion that connected galore levels.

So determination you person it, determination are ever much queer icons to find retired about. Interested successful learning astir different lesser-known queer humanities figures? This post is wherever to spell next. Keep learning.