Queer people have always existed. The challenge is identifying them
Queer people have existed throughout history. But when they didn’t have the language to describe themselves, how do historians find them ?
In 1969, police raided the Stonewall Inn in New York. This had happened many times before, but the difference this time was that the queers fought back. So ensued six days of rioting. From this momentous event the Gay Liberation Front was born, and Pride march, which we still enjoy today.
And so queer history begins… although of course it didn’t really. Although it can sometimes feel that LGBTQ history began in 1969, there have been queer people throughout time. There were probably lesbians painting the walls of caves in the stone age era; and gay people fighting gladiators in the Colosseum in Rome.
While queer people have always existed, the language for them to describe themselves has not. The term lesbian did not enter the British language until the 20th century. The concept of sexuality has also been murky. Until 1973, homosexuality was considered a psychiatric disorder. This makes identifying their stories difficult.
It is particularly problematic with women. Due to the oppressive nature of Victorian marriages, women often looked elsewhere for companionship. This could lead to intense female relationships, often called romantic friendships. Some of these probably were sexual, but others may not have been. How do we know which were which?
Take for example the suffragettes Emily Wilding Davidson and Mary Leigh. You may have heard of Emily Wilding Davidson before — she was the woman who threw herself in front of the King’s horse on Derby Day and was tragically killed. After her death, a book of poems was found in her belongings. It was given to her by Mary Leigh, with whom she had a very close relationship. It was inscribed with the words “the dear love of comrades”, which is a line from a Walt Whitman poem, and generally believed to refer to same sex attraction.
Is this enough to conclude Mary and Emily were lovers? It’s one line of poetry, so probably not.
There are other clearer examples. Eva Slawson was also a suffragette, and Christian socialist. There is a collection of her letters and diary entries in a book called Dear Girl. In it she describes her relationship with the widow Minna Simmonds. She lived with Minna for a while, helping to raise her children. Although she never refers to their relationship in explicit sexual terms, some of the descriptive passages leave little to the imagination.
Discovering queer history takes careful unpicking, but thankfully there are more historians than ever willing to take on that work.
For more LGBTQ history, check out our podcast Rebel Women, where ever you listen. You can also find stories on our website, eastlondonwomen.org.uk
