Were there any famous pirates that were outright gay or at least confirmed married via matelotage? I'm a graphic novel/comic writer and just finished my 1st graphic novel script. As i wait on the artist to finish i thought it prudent to get to work on my next project. I am planing on writing a story based on the life of a real gay pirate but i am having a lot of trouble finding any. If anyone can point out a gay pirate especially one of renown i would be grateful.
Two really good sources for this are
Sodomy and the Pirate Tradition - BR Burg And Rum, Sodomy and the Lash - Hans Turley
Homosexuality amongst pirates has been pondered and researched but not proven. In Villains of All Nations, Marcus Rediker convincingly argues that matelotage is more of an insurance policy to ensure that belongings made it back to families on shore, or to the right friends rather than a bond between two gay men. It is much more likely that these men were close friends than lovers. Although homosexuality probably did exist on pirate ships, at this point with the documents we have, it can't be proven, merely postured as a probability.
I haven't been able to locate anything pre-20th century.
I think your best bet would be to combine a historical pirate figure with Sodomy trials/records or with a figure like John Rochester.
I'm also open to using a gay viking raider as the basis of my writing as well if anyone can name one i can look into.