Happy pride, people! Here's some LGBTQ topics I've written about before.

Homosexuality in the laws and penitentials of early medieval Ireland

"Lesbian-like", queer, and asexual women in early medieval Islam

What are "Two-Spirits" in Native American cultures? [with more discussion here]

My dear, learn a little something about terms of address used in British gay speech from the 1890s to 1950s.

I have a few past answers on queer topics that might be of interest!

Actually another Tuesday Trivia post, where I discussed "romantic friendship"

Romantic friendship is one of those topics that comes up here from time to time. Basically, "romantic friendship" is the term used by scholars and in the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries for very intimate friendships (usually but not solely between two people of the same gender, and usually but not solely two women) that were characterized by very tender language, professions of love and devotion, and sometimes even co-habitation. People tend to fall into two camps over them:

One camp says: the way we express friendship today is not the objective and only way to express friendship. People during this period genuinely believed that close friendships should border on romance, and that it was admirable for two women to be so attached to each other that they cried when they parted and wrote letters about how they're counting the hours until they meet again, etc. It was completely possible for these to have been romantic but not actually romances in the sense of the word today.

The other camp says: these were most likely actual romances.

What are the origins of the "fabulous" gay stereotype?

The stereotypical macaroni was often considered a gender between men and women, "neuter" or "amphibious". Remember that at this time, sex and gender and even sexual role were inextricably linked: men were active, virile, and hearty while women were passive, soft, and delicate. The macaroni spoke in an affected style, walked and moved with studied grace, liked "feminine" fabrics and accessories, and had an unmanly interest in fashion on the whole, which made them appear to be something between men and women.

Could a same-sex couple have realistically lived together, presenting as friends or roommates, in Victorian or early 20th-century England?

To jump back up to the second to last paragraph - it was an absolutely normal thing for two upper-class or upper-middle-class women to live together and be known to have intense emotional feelings for each other. It was not seen as ideal, as women of this period were supposed to get married to men and raise children, but people did not automatically assume that they were romantically involved.

Was there any gay connotation for a pirate having a parrot on their right shoulder? (PS ANYONE HERE LIKE OUR FLAG MEANS DEATH?)

Having two pierced ears has been associated with women in western culture for centuries, while men have typically not pierced their ears at all; when they have, it has usually been one or the other rather than both. In the late twentieth century - by at least the 1980s - a code seems to have developed that may not have been universal but certainly was widely believed among both gay and straight men, in which wearing a single earring in the right ear signaled that a man was gay, while the left indicated that he was straight.

I wrote about Dublin Character and one of the founders of Dublin Gay Pride, Thom "The Diceman" McGinty for my friend in Dublin, Ireland - I share it here. It is in 2 parts as it is quite long.

Thomas "The Diceman" McGinty was born in Strathclyde, Scotland on April 1, 1952 to Thomas and Mary McGinty. He was one of two boys and had two sisters. Turns out there was a Dublin connection: Mary was a County Dublin native. Because of his birthday, he always referred to himself as an "April Fool".

Thom trained in theater and art in Glasgow, was a member of the Strathclyde Theatre Group from 1971, and moved to Dublin in 1976 to work at the National College of Art and Design as a nude model. The nickname "Diceman" came from one of Thom's employers: The Diceman Games Shop (Grafton St, then on South Anne St). Diceman is best remembered for his performances on Grafton St as a mime and a living statue - a stillness artist, as he put it. However, he did occasionally break the immobility - giving broad, saucy, pantomime winks to those who put money at his feet. Whenever the Gardai told him to move along because he was "causing an obstruction" with the crowds that gathered to watch him and see which costume he was wearing, Diceman would comply, but in his own way and his own time: the famous "Zen Walk", moving extremely slowly...it has been called immobility in motion. Malicious compliance. :-) Diceman was also known for his exuberant, fanciful costumes. Some examples: Mona McGinty (Mona Lisa), Dracula (kissing oul wans and biting necks), a teapot (though not short and stout), clown.

When Thom McGinty no longer worked as an artist model, he decided he would need to beg, so he started performing in public. The first venue at which he appeared was the "infamous" Dandelion Market on St Stephen's Green, the place for bohemians like him. He was known as the "Dandelion Clown". The Market stood on the site of a former bottling plant and stables that was converted into a market for hippies and punks. Who knew that from this humble beginning would "grow" one of Dublin's most beloved street characters and activists?

Thom McGinty gave this explanation in the Irish Independent, Oct 26, 1994:

At first I was terrified. I just did it out of necessity. The reason I was so still was because I was so terrified. I think it comes from being basically shy, a sort of inadequacy complex, and it's a way of covering it. A lot of performers will tell you that. It's a defense mechanism.

Diceman didn't have any singing or musical talent, so his form of busking was by wearing make-up and costume and standing stock still and mute in the Dandelion Market. His Dandelion Clown was "a colorful pseudo-beggar". When the Market closed down in 1981, he found work with the Grapevine Theatre Company, ran workshops, tried to launch a full-time theater company in Spiddal, Galway called The Dandelion Theatre Company. It lasted a few years but it was never a financial success. So he resurrected his human statue act for The Diceman Games shop on Grafton St. In this role, he stood completely still for hours on end in a costume that sported the colors on a set of dice (a mime costume) and would attempt to move from one end of the street to the other without anyone noticing his movement - roughly 2 hours of minuscule movements.

From advertising for the game shop he moved on to advertising for other establishments, like Bewley's cafe. Whenever he was hassled by the police and told to move along, he would. His way. Zen Walk time. "People were just shocked at him because you could do anything to him and he just wouldn't move," said Beatrice, a Grafton St flower seller who remembered him. However, Diceman didn't only use his talent for the Man (yo), he also promoted gay rights (he was out when it was still illegal in Ireland), human rights in Tibet, the Birmingham Six (6 Irishmen wrongfully convicted and sentenced to life imprisonment for the Birmingham pub bombings), and other causes. Diceman didn't limit his performances to the streets of Dublin: he still worked on stage and film: 1989, the Gate Theatre production of Salome by Oscar Wilde, which transferred to 2 other locations; The Maids by Jean Genet; and in France, the Netherlands, Germany, Russia, Spain, Switzerland. His film work was in short films The Metal Man (1989) and Corkscrew (1990). He also appeared on The Late Late Show, hosted by Gay Byrne, in 1988 and again in his last year of life.

In 1990, The Diceman tested positive for HIV, which he didn't hide from the public. Though he became less able to perform, he continued to demonstrate his art of stillness until he retired in 1994. In 1991, he was arrested for public indecency and breach of peace for wearing a corset, black fishnet tights, and a g-string - he was advertising the Rocky Horror Picture Show (RHPS). When you see the photo of the costume, you'll see he was practically prudish compared to costumes seen at RHPS screenings. "Causing offence to public decency" they called it. On Sept 4, 1991, he arrived to court with parts of the costume that he wore to advertise RHPS and argued that none of the public objected to the costume. The police arrested him because he would not remove the costume. The court sided with the police ("Mr McGinty's buttocks were exposed") and he was convicted. A funny twist is that the cops who arrested him had to scrub the backseat of their squad car for hours after taking him to the station, in order to remove the golden imprint of Diceman's arse from the paint he used in his costume.

When he retired from street work in 1994 due to his declining health, he launched Living Visuals to continue the characters he invented and appeared at selected benefits and performances. Olympia Theatre, Halloween 1994: a tribute and benefit event was held in Diceman's honor at which he was crowned High King of Ireland, and funds were raised to buy his medications and to pay for his funeral. He appeared on the RTE series Head to Toe to speak about his career and costume design. He died on Feb 20,1995 after a sudden decline. His friends carried his coffin the length of Grafton St, past a large crowd (of 2000) that stood still in tribute before sending him off with long and sustained applause. He was cremated at Glasnevin cemetery and his ashes were scattered in Baltinglass, Wicklow where he believed himself to have been conceived.