Alexander the Great
(356-323 B.C.) King of Macedon in Greece, creator of one of Ancient History's largest empires, and considered one of the most powerful commanders ever.
His conquests include conquering the Persian Empire, but also conquering numerous male lovers.
Aristotle
(384BC-382BC) The great Greek philosopher had lots of male sex partners, as was the style of the time.
In his case, Aristotle seemed to love sex with other men, including fellow writers like Plato, and had little use for women in his life.
King James I of England
(1566-1625) King James I of England and VI of Scotland was so open about his homosexual love affairs that an epigram had been circulated.
The personal relationships of James I of England included relationships with his male courtiers and his marriage to Anne of Denmark, with whom he fathered children.
Leonardo Da Vinci
(1452-1519) Leonardo da Vinci was a leading artist and intellectual of the Italian Renaissance who's known as the original "Renaissance Man." The painter, poet, sculptor, engineer, architect, inventor, musician, writer, scientist, and mathematician was accused of sodomy when caught with a well known male prostitute in his lifetime. The artist behind The Mona Lisa indulged in drawing quasi-erotic figures of men, and in his writings, expressed disgust toward sex with women.
He was charged with sodomy at least twice in his life, and lived in Florence, a haven for gay men in his time. Some evidence exists which suggests Da Vinci also had affairs with his students.
Socrates
(Classical Athens) Like Aristotle, Socrates had affairs with men, which was considered acceptable and even encouraged in Greek society. Plato writes that Socrates once argued that love could only exist between two men, and that the philosopher could hardly control himself around beautiful young men.
That Socrates was also executed for "corruption of youth" also suggests he may have loved men a bit too young!
Julius Caesar
(100 BC-44BC)The Roman general became the first dictator of the republic, and paved the way for the transition to a full-blown empire. Naturally, he polarized public opinion in his own time, and critics often used his sex life to deride him.
Like many of the Roman elite, he engaged in sex with both men and woman. Numerous Roman historians recorded his affair with with king of Bithynia (now part of Turkey), and attacked him for playing the "passive" role in the relationship.
John Maynard Keynes
(1883-1946)Keynes was an English economist who is widely considered to be one of the most influential economists of the 20th century and the founder of modern macroeconomics; however, not many know about his micro relationships. Keynes's early romantic and sexual relationships were exclusively with men.
Keynes had been in relationships while at Eton and Cambridge; significant among these early partners were Dilly Knox and Daniel Macmillan. Keynes was open about his affairs, and from 1901 to 1915 kept separate diaries in which he tabulated his many sexual encounters.
Michelangelo
(1475-1564) Michelangelo remains one of the greatest influencers of Western art, widely regarded as the most famous artist of the Italian Renaissance. Many know the architect, painter, sculptor, poet, and engineer as the artist behind the Sistine Chapel.
He made his sexuality clear in many of his poems, written to his male lovers. I guess this isn't such a shocking revelation when you consider the content of his most famous works of art, like the one above.
James Buchanan
(1857-1861) James Buchanan, the 15th President of the United States, served immediately prior to the American Civil War. While a member of Congress, he forged a close relationship with William Rufus King, a North Carolina senator and future vice president. Pundits can speculate on when the United States will elect a gay President, though few realize they already did! James Buchanan, the 15th President, never married. He did, however, live with Senator William Rufus King for a good portion of his adult life.
Andrew Jackson referred to them as gay, and Governor Aaron Brown referred to them as a married couple. For a time, the two men shared lodgings in Washington and were referred to as Miss Nancy and Aunt Fancy. Surviving letters detail their intimate relationship, though Buchanan's family destroyed a good portion of their correspondence due to its scandalous nature. Even Buchanan’s biographer insists he was homosexual.
Frida Kahlo
(1907-1954) The bisexual Kahlo, a Mexican painter known for her self-portraits. was married to Diego Rivera, but had affairs with both men and women, including Isamu Noguchi and Josephine Baker; Rivera knew of and tolerated her relationships with women, but her relationships with men made him jealous.
Well, her husband sounds like a pretty tolerant guy.
Walt Whitman
Walter "Walt" Whitman was an American poet, essayist, and journalist--some say America's most influential and innovative poet. Whitman had a long-time partner, Peter Doyle, that became his muse. His poetry contains plenty of homosexual undertones and explicit references about his male lover.
The two men kept separate residences, due to family circumstances, but held a committed relationship.
Few historians doubt the homosexuality of the Leaves of Grass author. Other than the homoerotic overtones to his poetry, personal letters detail his affair with gay poet Edward Carpenter, as well as a long relationship with bus conductor Peter Doyle, and neighbor Bill Duckett.
Lincoln
(1809-65) You're probably quite familiar with Lincoln's reputable leadership and achievements of equality. You might be less familiar with the idea that several of Lincoln’s biographers have insisted the Civil War president was gay. The first reference to him possibly being “homosexual” came from notable Lincoln expert Carl Sandburg in his 1926 biography.
The issue came to greater attention due to a 2005 book, which described Lincoln as having a detached relationship with women, in contrast with a close male friend he apparently shared a bed with.Later, scholars allegedly found Lincoln's journal hidden in the floorboards of the old store once shared by Lincoln and Joshua Speed. The documents reportedly provide explicit details of a relationship between Lincoln and Speed.
Oscar Wilde
(1854-1900) Wilde was an Irish playwright, novelist, essayist, and poet that became one of London's most popular playwrights in the early 1890s. Oscar Wilde may be the most famous gay historical figure of all time. He was a hilariously witty playwright and acclaimed novelist at the height of his fame in 1895, when he was put on trial for sodomy.
He was convicted and sentenced to two years hard labor, which destroyed his health and contributed to his death in 1900 at the young age of 46.
Richard the Lionheart
(1157-1199) He was known as Richard Cœur de Lion or Richard the Lionheart because of his reputation as a great military leader and warrior. Richard I of England--the King Richard of Robin Hood stories--had no children in his marriage and contemporary accounts of his life refer to him committing the sin of Sodom (historical slang for homosexuality).
He is also rumored to have had a torrid affair with King Phillip II of France.
Alan Turing
(1912-1954) Turing was a computer scientists who served in World War II, broke the Germans' Engima Code, and was harassed by the British government for being gay until he committed suicide in 1954.The mathematical genius responsible for cracking the Nazi code during World War II, Turing should have lived a hero's life. Instead, by 1952, he was living his life in disgrace after admitting to an affair with another man.
The British government forced him to undergo hormone treatments to "cure" his disorder which made him grow enlarged breasts and rendered him impotent. He lost his job & security clearance, and when he tried to emigrate to the USA, the American government denied his application based on his homosexuality.
Shakespeare
Shakespeare's sexuality divides historians into polarized fighting camps. Little definitive evidence survives today, though he does write about erotic love for men in his Sonnets.
The controversy appears to date from Shakespeare's own lifetime, and rumors about affairs with noblemen like the Earl of Southampton persist. Many scholars have reached the consensus that he was bisexual, based on analysis of the sonnets: many, including Sonnet 18 "Shall I compare thee to a summer's day", are love poems addressed to a man, the "Fair Youth", and contain puns relating to homosexuality.
Billie Holiday
(1915-1959) Holiday rose to stardom as one of the most powerful jazz vocalists of all time, and lived her life as an open bisexual.
She had affairs with various other star women, including Tallulah Bankhead, and several female lovers while in prison on drug charges.
Sir Francis Bacon
(1561-1626) Bacon was an English philosopher, statesman, scientist, jurist, orator, and author. He served both as Attorney General and as Lord Chancellor of England.Friends of the great English statesman and scientist have written at length of his acrimonious marriage and of his love of other men.
At least one political enemy threatened to charge Bacon with sodomy, and his long friendship with King James I have led scholars to speculate that the two had an affair.
Eleanor Roosevelt
During Franklin Roosevelt’s administration, his wife Eleanor carried on a very active extramarital sex life. Eleanor fell in love with reporter Lorena Hickock, and their love letters to one another survive. So open and obvious was their relationship that the night before FDR was inaugurated in 1933, the two slept together in the Mayflower Hotel.
There is a famous picture of Eleanor at FDR’s side during the ceremony; on her left ring finger, she is wearing a ring “Hick” gave her. She also kept close company with other lesbian couples throughout her life.
William Butler Yeats
(1865-1939) Scholars often cite Yeats, along with T.S. Elliot, as the greatest poet of the 20th century.
He practiced mysticism and struggled with his faith throughout his life. In his final years, he wrote a poem confessing his homosexuality, and how much he loved a male companion who remains unidentified.
George Washington Carver
(1860-1943) Carver was a noted American botanist who introduced crop rotation to southern U.S. agriculture.
Carver never married or even dated women, and rumors circulated about his sexuality at Tuskegee Institute while he was on faculty there. In particular, his enjoyment of giving “therapeutic” peanut oil massages to and engaging in horseplay with handsome young men was seen as suspect.
Lord Byron
(1788-1924) Lord Byron, was an English poet and a leading figure in the Romantic movement. In keeping with his Romantic philosophies of free love, Byron bragged about sex with men and women to friends.
In letters to his close associate John Hobhouse, he wrote of numerous gay affairs in a secret code to avoid any legal penalties.
Laurence Olivier
(1907-1989) Laurence Kerr Olivier was an English actor who dominated the British stage of the mid-20th century. One of the great actors of the 20th century, Oliver had a number of gay affairs, including trysts with Marlon Brando and Noel Coward.
Friends knew well of his love of male company, as did his wives! His late widow, actress Joan Plowright, has acknowledged his numerous affairs with men.
George Bernard Shaw
(1856-1950) George Bernard Shaw was an Irish playwright, critic and polemicist whose influence on Western theatre, culture and politics extended from the 1880s to his death and beyond. Shaw made his name as an essayist and playwright, with Pygmalion considered his masterwork.
Like his protagonist Henry Higgins, Shaw had no interest in women, only marrying in his 40s so he could use his wife as a secretary! He also was an early gay rights advocate, defending gay people in his essays and his close friend Oscar Wilde at his trial.
Queen Christina
(1626-1689) The 17th century Swedish monarch shocked her court by dressing as a man and taking part in typically masculine activities like hunting, equestrian sport and swordplay. She adamantly refused to marry, even abdicating her throne as a result.Historians believe her longtime Lady-in-Waiting, Ebba Sparre, was likely her lover.
J. Edgar Hoover
(1895-1972) The tyrannical ex-FBI head blackmailed and spied on celebrities and political rivals he considered homosexual. The great irony is that Hoover himself was gay, as numerous friends and associates like Roy Cohn and Ethel Merman attest.
His long-term boyfriend was his right hand man, Clyde Tolson. Rumors that Hoover was also a drag queen remain unconfirmed.
Sappho
Sappho was a Greek lyric poet, born on the island of Lesbos, that had many female lovers.
This is said to be the origin of the term "lesbian."