Queer Carnival Cats

Carnival season is with us, and in Venice they celebrate in spectacular form next week.

Last year, in “24 for’24”, I mentioned that one specific mask worn by Venetian carnival goers traditionally indicated that the wearer was a gay man. That mask and the person wearing it is called a gnaga.

To tell the full story we have to go back to the early years of the Venice carnival. Carnivals have been held across Christian Europe for centuries to celebrate the start of Lent, a tradition borrowed from the Jewish festival Purim.

In some places carnival season begins just after Christmas. In fact, there is evidence that the Venice carnival once ran from December 26th until Easter. In medieval times, Traditional carnivals only occurred during Lent. Other similar masquerade festivals were not confined to a particular season, month, occasion or religion. If you had the means to travel and knowledge of where to go (not to mention the stamina), you could go around Europe and visit a carnival or other masquerade festival on most weeks throughout the year.

A major component of carnival as it developed over the centuries was the introduction of masquerades. In essence, masquerades were very much like the medieval Feast of Fools held in winter, or the solstice celebrations in summer, in that social roles were reversed (also something not confined to a particular season, month, occasion or religion). The idea behind wearing masks, in whichever carnival you attended, was to remain anonymous, allowing wearers to get away with things they couldn’t in everyday life.

There were various laws across Europe which governed which class of society was entitled to wear which type of clothing and which type of material. During masquerades these laws were relaxed. In Venice, people were allowed to wear anything at the carnival, as long as they also wore a mask. No mask, and you could be breaking the law if you were wearing the wrong type of clothes.

Even though the Venice carnival had been going for over a century, it wasn’t until 1268 that the wearing of masks was recorded. It is also recorded that masked men would go around throwing eggs filled with rosewater at women, someone the man had a crush on. Being masked, however, meant that the men could not be arrested or punished.

While wearing a mask you were playing a character. You weren’t playing yourself. You couldn’t be arrested for playing a character, which is how gay men exploited a loophole in the law.

Venice took a stand on opposite sides regarding homosexuality and prostitution. Like the UK before 1967, homosexuality in Venice itself wasn’t illegal, just immoral. What was illegal was gay sex, or soliciting for gay sex. Men found guilty of having gay sex were hanged in St. Mark’s Square and their corpses burned.

In the 15th century the council of Venice decreed that two noblemen should be elected to monitor gay sex activity. Physicians were required to report any injury or condition in their male patients that implied gay sex was involved.

So, you can understand why gay men took advantage of the loophole in Venetian law which allowed them to solicit for sex in public without being arrested and executed. All they had to do was put on the gnaga cat mask and women’s clothing and go to the Venice carnival as a gnaga.

No-one really knows why gay men began wearing gnaga masks, but it is recorded that they would make meowing noises and speak in a high voice. So, whether the mask came first or the imitation of a cat is open to debate. If the gnaga were feeling particularly dedicated in their portrayal they might also carry a basket full of fluffy little kittens to attract attention.

There’s one known instance of one gnaga who went a bit too far. It is recorded that on 4 May 1710 a gnaga began teasing a group of Turkish visitors to the carnival. They weren’t happy with his “catty” remarks and began to raise their guns. Startled by this, the gnaga turned and ran out of the city. The record doesn’t say if the man stopped to remove his mask and costume, or that he ever came back.

All went well for the first centuries of the carnival, but the loophole enjoyed by gay men and male prostitutes soon began to worry female sex-workers.

While homosexuality was punishable by death, prostitution was seen as a necessary vice, an immorality that was tolerated. In 1360, some houses near the Rialto market were designated as a kind of state-sanctioned red light district. Sex-workers had to live in houses under the management of guardians, who distributed the earnings equally at the end of the month. The women weren’t allowed to leave their house during the most important holy days, or after dusk.

By the 1400s the sex-workers were worried about the many gay men and male prostitutes that had been attracted to Venice and were becoming a bit too successful in attracting male clients, especially during the carnival. The women appealed to the authorities to do something to protect their livelihoods. The solution was quite novel and imaginative.

Bearing in mind that gay men and male sex-workers often dressed as women, female sex-workers were allowed to stand at their windows or on their balconies with their breasts exposed. This would reveal if the sex-worker was female or not. Some were even paid to line up on a bridge with their boobs out for all to see. This bridge soon earned itself new a name – the Ponte della Tette, meaning the Bridge of Tits. The surrounding area also acquired similar names – the Fondamenta de la Tette, and the Calle de la Tette. The bridge still exists, though you’re not likely to see (knowingly) any sex-workers.

Back to the carnival. After Venice came under the control of the Holy Roman Empire (based in Germany and Austria) in the 18th century, the carnival and its masks gradually fell out of popularity and virtually disappeared. It wasn’t until 1979 that the full carnival was revived. The traditional masks were recreated, and the gnaga cat mask has proved to be very popular. However, the link to gay men and male prostitution is largely disregarded and wearing it is not necessarily worn to go cruising for sex. Nor is wearing of the gnaga mask confined to gay men anymore.

With the revival came a new competition to choose the best costume and mask of the carnival. This competition has been held every year (except 2020, the covid year). Among the people who have won this competition several times is the openly gay German designer Horst Raack (7 times between 2009 and 2021, that last occasion was an online carnival due to covid).

I’ll end with two images. On the left is an 18th century illustration of a gnaga by Venetian artist Giovanni Grevembroch (1731-1807). On the right is one of Horst Raack’s winning designs from his entry “The Children of Light” in the 2019 Venice carnival. You can see more of his fantastic costumes on his Facebook and Instagram pages.

25 for '25

Here are 25 facts, figures and trivia about lgbt people and places to celebrate LGBT History Month UK 2025.

1) It is traditional in the West, when heterosexual couples marry, for the wife to adopt the husband’s surname. Same-sex couples can choose to adopt either or both family names. Footballers Tanya Kalivas and Martha West took a unique approach. They organised a football match between members of their families. Whichever family won the match would be the family name the couple adopted. The match ended in a 1-1 draw! Tanya and Martha have kept their own surname names, though they plan to have another football match should they have children to decide their children’s family name.

2) Neuschwanstein Castle in Bavaria, built by the gay King Ludwig II, is one of the most recognised castles in the world due to its appearance in “Chitty Chitty, Bang Bang”. It has also been painted and photographed many times. In 2015 a watercolour painting of the castle was sold for £71,000. It was painted by Adolf Hitler.

3) Dr. Tina Smilkstein, Professor of Electrical Engineering at Cal Poly State University, USA (silver medallist in table tennis at the 1994 Gay Games) was a world record holder at the age of 13. On 2nd June 1974 she broke the world record for the most consecutive jumps on a pogo stick without falling off. She jumped 36,218 times in 5 hours and 15 minutes. The record was beaten 4 months later.

4) Shudō was a form of homosexual relationship common in Japanese samurai society up to the 19th century. It was similar to the practice in ancient Greek in which male athletes and soldiers chose a younger male partner for regular sex. In shudō the elder partner was called a nenja (not to be confused with ninja), and the younger partner was called a wakashū.

5) Jacc Batch (b.1985) of Kettering, England, held the world record for the most items of Silvanian Families memorabilia. In 2018 he had over 5,000 items. Sadly, he sold the entire collection in 2023.

6) Same-sex marriages have taken place on all 7 continents. The last was Antarctica, when the first same-sex wedding on that continent took place on 22nd April 2022 between Eric Bourne and Stephen Carpenter.

7) Following on from that, the first female same-sex wedding on Antarctica took place on 14th February 2023 between Sarah and Jane Snyder-Kamen.

8) Sodomite is a well-known word used in the past as a derogatory term for a gay man. It derives from the Biblical story of the two cities Sodom and Gomorrah. There is a less well-known derogatory word for a gay man which derives from Gomorrah – gomorrhean. It appears in “Glossographia Anglicana Nove: Or a Dictionary”, published in 1719.

9) A sequel to Fact 2 on the “24 for ‘24” list about the entrance gate to Freddie Mercury’s home Garden Lodge being sold, the entire property (which has its own Wikipedia page) went up for sale in February 2024. The auctioneers accepted no offers lower than £30 million ($38 million). As of January 2025 it had not been sold.

10) Figures published by the UK Government in February 2024 showed that there were 268 inmates who identifes as transgender in UK prisons. That’s 71 more than the previous figure published in 2021. Of course, that doesn’t mean it’s the same 268 inmates – some will have been released and others imprisoned since 2021.

11) Anthony Morley (b.1972) was voted the very first Mr. Gay UK in 1993. In 2008 he was convicted of murdering and partially eating his boyfriend and was sentenced to life imprisonment.

12) Charles Hawtrey (1914-1988) was the first gay actor to play a parody of James Bond 007 in “Carry On Spying” (1963). His character was originally going to be called James Bind, but the Bond film producers thought this was too close to 007’s name and threatened legal action. The character was renamed Charles Bind.

13) The distinctive national flag and coat of arms of Trinidad and Tobago were both designed by gay artist Carlisle Chang (1921-2001) when the country became independent.

14) Lgbt+ descendants of the Mayflower Pilgrims who “landed on Plymouth Rock” (to quote the song by gay songwriter Cole Porter) include 9/11 hero Mark Bingham; politician Peter Buttigeig, actors Jodie Foster, Vincent Price and Matt Bomer; Olympic figure skater Toller Cranston; and alleged murderer Lizzie Borden.

15) “Caper in the Castro”, a murder mystery adventure, was the first lgbt+ video game. It was created in 1989 by transgender artist and computer programmer C. M. Ralph and was originally sold to raise funds for AIDS support charities.

16) Gay YouTuber Lukas Cruikshank (b.1993) was the first person to reach a million subscribers on a YouTube channel in 2009. The channel is called FRED and was set up with his cousins in 2006 when he was 13.

17) Genderfluid is claimed as modern concept, but back in antiquity the Greek physician and philosopher Hippocrates (c.460 BC-c.370 BC), after whom the Hippocratic Oath taken by doctors is named, referred to sex and gender as being fluid over 2,000 years ago.

18) An ancestor of acclaimed gay actor Sir Ian McKellen (b.1939) invented the weekend. McKellen’s great-great-grandfather Robert Lowes (1817-1874) campaigned for workers to be given Saturday afternoon off work. Until then, only Sunday was a day that workers were allowed off. In later years workers were allowed Saturday morning off work as well.

19) The Portuguese word for deer, “veado”, is used as a slang term in Brazil for a gay man. It derives from the false assumption that deer regularly engage in homosexual acts.

20) Although exact figures are impossible to determine, the biggest Pride events to have taken place so far are World Pride 2019 in New York City and São Paulo Pride, Brazil, 2011. Both claim 4 million attendees. However, the Mayor of New York in 2019, Bill de Blasio, claimed there were 5 million who attended World Pride.

21) The oldest known gay graffiti is a carving of two erect phalluses and an erotic poem of gay sex between two men called Nikastimos and Timiona carved onto a rock on Astypalaia, a Greek island. The carving is 2,500 years old. It is not known if either of the men made the carving.

22) Gay composers Benjamin Britten (1913-1976) and Gian Carlo Menotti (1911-2007) were among those invited to compose a national anthem by the newly independent Malaysia in 1957. Neither of their compositions were chosen.

23) In 2022 a species of trilobite, a fossil closely related to horseshoe crabs and woodlice, was named after gay singer Boy George. The species is called Agerins boygeorgie. The trilobite fossil was first found in Nevada, USA, and is over 443 million years old.

24) Lgbt+ individuals who have asteroids named after them include writers Simone de Beauvoir and Marcel Proust, astronomer Mike Wong; and the entertainer Eddie Suzie Izzard.

25) To celebrate the London 2012 Olympics, an organisation called Team Dorset (a county in England) published a list of 1,000 facts about their county. Fact 25 said that actor Laurence Olivier lived in Dorset and died in a motorcycle accident. Unfortunately, neither was true. Someone confused the bisexual Laurence Olivier with the gay adventurer Lawrence of Arabia who did live in Dorset and did die in a motorcycle accident (on a bike he bought from a company not a mile away from where I’m sitting right now).