A New Flag Rises

Throughout history campaigners and fighters for human rights have used flags to rally their supporters. As we in the UK are celebrating LGBT History Month the USA is celebrating Black History Month. The black civil rights movement was the largest of those which emerged in the second half of the last century. Yet, like the lgbt community, there is still sections of society which need improvement to eliminate prejudice.

Last summer a new flag emerged which, it is hoped, will come to be a familiar symbol of pride for the black lgbt community. It was unveiled for the first time on 14th August 2016 during the Montréal Pride parade. Below is a photo of the flag being waved at the head of the parade.

Jonathan Lamothe, one of several members of Arc-en-ciel d’Afrique who carried the new flag at the head of Montreal’s Pride parade on 14th August 2016 (photo from Arc-en-ciel d’Agrique Facebook page)

Flags were a main feature of last year’s Montréal Pride. The theme for the parade was “Our Flag, Our Nature”. The Quebec-based organisation which supports the black lgbt community in the province, Arc-en-ciel d’Afrique, was invited to lead the parade. It was an excellent opportunity to highlight the challenges of prejudice and racism which the community faces.

As an enthusiastic vexillologist (flag-lover) I was particularly pleased with this design. Far too many lgbt community and diversity flags follow the striped format and look too similar. There are not enough flags that are distinctive. Another positive element I like in the new flag is its clear symbolism. The design speaks for itself and needs little explanation as all the elements are already well-known and recognised. The black background, the pink triangle, the clenched fist and the rainbow colours all derive from some form of activism or protest.

The black background became an “official” symbol of black African identity in 1921 when it was defined in the Universal Negro Catechism. This was published by the Universal Negro Improvement Association (UNIA), one of the earliest black rights movements in the USA. The UNIA had adopted a flag of red, black and green horizontal stripes in 1920 which was created as a protest against racist attitudes in America at that time. I loath to repeat derogatory words, but as Marcus Garvey, the great black rights leader, said himself, “In song and mimicry they have said, ‘Every race has a flag but the coon’ … They can’t say it now …”. The flag became known as the Pan-African flag, and its colours have been incorporated into many flags of African nations and states ever since.

The pink triangle, as we all should know, has its origins in Nazi Germany. Its history and use within the lgbt community began in Germany itself when it was used as a symbol of activism by the gay liberation group Homosexualle Aktion Westberlin in the early 1970s. Since the creation of the Rainbow Pride flag the pink triangle has gradually declined in use in the community though. Here is it re-appears on this new flag as a white triangle.

The Rainbow Pride flag, the flag of 6 stripes which we recognise today, was an adaptation of the original 8 striped version which first appeared at the San Francisco Gay Freedom Day parade on 25th June 1978. The 6 striped version came about due to the practicality of production as much as protest. When San Francisco’s Harvey Milk was assassinated a few months after the Gay Freedom Day parade he was the first openly gay man who has been elected to office in the USA. Many San Franciscans wanted to show their protest against the deliberate homophobic murder by waving copies of the 8-striped flag, a giant version of which Milk had stood in front of on Gay Freedom Day. Some of the dyes used in the original flag were hand-mixed by its creator, Gilbert Baker, and demand was so great that he had to provide commercially available 6-striped flags instead. Those 6 colours have appeared in thousands of lgbt flags and logos ever since.

The clenched fist may be one of the oldest symbols of protest in existence. It appears in ancient statues, though it may be more symbolic of power rather then protest. Our modern interpretation dates back to a hundred years ago and the Industrial Workers of the World, an American left-wing worker’s union formed in 1905. They used a clenched fist on a campaign illustration. From then on the fist came to be identified with political militancy, and from there it became a general symbol of defiance and the fight for the rights of various communities. As a symbol of gender rights it was used extensively by the feminist movement in combination with the female gender symbol. Perhaps the most well-known use of the fist was during the 1968 Mexico City Olympic games when John Carlos and Tommie Smith, the gold and bronze medallist in the 200 meters, raised their gloved fists during the medal ceremony. This sign of protest had been used by the Black Panther Party and had become closely associated with the black civil rights movement.

All of these four elements came together last year in the distinctive new flag for the black lgbt community. I look forward to seeing the new flag flying at Pride events in the near future.

Philosophy in Harlem

For centuries societies used the equinoxes and solstices to define seasons of the year. Even though most countries have adopted man-defined numerical calendars to record dates many cultures still use the astronomical equinoxes and solstices to mark the official beginning of their year. Among several faiths celebrating New Year’s Day today, the vernal equinox, is the Bahá’í faith.

The Bahá’í faith originates from 1844. An Iranian Shi’ite Muslim called The Báb proclaimed that Muhammed wasn’t the last Prophet from God, for which belief he was executed. His followers were persecuted and one of them, calling himself Bahá u’lláh, declared he was the next Prophet. His teachings became the basis of Bahá’í.

One of the central beliefs of Bahá’í is the universality of the belief in one God in many religions, making all of them essentially one belief. The idea of universality and an acceptance of differences within that universality – unity in diversity – led to Bahá’í being a very popular belief, and it is one of the most widespread.

The Bahá’í teaching on homosexuality is heavily influenced on that of Islam and Christianity. Basically, there’s nothing wrong with being lgbt, as long as you try to change. Their teaching on marriage restricts it to between man and woman. Understandably, this means there are few openly lgbt Bahá’í worshippers, but there are enough to form support groups online.

It has been possible for prominent lgbt people to use their Bahá’í faith to influence cultural movements. In particular the American writer and philosopher Alain LeRoy Locke (1885-1954), often referred to as The Father of the Harlem Renaissance.

Bahá’í historians Christopher Buck and Gayle Morrison have called Alain Locke the outstanding Bahá’í philosopher and intellectual to date. Alain was an American Episcopalian by upbringing though both parents had links to the Quakers. He had a very privileged upbringing for a black American in the late 19^th century. He entered Harvard in 1904, one of the few black undergraduates at the time. In 1907 he became the first American (and, until 1960, the only black) Rhodes Scholar at Oxford University.

It was at Oxford that Alain began to develop his thoughts on cultural pluralism, a term which has been superseded by the multiculturalism. Although he experienced a lot of racism at Oxford Alain joined the progressive Cosmopolitan Club which led to his decision to become a “race leader” and advocate of racial inclusion in society, and of the need to retain a difference. This philosophy has more than a hint of Bahá’í’s “unity in diversity” about it. But it wasn’t until 1915 that Alain had any known contact with Bahá’í.

By 1915 he was an assistant professor of English and instructor in philosophy at Howard University, Washington DC. Washington had become a centre of Bahá’í belief, particularly within the black community. In the national Bahá’í Archives Alain Locke’s registered his “acceptance of the Bahá’í faith”, effectively his conversion, as 1918.

In the year he “converted” Alain received his doctorate in philosophy from Harvard. His faith and philosophy mingles to produce a new slant of Bahá’í’s view on unity in diversity and his own thought on cultural pluralism. Together they produced an idea that appealed to subculture which didn’t feel fully integrated into its nation – black Americans. What Alain Locke believed was that black Americans can use their ethnic and cultural heritage to help redefine what it meant to be an American. What he didn’t support was violent protest by black rights activists (a legacy of his parents’ Quaker links?) or self-segregation. He believed that the acceptance of cultural pluralism by all parts of a community was an essential part of democracy.

In 1921 Alain took part in the Convention for Amity Between Coloured and White Races, an event organised by a leading Bahá’í citizen in Washington with the full backing of the world Bahá’í spiritual leader. Alain was a member of the national Amity committee that was created by the conference for 5 years.

But how much of his Bahá’í faith actually influenced the development of the Harlem Renaissance? It would be a great disservice on those other pioneers of the Harlem Renaissance to claim that Alain Locke was its only “Father”. Many in the black American world of entertainment in the 1920s were also bringing their culture and heritage to the attention of white America. They didn’t hide themselves but proudly exhibited their community to others. By not doing so would have rid the world of so many influential musicians, dancers, writers and entertainers.

In Alain Locke’s writing he “created” a fresh self-examination for black Americans, particularly on the east coast, and he coined the term “New Negro” which was to become synonymous in later years as the Harlem Renaissance. He encouraged other writers to use the concept of the “New Negro” to produce works that didn’t mimic white American literature, thus giving rise to the careers of many successful black writers such as Countee Cullen, Langston Hughes and Wallace Thurman, amongst others. The “New Negro” was a concept that grew out of Alain Locke’s Bahá’í belief in “unity in diversity”. It became the backbone of the Harlem Renaissance’s quest to explore, expand and display their post-slavery heritage to their own community and to the rest of America.

Alain Locke’s philosophy and faith can be of value to the lgbt community today. Unity in diversity is all about acceptance of differences. We don’t have to be a Bahá’í worshipper to believe in his ideas. As he himself wrote, “Think of reality as a central fact and the white light broken up by the prism of human nature into a spectrum of values.” What better metaphor could there be for any subculture in a modern multicultural world?

Out of Their Trees : Freedom!

Today’s genealogical quest for US Black History Month looks at the African-American poet Cyrus Cassells. This is also the first of several articles I’ll write throughout this year to celebrate the 800^th anniversary of Magna Carta. For several centuries the Magna Carta has been seen as a shining example of the granting or rights and freedoms under law. Cyrus Cassells’ ancestry illustrates several of these freedoms, not least of all the freedom from slavery.

Cyrus Curtis Cassells III was born in Dover, Delaware, in 1957 and was named after his father and grandfather. Much of Cyrus’s poetry gets its inspiration from his family history, though I’m not sure exactly how much he really knows about his remarkable ancestors.

Cyrus’s father, Cyrus Cassells junior, was one of only 6 African-American entrants to West Point academy in 1955, and when they were assigned segregated quarters they refused to enter their rooms. Bravely they stood their ground and were assigned new quarters where they lived among the white cadets. Cyrus junior joined the US Air Force, studied for a master’s degree in mechanical engineering, and joined NASA in 1980 as a project engineer. In 1995 he was instrumental in the reversing of the court-martials of “the Tuskagee Airmen”, black pilots of World War II, one of whom was his brother-in-law.

Cyrus junior wasn’t the first in the family to fight for his rights. Back in the early 19^th century members of the Cassells family were helping fellow African-Americans to escape slavery. The Cassells were themselves slaves. In about 1814 Thomas James Cassells (Cyrus’s 3xgreat-grandfather) was born into slavery. His mother was a slave called Rachel Hill and his father was her white owner William Cassells of Virginia. Although many slave owners were guilty of legal rape and fathered many illegitimate children it is apparent from surviving documents that William treated Rachel and her children as his family.

The two had 7 children, and William bought Rachel and her children land in Ohio while they were still slaves. Slavery was illegal in Ohio but racism existed. William couldn’t give his family their freedom in Ohio, however, as that would require posting a bond of $500 (a fortune in those days) to the Ohio government for each individual settling there from another state. William may have been wealthy, but not that wealthy. So he ensured that when he died they would be classed as Ohio landowners and entitled to settle on their land without paying a bond.

No doubt fearing legal reprisals back home in Virginia William chose not to free his family, giving the appearance to the outside world that they were slaves. He didn’t give them their freedom, along with his other slaves, until his death in 1824.

Using part of her Ohio property Rachel Hill ordered the building of one of the first schools for children of former slaves (which was named after her) in Berlin Crossroads, Ohio, in 1869. Her whole family seem to have been well educated while they were officially slaves of William Cassells, some of the very few slaves to be given any form of education.

Two of Rachel’s sons entered a dangerous and secret underworld where they risked their lives daily. Thomas James Cassells and his younger brother John were active participants in a network of secret escape routes for slaves called the “Underground Railroad” of which the Ohio network was the most active. I wrote briefly about the Underground Railroad in my “Out of Their Trees” article on Langston Hughes, whose grandfather was a neighbour of the Cassells and a leading member of the movement.

Members of the Underground Railroad would seek out escaped slaves. The Cassells brothers were “agents” at Berlin Crossroads, people who helped the refugees to find somewhere to stay, or obtain money from supporters before journeying by rail to securer freedom further north.

Another of the Cassells’ neighbours were the Woodsons, also freed slaves, who were even more involved in the Underground Railroad. They personally led the refugees from hiding place to the rail station. The danger they faced from their racist neighbours is illustrated by an apocryphal story in which two Woodson brothers were beaten to death when their activities were discovered. Their sister Frances went on to marry Thomas James Cassells and their eldest son, Cyrus Crayton Cassells (1845-1919), is poet Cyrus Cassells’ great-great-grandfather. Their youngest son, Thomas Frank Cassells (c.1847-1903), moved to Memphis, Tennessee, and became the first black Assistant Attorney General of Memphis in 1878. Two years later he was elected to the Tennessee General Assembly.

It would be remiss of me not to mention the most intriguing aspect of Cyrus Cassells’ ancestry. Family tradition says that the Woodsons were grandchildren of President Thomas Jefferson. At first this seems unlikely, until you realise that Frances Woodson, wife of Thomas James Cassells, was said to be the grand-daughter of Sally Hemmings, a slave of President Jefferson.

Gossip about Jefferson fathering several children with Sally was going around in his own lifetime. Debate and controversy has continued into the present century with some historians accepting it as fact. Jefferson’s children was said to have been “fostered out” to a white farm owner called John Woodson from whom they took their name. The whole matter is dealt with comprehensively on this website. The most recent belief, based on DNA tests, is that the Woodson’s have no bloodline links to Jefferson, or any conclusive proof that Sally Hemmings is their ancestor. Family tradition is a strange thing so perhaps the Jefferson connection has some other basis.

Cyrus Cassells’ maternal ancestry also exhibits high achievement among black Americans of the late 19^th and early 20^th centuries. Cyrus’s mother, Isabel Williston, was, like his father, of mixed-race heritage. Isabel’s African-American great-grandfather, Frank Williston, obtained an important job with the IRS, and her great-uncle Edward was a respected physician who became Professor of Obstetrics and Howard University.

Isabel’s maternal grandmother was Mary Lena Riddle, a white woman whose ancestor emigrated to the USA from Scotland in the early 18^th century. The Riddles are members of the Riddel clan of Roxburghshire in the Scottish Borders. Through them Cyrus Cassells has a hereditary claim to wear the Riddell tartan. So I’ll leave you with the thought of Cyrus Cassells in a kilt and wearing the family badge proudly on his chest.

Heritage Spotlight : the Ubuntu Biography Project

This month the US celebrates its African-American History Month. To celebrate the contribution lgbt people of African heritage have made I would like to mention the following Facebook page.

The Ubuntu BiographyProject, as it says on its “About” page, is “a collection of biographical tributes to SLG/LGBT/Queer Men and Women of African Descent”.

What I love most about this project is its “chronologically-timed randomness”, as I call it. That means I like the way it uses the date to decide which person is featured (not unlike the way I often plan this blog). Most often the profile features someone who was born on that day. I’m always amazed at how a new name, sometimes two, appears each day, and even more pleased at the amount of information which is given.

The founder of the Ubuntu Biography Project is Stephen Maglott. A few years ago he realised how few resources existed in which the lives of African-descended members of the lgbt community were available. In 2013 he set up his Facebook page, the Ubuntu Biography Project.

The word “Ubuntu” comes from the Nguni Bantu language of central and South Africa. It seems to be one of those words that is difficult to translate accurately. Stephen gives the word “human-ness” as its most literal translation, but I’ll quote Stephen from his Facebook page – “A more common interpretation of the meaning translates as ‘I am, because we are’. It is an empowering affirmation of humanity’s interconnectedness and of our collective responsibility to cherish one another.”

To give you an idea of the eclectic mix of the people Stephen profiles, here is a list of the people he featured in the first week of this year :
Guy Watson (b.1959), HIV educator, writer and genealogist,

Rev. W. Jeffrey Campbell (b.1966), pastor in the Fresh Start Church,

Alvin Ailey (1931-1989), acclaimed choreographer and dancer,

Rev. MacArthur Flournoy (b.1960), co-founder of Oasis Christian Fellowship,

George Washington Carver (c.1860-1943), botanist and agriculturalist,

Jamil Fletcher (b.1965), entrepreneur and philanthropist,

Tyrieak Menes (b.1989), writer, blogger, and marriage equality advocate,

Michael Sam (b.1990), professional American footballer.

The Ubuntu Biography Project has already given me ideas for future articles and sparked my interest in areas of African lgbt heritage that I knew nothing or little about. As an example, I’ll begin next month’s International Women’s History Month with an article on an extraordinary woman who lived in the American Wild West.

I hope you have a look at the project’s Facebook page. I think you’ll find it inspiring, and if nothing else it’ll prove that old saying that “you learn something new every day”. One omission remains, however. When can we read Stephen Maglott’s own profile in the Ubuntu Biography Project?

 

 

Guess the Year - Answers

Here are the answers to the quiz I gave you four days ago.

1981 - Justin Fashanu becomes the first black footballer to be a million pound transfer in UK soccer.

2009 - The first season of “RuPaul’s Drag Race” airs on US television.

2014 - Uganda celebrates the 50^th anniversary of the canonisation of 22 boys and men murdered by the paedophile King of Buganda because they refused to have sex with him.

1982 - Paul Winfield, on of those actors whose face you recognised but can never remember the name, co-stars in “Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan”.

2013 - Legendary singer-songwriter Frank Ocean comes out as bisexual.

1970 - Chris Dickerson is the first black American bodybuilder to win the Mr America title.

1978 - Sylvester tops the dance charts with “You Make Me Feel (Mighty Real)”.

1877 - Edmonia Lewis is commissioned by former US President Ulysses S. Grant to sculpt his bust.

2006 - The UK holds its first Black Pride festival.

2008 - US Army Major Alan Rogers becomes the first known lgbt victim of the conflict in Iraq.

1792 - Benjamin Banneker – farmer, astronomer and surveyor – produces the first astronomical almanac to be published by a black American.

1988 - Sir Ian McKellen comes out on a BBC radio discussion programme.

1312 - King Edward II’s lover, Piers Gaveston, Earl of Cornwall, is murdered.

117 - Hadrian becomes Emperor of Rome.

1997 - Ellen DeGeneres comes out on “The Oprah Winfrey Show”.

1998 - Dana International becomes the first transgender winner of the Eurovision Song Contest.

2011 - The US military policy of “Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell is repealed.

1951 - Gilbert Baker, designer of the first Rainbow Pride flag in 1978, is born.

1973 - Sir Elton John writes the song “Candle in the Wind” which he later performs at the funeral of Princess Diana in 1997.

1984 - US equestrian Robert Dover competes in the first of his record-breaking 6 appearances by an lgbt athlete at the Olympic Games.

Guess the Year

October is Black History Month in the UK and LGBT History Month in the US, so here’s another quiz for you.

Below is a list of years. Below that is a list of events in lgbt history. Can you match up the event to the correct year? Only one event in given for each year. In celebration of Black History Month the first ten questions are on black lgbt history.

117
1312
1792
1877
1951
1970
1973
1978
1981
1982
1984
1988
1997
1998
2006
2008
2009
2011
2013
2014

1)     Justin Fashanu becomes the first black footballer to be a million pound transfer in UK soccer.

2)     The first season of “RuPaul’s Drag Race” airs on US television.

3)     Uganda celebrates the 50^th anniversary of the canonisation of 22 boys and men murdered by the paedophile King of Buganda because they refused to have sex with him.

4)     Paul Winfield, one of those actors whose face you recognise but can never remember the name, co-stars in “Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan”.

5)     Legendary singer-songwriter Frank Ocean comes out as bisexual.

6)     Chris Dickerson is the first black American bodybuilder to win the Mr America title.

7)     Sylvester tops the disco dance charts with “You Make Me Feel (Mighty Real)”.

8)     Edmonia Lewis is commissioned by former US President Ulysses S. Grant to sculpt his bust.

9)     The UK holds its first Black Pride festival.

10)  Major Alan Rogers becomes the first known US lgbt victim of the conflict in Iraq.

11)  Benjamin Banneker – farmer, astronomer and surveyor – produces the first astronomical almanac to be published by a black American.

12)  Sir Ian McKellen comes out on a BBC radio discussion programme.

13)  King Edward II’s lover, Piers Gaveston, Earl of Cornwall, is murdered.

14)  Hadrian becomes Emperor of Rome.

15)  Ellen DeGeneres comes out on “The Oprah Winfrey Show”.

16)  Dana International becomes the first transgender winner of the Eurovision Song Contest.

17)  The US military policy of “Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell is repealed.

18)  Gilbert Baker, designer of the first Rainbow Pride flag in 1978, is born.

19)  Sir Elton John writes the song “Candle in the Wind” which he later performs at the funeral of Princess Diana in 1997.

20)  US equestrian Robert Dover competes in the first of his record-breaking 6 appearances by an lgbt athlete at the Olympic Games.

I’ll give the answers next week.

Rapping Out A Queer Beat



The US is celebrating its annual Black History Month this month. I’ll be writing some articles on black music later in the year in October when we celebrate Black History Month in the UK. In the meantime, here’s a look at one of the music genres that originated in the black community, where singers have been considered homophobic and have used anti-gay lyrics, and in which a large number of recent artists have been openly lgbt – hip hop and rap.

Hip hop was originally, and to some extent still is, centred around the urban black youth culture in America. This particular community in the 1970s, when the hip hop genre first saw the light of day, was often violently homophobic. Some rap lyrics were deliberately anti-gay, reflecting the attitude prevalent in the African-American community at the time that no black men could ever be homosexual.

In turn, this seemed to alienate the black community from the lgbt community as there was a perception that all black people were homophobic, and so hip hop never really became part of 1970s gay culture.

Even so, within the hip hop culture there were young gay black men who wanted their music to be accepted by both communities. Some were even rejected from the hip hop community when their sexuality became known.

The beginnings of the gay hip hop movement began in California. The first hip hop song to be released by an openly gay artist was in 1982 – Man Parrish’s “Hip-Hop, Be Bop (Don’t Stop)”. Shortly afterwards rap entered the hip hop genre. The song became popular in the lgbt community though Man Parrish himself, because he was both gay and non-black, suffered from discrimination in the hip hop community.

During the 1990s many gay rappers and hip hop artists were performing gay lyrics in underground clubs. By 1998 the first gay hip hop band, Rainbow Flava, released their first album online. This mixed black/white group had several members during its lifetime who went on to have solo success – most notably Tori Fixx and Juba Kalamka.

Juba Kalamka went on to co-found Deep Dickollective. Often called “the Godfather of Homo-hop” Juba met fellow gay hip hop MC Timm’m T West at a gay film screening in 1999. Juba, Timm’m and Phillip Atiba Goff, another gay hip hop MC they met after enrolling at Stanford University, gave their first joint performance as Deep Dickollective in early 2000.

Just over a year later, when straight hip hop was a prominent voice in the mainstream music charts, the organisers of the East Bay (Oakland) Pride decided to showcase the lgbt hip hop talent that California had and asked Juba to put together an event. And so the world’s first annual lgbt hip hop festival was born.

Between 2001 and 2007 the PeaceOUT World Homo Hop Festival (as it became known) was hugely popular and spawned several smaller sister festivals in New York, Atlanta and London.

By 2003 the internet listed at least 40 openly gay rappers and MC. Many of them performed at the PeaceOUT festival, and at several festivals Alex Hinton filmed and interviewed performers for his 2006 film documentary “Pick Up The Mic”.

With this increased exposure within the lgbt community lgbt rappers found a voice that challenged the often homophobic hip hop mainstream. With the heart of the gay hip hop scene in the USA it’s no surprise that most out rappers are American, but as their music spread around the world, mostly by internet and then by public performance, the notion of a non-American gay rapper led to many European and international rappers coming out and many aspiring lgbt rappers starting out on their careers as openly gay artists.

While the terms “homo-hop” and “queer hip hop” have been used in the early years as a definitive identity for both the music and the artists, the last decade seems (to me) to have seen lgbt rappers becoming part of the hip hop “establishment”, where their sexuality is secondary to their music, yet often influenced by it.

It says something about the power and influence of hip hop when you see openly gay rappers such as Zebra Katz, Kaoz, Azaelia Banks and QBoy on lists of the Top 50 most influential lgbt people in the last 3 years. Certainly more rappers seem to make these lists than rock stars. While some homophobia still exists in hip hop, the pioneers of “homo-hop” have shown that music has the power to inspire, and have become influential members within the whole hip hop community.

Extraordinary Lives - George Washington Carver

My second Extraordinary Life this month is of one of America’s best known black scientists – George Washington Carver. He had much in common with Sir Francis Bacon, my first Extraordinary Life a few weeks ago. Both men used experimentation and observation as the basis of their work, and they promoted education. They both also had a strong belief in their work being for the benefit of mankind and in the name of God.

George Washington Carver was born into slavery, one of the last generation to do so. He was only a week old when he was kidnapped with his mother and sister by night raiders from the neighbouring state. It was as if they were cattle or sheep being rustled. Carver’s original owner, however, tracked them down and persuaded the bandits to let him take George back in exchange for a horse.

It was George’s owner who “adopted” him the following year when slavery was abolished. He encouraged George to read and write and helped to improve his general education. He encouraged George’s inquisitive mind which he showed from an early age – “I wanted to know the names of every stone and flower and insect and bird and beast,” George would later admit.

In 1890 he was in Iowa studying botany at the state’s Agricultural College. He was the first black student there, and his talents were recognised by 2 professors who persuaded him to study for a Master’s degree in agriculture.

In 1896 George was invited to be head of the Agriculture Department at the Tuskegee Institute in Alabama, where he would teach, study and innovate for the rest of his life. On the Institute’s experimental farm station George developed effective new methods of crop rotation to improve soil fertility and productivity. He also created a wagon as a mobile classroom which acted as an outreach programme.

Today George Washington Carver is regarded by many as the Father of Chemurgy – the science of using agricultural products in industry. In the early 20^th century he developed new uses for many food plants, including sweet potatoes, pecan nuts and soybeans. But it was his development of many uses for the peanut that turned him into one of the best-known African-Americans of the period.

Using great imagination and inventiveness George came up with several hundred uses for various parts of the peanut plant. He actively developed and produced peanut products such as massage oil, cheese, soap, TB medication, face powder, wood stain, and printing ink. But the most famous product he developed (but did not invent) was peanut butter (you either love it or, like me, hate it, yeuch!).

But what about George’s sexuality? George never married, but he did have a relationship with a female school teacher for 3 years. There’s no evidence that he had any sexual contact with anyone at all, but that doesn’t prove anything. What was noticed during his lifetime was that he had many young male students to whom he wrote affectionate letters. If he did that today he would be charged with misconduct. What would the authorities today think about him giving any young male students who agreed a massage, sometimes with his special peanut oil? If his students were not young adults that would certainly have been grounds for inappropriate sexual misconduct (in the UK at least). Perhaps this contact George had with other males was no more than paternalistic or “bromantic”. And it was a much more innocent age back then. George left no writings on his feelings, so we’ll never know for sure.

He developed a close friendship/relationship with Austin W. Curtis, a Cornell University graduate and colleague at Tuskegee with whom he spent most of his final years. After George’s death Curtis was dismissed from Tuskegee. There is still speculation about George’s sexuality. I find it difficult to come to any definite opinion.

George died at the age of 78 from injuries sustained in a fall. He was a national hero. A national monument to him, including a museum, a statue and a nature trail, was being planned even before his death. World War II and budget cuts meant it wasn’t opened until 1953. It was the first US national monument to an African-American.

Black Scientists for History Month

In celebration of the US Black History Month here are some black lgbt scientists and mathematicians. I have been unable to find a group or organisation specifically for black lgbt scientists, though there are several for black scientists in general, and it is believed in scientific circles that there are many who are not out. However, I have selected the following to illustrate the variety of subjects where black scientists have made, and are still making, a contribution.

First and foremost is George Washington Carver (d.1943), perhaps the only black scientist known outside science circles. Perhaps you’ve never hear of him until now, but I bet you’ve eaten something he developed. In fact, his life is so full and varied that it seems more appropriate to feature him in one of my Extraordinary Lives series. Which is exactly what I’m going to do later this month, so sorry if I’m leaving you in tenterhooks!

Born over a hundred years before George Washington Carver was Benjamin Banneker (1731-1806). Having been born in the age of slavery Benjamin was fortunate in actually having been born a free man. Like Carver after him, Benjamin left little real evidence of his sexuality and historians have suggested the probability that both were closeted gay men. Both came from an era, country and ethnic community in which homosexuality wasn’t accepted. There were multiple prejudices against them. However, there was no intolerance when it came to their skills.

Like most pre-Industrial Revolution scientists, Benjamin didn’t specialise in any specific subject. Mathematics was the basis of most sciences in those days. Benjamin used his great mathematical mind to show off his mechanic skills. He built a clock made entirely out of wood – cogs and wheels included. It was perfect, and kept time from the day he constructed it at the age of 22 to over 40 years later.

Among Benjamin’s other achievements was the compiling of an almanac of dates and calendars, mainly for the agriculture industry. He even predicted an eclipse without the use of pre-published tables. The biggest physical legacy he left behind is the layout of present day Washington DC. After the original city architect stormed off in a huff with all the plans Benjamin managed to reproduce them all from memory in 2 days. Otherwise another architect would have been brought in to draw up new plans.

Benjamin is now regarded as the first African-American scientist, and possibly also the USA’s first native-born lgbt scientist. Today there are many lgbt black scientists, but few of them are not, believing they are the still subject to double-discrimination.

This has been the experience of Dr. Chanda Prescod-Weinstein, a theoretical physicist who found that both her sexuality and race were the subject of questions when she was interviewed for a postdoctoral research position. Being a woman also brought her triple discrimination in her chosen subject. Today Chanda is at MIT’s Kavli Institute for Astrophysics and Space Research.

One black scientist who has done well in his chosen career is Dr. Ron Buckmire, known on the blogosphere as MadProfessah. He is Associate Professor of Mathematics at Occidental College, California, where he first arrived in 1994 as a Minority Scholar-in-Residence Postdoctoral Fellow. As an out gay man for many years Ron has also carved out a place in lgbt rights in America, particularly California. As a mathematician he is a keen advocate of the more pro-active teaching of maths and algebra in schools, and is Program Director in the Division of Undergraduate Education of the National Science Foundation. In 1996 Ron was listed in the Top 100 Gay and Lesbian Activists of the Year by “Out” magazine.

Perhaps MadProfessah’s first taste of fame came at the age of 17, when he beat Geoff Lawton, an international Chess Master, at the British Chess Championships in Edinburgh in 1985 – in just 14 moves! By the next year he was a US Chess Master himself.

There are many, many more black and ethnic lgbt scientists and I hope to include as many as possible throughout the year.

Out in Algeria

The 10^th of October was National LGBT Day in Algeria. Despite the impression the name gives, in Algeria homosexuality is a crime punishable by imprisonment and a fine, and October 10^th is not an officially government-sanctioned celebration but a day of activism and protest. Like Jamaica Algeria is also celebrating its 50^th year of independence this year.

North Africa has a much different heritage than that of the African Great Lakes are mentioned last time. Its proximity to the Middle east has meant that the most significant influences have come from Muslim cultures.

The first National LGBT Day was in 2007 and is now also referred to as TenTen – the date. This date was chosen because it was the birth date of Sultan Selim I of the Ottoman Empire in 1467, one of the greatest rulers of the Arab world.

Various groups have supported TenTen over the years, including a group called Women Living Under Muslim Laws. In 2010 the day was organised by a group of activists called Abu Nawas. This group is named after a poet from the 9^th century who wrote romantic, and often erotic, poetry about his love for boys.

Black History Month embraces more than just African-American history. It also features other non-European/Oriental BME (Black and Minority Ethnic) history such as Australian Aboriginal and Pacific Islanders, Native Americans, and regions of the medieval Ottoman Empire in Africa.

During the medieval period the whole of north Africa was controlled by the Arabs. It is believed that sex between men and young boys and teenagers occurred across the whole region. The city of Algiers in particular gained a reputation as being the most sexually liberated city in the western world. One book in particular describes the opportunities which any 17^th century man could find there. It is titled “The Topographical and General History of Algiers” and was published in 1611. The Spanish writer Cervantes spent some time in Algiers. He wrote of an acquaintance who was a Christian convert to Islam and who kept a harem of young men purely because of the sexual freedom the city gave him.

Algiers was the main Turkish port on the north African coastline and a huge naval base for both the official trading vessels from Turkey and the unofficial ships of the Corsairs, the famous Barbary Pirates.

One of the main trades which fed the Ottoman economy was in white slaves captured by the Corsairs and black slaves captured from the east coast of Africa in modern Tanzania. As with other cultures who practised slavery those enslaved often found themselves the victim of the sexual urges of their masters.

The use of boys for sexual purposes in Algiers and north Africa could also have been seen in the form of the dancing boys of the pleasure gardens and coffee houses. It became a part of the culture. Europeans and merchants would go to these venues and see the erotic dances of the boys, and it would be perfectly acceptable to have a more intimate performance with them if they wished.

This sexual freedom came to an end in 1830 when the French took control of Algeria. Whilst they imposed their Christian-based French laws over the country the Muslim culture continued to thrive. The slave trading and piracy was brought to an end, though. But the same-sex activities continued behind furtively closed doors. The French authorities knew it still went on but turned a blind eye.

Algeria and the north African countries, most of which were under European control by the 19^th century, became a refuge for gay men escaping imprisonment and persecution in Europe. Or some would purely wish to live there because they enjoyed more freedom. Famous names who enjoyed the delights of Algeria included Oscar Wilde and André Gide.

After World War II Algeria turned against France and a war of independence began. Led by western Marxist ideology the country adopted an anti-homosexual stand. Today homosexuality and cross-dressing in Algeria is illegal, though the supporters of TenTen are campaigning hard to urge the Algerian government to have both decriminalised.

Sexuality in Samoa

We travel to the far side of the world for this part of my celebration of Black History Month. Among the many islands in the Pacific only one nation is on our list of those celebrating 50 years of independence – Samoa. For this article I’ll include American Samoa in this look at their lgbt heritage.

As with most cultures there is a huge difference between original beliefs and later colonial attitudes, quite often the latter now dominating the former. In Polynesian culture generally there were variations when it came to defining gender and sexuality, most of which are not easily identifiable with modern terms such as gay, lesbian, bisexual or transgender.

In the Samoan islands a man who dresses as a woman and/or who lives as a woman is termed a fa’afafine. Women who dress and live as men are termed fa’atama. These mixed gender roles were considered a third gender and had no stigma attached to them before European colonisation. It was perfectly acceptable for a “straight” Samoan man to have sex with a fa’afafine without thinking of himself as anything but straight. This attitude spreads across to the other Pacific island cultures which have their own equivalents of the fa’afafine. A gay man having sex with another gay man, however, was not totally accepted, even today in some islands.

These third gender roles have survived through colonial rule to the present day, with several fa’afafine organisations helping to bring wider international social understanding and acceptance if their roles and the decriminalisation of homosexuality in their home nation.

But while their existence is accepted as part of the national community in Samoa some fa’afafine have found difficulty in living an open existence in more European-based nations such as New Zealand. Fa’afafine organisations have been formed in New Zealand and the USA Pacific states to help bring awareness to nations which are more used to seeing cross-dressing and transgender roles.

As can be found in other societies around the Pacific and Asia the fa’afafine are most visible during special beauty pageants. These prove highly popular and are used as fundraising events for local charities. There are even fa’afafine beauty pageants in New Zealand.

There are several high profile fa’afafine in the present day including fashion designer Lindah LePou, poet Brian Puata, American footballer Jaiyal Saelua, and New Zealander Fuimaona Karl Polotu-Endemann.

Caribbean Queer Carnival

Trinidad and Tobago is another nation celebrating its 50^th year of independence. It shares its early heritage with that of Jamaica, being the island from which the Carib people moved from mainland South America into what we now call the Caribbean islands. For the early lgbt heritage of Trinidad and Tobago see my article on Jamaica.

The Trinbagonian lgbt community has taken a keener interest in its heritage than the Jamaican, mainly through the work of CAISO (the Coalition Advocating for Inclusion of Sexual Orientation), an lgbt rights and community support organisation founded in 2009. Caiso is also the name given to a Trinidadian art form and the organisation includes art and history projects in its work.

Many stories of gay life in Trinidad and Tobago throughout the past 5 centuries emerged through CAISO’s project. In colonial times one of the most well-known Governors of the islands, Sir Ralph Woodford, reputedly had dozens of “pretty young men” around him. It is ironic that Woodford Square in Trinidad’s capital Port of Spain was named after him and is the area known for its nightly “parade” of transvestites.

The “after hours” scene enjoyed by gay Trinbagonians in the 1970s and 1980s included many bars who welcomed lgbt clientele – remarkably quite a few for such a small nation population. Bars such as Lote’s, Club Liquid and Just Friends were very popular, and smaller towns around the island also had their underground gay scene and venues. As with all lgbt communities Trinidad had its fair share of colourful characters, with nicknames like Stingy Brim, The Rocket, and Pongin’ Patsy being particularly well remembered.

For a bit more information about Trinidad’s lgbt heritage go here.

In recent years there have been successes and failures in the work of activists in Trinidad and Tobago. One failure was losing the debate on whether gay cruise ships should be allowed to dock in the islands. One success has been cancelling concerts by artists from other Caribbean nations who use violently homophobic lyrics in their songs.

Perhaps the biggest area where the lgbt Trinbagonians have been most widely celebrated is in art, particularly the native caiso form and carnival design.

In 1929 a group called The Society of Trinidad Independents was formed. Their aim was to promote local and indigenous art. Members of the group came from all ethnic backgrounds and they exercised a certain tolerance toward the lgbt community. Indeed, some of its leading members, such as Carlisle Chang, were gay. The Society became unpopular among the average Trinbagonian art-going public because of the blatant nudity in some of their works and their outspoken views on equality and prejudice.

Among the Caribbean as a whole there is a strong tradition of carnival and the lgbt influence is seen today in the work of Peter Minshall. Although not a Trinidad native he was brought up on the islands and is considered the leading figure in world carnival design. As mentioned in my Olympic Countdown series Peter worked on the Olympic ceremonies in Barcelona 1992 and Atlanta 1996, and he won an Emmy for Outstanding Costumes for a Variety or Music Programme for his work on the Salt Lake City Winter Olympics in 2002.

Although homosexuality in Trinidad and Tobago is illegal, there are many activists and lgbt rights organisations working in the country to encourage change.