80 Gays Around the World: Part 9) Pride and Prejudice in Moscow

Last time: The eccentricities of 29) Caligula (12-41 AD) led to the posthumous removal of his image from statues, the modern equivalent being removed from photographs like 30) Nikolai Yezhov (1895-1940), a Soviet official who had an affair with 31) Filipp Goloshchyokin (1876-1941), the man who organised the assassination of the Romanovs, though one who was assassinated earlier was 32) Grand Duke Sergei Alexandrovich Romanov (1857-1905).

Before the well-known Russian Revolution of 1917 there was the Russian Revolution of 1905. 32) Grand Duke Sergei Alexandrovich Romanov (1857-1905) was one of its most prominent victims.

The causes of the 1905 revolution were the same as those in 1917. Attempts to modernise and industrialise the Russian empire only led to the peasant class moving into urban areas for work, and workers’ rights was the most widespread reason for protests.

In January 1905 workers marched through St. Petersburg to the tsar’s palace to hand in a petition calling for more workers’ rights. Troops were instructed to keep the peaceful protestors out of the city centre. For some reason, troops began shooting at them and several hundred protestors (the actual number is debated even today) were killed. The event is known as “Bloody Sunday” and is regarded by many historians as the start of the 1905 revolution.

As a nephew of the Tsar, Grand Duke Sergei received high political office. He was appointed Governor General of Moscow in 1891 and although he was a great philanthropist and supporter of various charitable causes the same cannot be said about his politics. He wasn’t a great politician. By the time of the Bloody Sunday massacre he had resigned the governorship, but he knew that as part of the regime that was creating the problems he knew he was a likely target for assassination.

In February Sergei went to a concert at the Bolshoi Theatre. There an assassin awaited him, but when the assassin saw that Sergei’s wife and children were with him, his attempt was abandoned.

The Grand Duke’s wife was Princess Elizabeth von Hessen (1864-1918), a grand-daughter of Queen Victoria and the sister of the founder of the Mountbatten family. Despite having very happy marriage and fathering children, rumours of Sergei’s homosexuality were common during his lifetime. It’s difficult to find firm evidence for this one way or the other but it has been a subject of discussion in several historical books and biographies about the period for it to be ignored. Sergei’s supposed homosexuality was never publicly acknowledged. At that time it would have been difficult for him to admit to it, being a devout Roman Catholic, and with the pressures of being a member of the Imperial family and the scandal it would have caused at the time.

We can understand why Sergei could have felt entrapped by his homosexuality, if he was homosexual or bisexual. The growth of the Socialist and Communist movements in his lifetime were very vocally homophobic. Almost the entire history of Russia since then has been anti-gay. The old homophobic Communist laws that were removed after the collapse of the Soviet Union in 1991 came back with the election of an ex-Soviet KGB agent as its current President. He began re-introducing the Communist laws punishing homosexuality from 2010 onwards.

Two days after the aborted assassination attempt, the assassin saw his opportunity again. He spotted Sergei’s open carriage taking him to his former governor’s office. He threw his bomb straight into Sergei’s lap and it exploded instantly. The Grand Duke was literally blown to bits, the carriage driver was mortally wounded, and the assassin severely injured.

I mentioned in my “Pride Tops” and “Pride Bottoms” lists that Pride marches were banned in Moscow for a hundred years in 2012. Moscow has got the closest Russia has got to any form of annual physical Pride march.

The first Moscow Pride was held on 27 May 2006. The city council banned it but it took place anyway. It drew a number of high profile international activists, including Oscar Wilde’s grandson, Merlin Holland. The march was marred by violence and arrests and was eventually broken up by the police.

Successive Moscow Pride marches were similarly banned (except in 2009 when it served as Slavic Pride). In June 2012 all Pride marches in Moscow were banned for 100 years. The last one before the ban was on 28 May 2011. This also attracted international activists, including Dan Choi, Andy Thayer, and 32) Louis-Georges Tin (b.1974) who were all taken into police custody and later released.

Louis-Georges Tin may not be a name you’re familiar with, but I’m sure you know what his contribution to the global lgbt community is. He founded what is now called the International Day Against Homophobia, Biphobia and Transphobia (IDAHOBIT). The original name was simply International Day Against Homophobia. Transphobia was added in 2009, and Biphobia in 2015.

Tin was born on the French Caribbean island of Martinique. He began his anti-racist and lgbt activism whilst at the Ecole Normale Supérieure in Paris.

There’s few details online about the precise timeline of events that led to the formation of IDAHOBIT, but it’s clear that by 2004 Louis-Georges Tin had organised a campaign to create a special day for victims of homophobia and abuse every 17th May.

But why did he choose 17th May? On that date in 1990, the World Health Organisation removed homosexuality from its International Classification of Diseases. Although not universally supported, IDAHOBIT has been officially recognised and continues to be promoted by many governments around the world.

Long before scientists accepted that homosexuality was as normal as heterosexuality they classed it as a mental illness or a disease. The famous psychologist Sigmund Freud regarded homosexuality as a type of paranoia. One of the leading figures in persuading medical science that homosexuality was not an illness or disease was a gay psychiatrist called 34) Dr. John E. Fryer (1936-2003).

In 1972, Fryer attended a convention of the American Psychiatric Association (APA) in Dallas. His purpose was to give a speech calling for the declassification of homosexuality as a mental illness as labelled in the APA’s “Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders”. However, in making the speech Fryer had to publicly declare his own homosexuality, and in doing so was afraid of how this would affect his professional career and medical license. Therefore he made his speech in disguise, wearing a large wig, rubber mask, oversized clothing, and using the pseudonym of Dr. H. Anonymous.

There had been calls for the declassification of homosexuality before, but Fryer made the right speech at the right time. The APA removed homosexuality from its list of mental illnesses the following year. For this speech Dr. John Fryer has earned his place in American lgbt history as one of its leading champions who paved the way for the World Health Organisation to follow in 1990. It’s undoubtedly the only thing Fryer will be remembered for, but like everyone else, he had a life outside his activism.

John Fryer was also an accomplished pipe organ player and choirmaster. As a youngster he leatnt how to play the piano and he quickly progressed to the pipe organ. Believe me, I’ve did both in my local Methodist church when I was younger, and they are different instruments requiring different playing techniques. Wherever Fryer lived he offered his services as an organ player. During his tenure at Temple University in Philadelphia, he played the organ for their graduation ceremonies.

He was also the choirmaster at St. Peter’s Episcopal Church in Philadelphia. No doubt he played their pipe organ as well. Sadly, the church closed in 2007, but the organ was saved and is now located in Old St. Joseph’s Church nearer the city centre.

As for the rest of the property, the building was sold to the Waldorf School, who still own it. The stained glass windows, which John Fryer would have seen every time he stepped into the church, went elsewhere, including one of only three surviving windows designed by 35) Violet Oakley (1874-1961).

Next time: We rest in piece among some musical lgbt icons and find unexpected objects in the rain.

80 Gays Around the World: Part 8) Persona Non Grata

Last time: 23) Harmodius and 24) Aristogeiton were killed rebelling against 25) Hipparchus (whose father-in-law, 26 Charmus of Kollyton had been sexual partner, at different times, to his brother 27 Hippias and father 28 Peisistratus) during the ritual torch relay to the Parthenon, whose main architect also created the Statue of Zeus at Olympia, which was particularly admired by 29) Caligula (12-41 AD).

29) Caligula (12-41 AD) has become one of the most notorious and eccentric of all the Roman Emperors. Among his sexual eccentricities were dating a Senator and a male actor at the same time, and allegedly committing incest with his sisters. The Senator even complained often about being exhausted by Caligula’s bedtime activities.

A lot of Caligula’s eccentricities can be misinterpreted. For example, the famous story of him making his favourite horse a senator could easily be thought of as a sign of madness. But it could also be interpreted as a jibe against what he thought was the standard of the debate and actions of the then Senate. He thought his horse would do a better job. I’m sure you’ve even made comments yourself that a horse or something could do a better job than your local politician.

Like many Roman Emperors (and a couple of Presidents in 2026), Caligula had an over-inflated opinion of themselves. One of his egomaniac projects was to have all the statues of Greek gods and heroes transported from Greece to Rome. There they would have their heads removed and replaced with carved portraits of his own head. One of these statues was that of Zeus at Olympia.

However, the statue of Zeus, or maybe Zeus himself, who knows, made it known that it thought of Caligula’s plan. The Greek writer Suetonius writes that scaffolding was erected around the statue and workmen were preparing to disassemble it for transportation to Rome. It was at this point that the workmen heard the sound of laughter coming from the statue. The laughter was so loud and hard that the scaffolding collapsed. The workmen ran off in terror and swore never to return to finish their task. This is probably one of those apocryphal stories that were popular at the time.

After Caligula’s assassination his successor and the Roman Senate wanted to make sure that he was erased from history. In Rome there was a process called “damnatio memoriae”, which means “damnation of memory”, a kind of ancient “cancel culture”.

Modern cancel culture has led to many statues and memorials have been defaced of removed from public sight because of that person’s supposed link to an issue that goes against the personal beliefs of an activist. In the instance of Caligula’s “damnatio memoriae”, all his statues, portraits and inscriptions were to be defaced and his properties seized by the state. The Senate wanted to ensure that that no-one ever heard about him again. Luckily, there are many surviving records, like the writings of Suetonius mentioned above, and things like coins across the Roman Empire and beyond that testified to his existence.

A lot of the statues and busts of Caligula were simply thrown in to rivers. Many of them were re-cut in order to change the resemblance from Caligula to another emperor. Above is one of many examples of Caligula’s face being re-sculpted into that of his successor, Claudius (currently in the archaeological museum at the site of Carsulae, Umbrio, Italy; photos by Eric R. Varner, “The Digital Sculpture Project”, 2013). The front view is obviously more successful than the side view.

How ironic. The emperor who wanted to removed the heads of gods from statues and replace them with sculptures of his own head, ended up having his face removed from his own statues and replaced.

Other regimes throughout history have tried to erase the evidence of a person’s existence or presence purely because of a difference of opinion or politics. Not all of them went as far as complete obliteration from the records as attempted by Rome. You’ve probably seen footage of statues to dictators being knocked down following a coup.

The USSR, of the Soviet Union (1922-1991), was one of the most notorious regimes for removing people from their records. One of the most famous cases was that of 30) Nikolai Yetzov (1895-1940).

Nikolai Yezhov was the People’s Commisar (Chairman) of the Party Control Commission of the Central Committee, or NKVD (what preceded the dreaded KGB). In effect he was head of the Soviet secret police.

In 1937 he became responsible for what is known as the Great Purge, or Yezhovshchina (the Age of Yezhov). He became one of those gay men who should never become a role model.

The Great Purge was called by Soviet leader Josef Stalin to deal with any opposition or criticism of his leadership. Any member of the Communist Party could be arrested and executed at Yezhov’s command, including their wives and children. Ethnic groups and the Russian Intelligentsia were also targeted. Most of the non-political prisoners were sent to the Gulag labour camps. During the first year of the Purge over half a million people were sent to the Gulags. When the Gulags became too overcrowded Yezhov ordered prisoners to be executed.

Eventually, but only after about 1.2 million people were killed, did Stalin think that Yezhov had over-stepped his authority and was doing more harm than good for the Communist Party. Yezhov’s undoing was his attempt to arrest the leader of the Georgian branch of the NKVD. The suspect convinced Stalin to help him overthrow Yezhov. Yezhov knew that his days were numbered and he resigned in November 1938. He was arrested five months later.

Yezhov confessed (probably by force) to incompetence and that the Great Purge had led to crimes against the state. He even confessed to being gay and having a string of homosexual partners, despite being married. He was found guilty and executed on 4th February 1940.

What connects Nikolai Yezhov to Caligula is what happened after his death. Because Yezhov has no statues erected to him, the only method available at the time to remove his image was to remove him from all official photographs, particularly ones which showed him with Stalin and other senior Soviet politicians, like the “before and after” example below.

During his arrest and confession to homosexual activity he admitted to having an affair with another leading Soviet figure, 31) Filipp Goloshchyokin (1876-1941).

Like Yezhov, Goloshchyokin has been named as the man responsible for the deaths of over a million of his own countrymen. He was from Kazakhstan, at the time a constituent “republic” of the Soviet Union. By 1925 he had become the virtual dictator of Kazakhstan. Stalin introduced his policy of collectivisation of agriculture, effectively forcing all peasant families to stop producing food for themselves and making them work for state-run farms with dozens of other families. The theory behind this was that it produced more food for equal distribution around the Soviet Union, in particular for the growing industrial urban centres. The actual effect was that it deprive rural peasants of their livestock and not producing enough food for them to live on. The result was widespread famine.

Under Golshchyokin’s zealous implementation of this policy an estimated 2 million Kazakhs died of starvation, 40% of the population, because most of the food they produced went to the cities.

It was at the beginning of this policy that Goloshchyokin met and had an affair with Nikolai Yezhov. During the Great Purge Goloshchyokin was sure he was safe as long a Yezhov was running the NKVD. Not long after Yezhov was arrested and admitted to their affair Goloshchyokin was also arrested. He, too, was executed.

Yet, the general public are unaware of the Kazakh Famine, or of Goloshchyokin’s role in it. What they might know more about is a previous massacre that he was personally responsible for – the assassination of Tsar Nicholas II and the imperial Romanov family. Goloshchuokin’s role in the massacre was as the principal captor of the Tsar and his immediate family in Tsarskoye Selo. In fact, he was the man in charge of arranging the killings and disposal of the bodies.

This event is well-known, but what people often forget is that some Romanovs survived, and some were murdered even before the 1917 Russian Revolution by previous revolutionary assassins. One of the victims was 32) Grand Duke Sergei Alexandrovich Romanov (1857-1905).

Next time: Pride and prejudice in Moscow.

Xtremely Queer: Stepping Across the Steppes (Part 2)

Last month I wrote about the first expeditions of the Russian explorer Nikolay Przhevalsky (1838-1888). We left Nikolay and his 1879 expedition about to set off from the Russian frontier post in the Altai Mountains and head for the mysterious city of Lhasa in Tibet.

The expedition encountered blizzards and barren landscapes as they travelled southwards over the mountains to the infamous Takla Makan desert. At one point they came across the horrifying sight of the rotting remains of hundreds of nomads who had starved to death because they couldn’t make it through. Mirages, burning ground and salt-sand storms made life both disorientating and uncomfortable. At last the expedition reached the Humboldt Mountains south of the Takla Makan. These were named after the great gay explorer Alexander von Humboldt (1769-1859).

At the next outpost Nikolay could see the snow-capped Himalayas ahead but the going was slow. Golf ball-sized hailstones and snow blindness became a problem for both the men and animals, not to mention the daytime sun that burned their faces while their backs froze in the shade.

Advance parties found a mountain pass which led to a Buddhist pilgrim route. Further along the expedition entered the territory of a tribe called the Yograi. These were a fiercely independent people who were suspicious of every stranger. As the expedition rested the Yograi mounted an ambush. The expedition fought back and their guns were superior to the tribesmen’s weapons and the ambush was beaten off, leaving several of the Yograi dead and many injured.

Once through Yograi territory the expedition at last entered Tibet. By pure chance Nikolay encountered a Mongol pilgrim he had met some years earlier who warned him that Lhasa had got news of his approach and were preparing to prevent him from entering the city. Sure enough, the expedition met a contingent of Tibetan soldiers.

The expedition was only 160 miles (260 km) away from Lhasa. So near, and yet so far. Nikolay steadfastly refused to turn back unless he received a written order from the local governor. The governor himself came to deliver the order. Soldiers followed the disappointed expedition back as far as the Yograi territory. This time they made it through with no trouble.

By New Year 1880 the expedition was well on its way back to Russia with Nikolay’s dream of reaching Lhasa shattered. But the expedition was not all completely in vain. Nikolay had charted the route and collected thousands of specimens, including many plants and animals previously unknown to science.

Nikolay was feted by the tsar, the scientific community and the public, all clamouring to hear of his exploits. The authorities approved of another expedition, except that reaching Lhasa was to be a secondary aim. Expanding his previous surveys and finding the source of the Huang Ho River were his primary tasks.

The new expedition set off from northern Mongolia in late 1883 and arrived in Ulaan Baatar (now the capital city). The temperate was so cold that mercury froze in the thermometers but by New Year 1884 the temperature rose above zero. Tracking the Huang Ho River the route took the expedition around the eastern edge of the Humboldt Mountains. By May it had followed the river to its source and Nikolay completed his first task.

About 700 miles to the south west lay Lhasa and Nikolay’s long-held quest of reaching the city. Despite the intense cold and illness among the expedition members Nikolay made good progress for 100 miles to the Yangtse River. On the other side was last leg to Lhasa. Alas, the Yangtse was deep and fast-moving and its banks were steep and treacherous. Despite the offer of boats from local tribesmen Nikolay decided the risk to the pack animals was too great. There was no other way across and Nikolay chose to abandon his quest yet again.

The expedition headed back towards the source of the Huang Ho. By February 1885 he had reached Lob Nor, the lake on edge of the Takla Makan that he had visited in 1873. Travelling south-west towards Tibet Nikolay noticed that the Chinese authorities were going ahead of him all the way and doing their best to persuade the local tribes to restrict the amount of supplies he needed. They even blocked some of the ravines Nikolay needed to get through and was he exasperated at the attempts to stop him getting any further.

Finally, Nikolay had to concede defeat and decided to abandon all hope of reaching Lhasa. The expedition headed westwards for a couple of months until it reached the River Hotan. Following the river north Nikolay was able to survey the whole area and collect more animal and plant specimens. There was great jubilation when the expedition reached its official end at Karakol (in modern-day Kyrgyzstan) in November 1885.

Back in St. Petersburg Nikolay was again feted as a hero. Not only had he vastly improved the knowledge of plant and animal species (quite a few of them named after him) his survey provided vital information for the Russian military to help plan imperial expansion into central Asia and campaign against the Chinese. For eighteen months Nikolay’s life was a round of public appearances, lectures and official meetings. Yet he was still eager to get back through the wilderness and finally reach Lhasa, by force of arms if necessary.

In summer 1888 Nikolay’s next expedition set off for Karakol, the finishing point of his previous expedition. Following the Hotan River south would take him straight to Tibet. It would be easier this time because he had surveyed the route himself, of course.

When Nikolay arrived in Karakol he was behaving restlessly and complained of feeling unwell. He was hospitalised and the doctors diagnosed typhoid. Nikolay realised he was dying and his dream of reaching Lhasa would never become a reality. On 1st November 1888 Nikolay Przhevalsky died. He was buried, as he instructed, on the shore of Lake Issyk Kul nearby. In 1957 a museum dedicated to his life and work was opened in Karakol, though little, if anything, is mentioned of his relationships with the young protégés he took with him on each expedition.

Nikolay’s reputation as an explorer, geographer and zoologist cannot be overestimated, but he had personal characteristics common for his era and background which may trouble people today. He was racist, imperialist and mysogynostic, and would not achieve the same celebrity status if he lived today that he enjoyed in his lifetime. Yet, modern political correctness should not be imposed upon historical characters, not until a certain nation stops hero-worshipping the numerous slave owners among their past presidents.

Xtremely Queer : Stepping Across the Steppes (Part 1)

In ancient times the steppes of Eurasia were a cross-continental trade route long before the Silk Road from China was developed. When the Silk Road became dominant the steppes route faded away. Apart from a few nomads and settlers not many people ventured that way. It was over 600 years before a Russian explorer, Nikolay Przhevalsky (1839-1888), ventured into these forgotten lands.

Today Nikolay Przhevalsky is best known for having a species of small horse named after him. But, although not a naturalist, Nikolay is also commemorated with many other animals and plants being named after him. His exploration into the East Asian deserts and mountains provided much new scientific information and revealed the Europe the sheer natural diversity of this remote region. Nikolay made five full expeditions, and today I’ll tell you about the first few.

Nikolay followed family tradition by going into the army. However, he found military life tedious and he read books on travel and exploration which fired his imagination. He became particularly interested in exploring the wilderness beyond the Eurasian steppes. His military training taught him all aspects of reconnaissance and surveying that all army officers learnt to help them to plan military campaigns. This would help Nikolay to plan his expeditions.

At the military academy Nikolay wrote a dissertation on all that was then known about Amur, the remote East Asian territory annexed by Russia in 1858. The dissertation was so comprehensive that the St. Petersburg Geographical Society made him a member.

In 1867 the authorities funded his first expedition to the Amur region. Nikolay persuaded them to pay for a “personal assistant”. He would have one of these on all his expeditions, always a young man or teenager who would act as his protégé. These young men were the focus of Nikolay’s sexual urges, as evidenced in his letters, and were all probably platonic.

In summer 1867 he set off on his first expedition. It took him across tundra and lakes and down rivers through remote villages and Cossack settlements. The summer frosts thawed and melting mountain snow swelled the rivers. The whole ground was wet and boggy and was a breeding ground for gnats and mosquitos. Camping out in this environment was certainly not very pleasant. The almost constant July rain also made it virtually impossible to dry the plants and animal skins that were collected. Despite these difficulties the expedition was a huge success and Nikolay wrote up his journals into a book. This was to make him famous, allowing more expeditions to be planned.

In 1870 Nikolay’s second expedition went across the Gobi Desert to Beijing through some of the least explored parts of the Mongolian region. More plant and animal specimens were collected and the route was thoroughly mapped. This expedition also instilled in Nikolay a hatred of all things Chinese. He hated the food, he hated the culture. He was blatantly racist and hated anything that wasn’t European. He wrote that “…only the rifles and cannons of the Europeans can do any good here”. In truth, China was in a state of decline and Nikolay never saw the splendour of its heyday.

Nikolay’s third expedition began in 1876. He had ambitious plans including a visit to Lhasa, the remote capital of Tibet, a city no European had ever seen. The route across Siberia took the expedition through scorching heat to the Altai mountains. Several pack animals died and local guides proved unreliable. The most ambitious section was to cross the Takla Makan, a desert so inhospitable that its name means “you go in, but you don’t come out”. But come out of the desert they did, following a chain of oases.

Eventually Nikolay arrived at the near-mythical lake of Lop Nor, whose existence was only previously recorded by Marco Polo and which had recently been rediscovered. Then the expedition moved west to explore the mountains that separated Takla Makan from Tibet. Nikolay caught an infection and his young protégé developed a fever. Despite this Nikolay carried on. The heat was unbearable. A lot of wells had virtually dried up and scorpions scuttled into their tents at night. Nikolay’s infection worsened and soon riding a horse was too painful because of the itching sores and an abscess on his back-side. The colder autumn eased the itching but Nikolay was so weak by now that a makeshift cart was made to transport him. Even though physically incapacitated he was still very much in charge.

Several other members of the expedition caught the same infection, and then Nikolay learnt of the death of his other during the summer. He and the expedition became depressed and despondent and Nikolay decided to abandon the venture and return home, if for no other reason than to recover fully from his infection.

It wasn’t long before Nikolay organised his next expedition that would take him into Tibet. He set off at the beginning of 1879 and with 23 camels carrying food, provisions, equipment, guns and home-made strawberry jam (a gift for the Dalai Lama), the expedition made its way to the frontier post of Zaysan in the Altai Mountains.

It was there that Nikolay was presented with an animal skin by a local chief. It was the skin of a small horse. Nikolay sent it back to St. Petersburg where it was examined and confirmed as a new species. It was later named after Nikolay – Przhevalsky’s horse. Nikolay finally got to see a living specimen for himself in May 1879.

After resting at Zaysan for a while Nikolay and his expedition began to move towards Tibet and the fabled city of Lhasa. Did he make it? Sorry to keep you in suspense, but I’ll tell you next month.

Game of Gay Thrones II

A lot of people, and media publicity, has been raving about the end (thankfully!) of “Game of Thrones”. Like the majority of television viewers I’ve never seen it. Apart from the fact that I can’t afford the subscription, nothing in any preview or interview has told me what the series is actually about, so nothing has got me interested in it. What clips I have seen had very little acting in them, and even then it was the worst ham acting that isn’t even worthy of “Scooby Doo”.

However, it does give me an excuse to celebrate the long-overdue demise of an over-hyped programme by presenting a follow-up to my “Game of Gay Thrones” article which featured five lgbt claimants and pretenders to various crowns. There are actually enough lgbt wannabe monarchs to stretch the theme into three more articles. So here is the second.

Several of today’s pretenders can be described as hypothetical. There are different reasons why they may never have been actual claimants to a throne, but they have, to some extent, been considered as heirs, one way or another.

Let’s have a look at them in chronological order.

1) Gaius Nymphidius Sabinus (c.35-68 AD), claimant to the throne of the Roman Empire. During the reign of Emperor Nero Gaius was a Prefect of the Praetorian Guard, the elite unit of the Imperial army. Although he was the son and grandson of freed slaves Gaius managed to rise in power thanks to the uncovering on a conspiracy to assassinate Nero. After Nero eventually did die Gaius began claiming to be an illegitimate son of a previous emperor, Caligula. To secure his claim Gaius married Nero’s widowed male empress Sporus (it is said that Nero’s body was still burning on his funeral pyre when the marriage took place, Gaius was obviously wasting no time). While it doesn’t necessarily indicate that Gaius had any sexual interest in young Sporus, it is known that Roman emperors indulged in pederastic activity, and as a member of the Praetorian Guard Gaius may even have formed a sexual relationship with a younger soldier. Both activities were influenced by the ancient Greeks. As a Roman soldier Gaius wasn’t allowed to get married anyway, so as soon as Nero was out of the way he married someone with an imperial title and rank to boost his claim to the throne. The only other surviving spouse of Nero was a rather dull woman with no power or influence. However, a rival to the throne, Galba, was approaching Rome with an army and the Praetorian Guard considered him a better prospect as emperor than Gaius, so they murdered Gaius and put Galba on the throne instead.

2) St. Boris, Prince of Rostov (990-1015), regarded by some during his lifetime as the preferred successor to his father Vladimir, Grand Prince of Kiev. I wrote a bit about St. Boris twice before, most recently here. Succession to the throne of Kiev was not by male-preferred primogeniture (as the throne of the UK was until recently) but was often decided by which of the nearest male relatives on the reigning monarch was the most powerful. Rivalry between brothers often resulted in one assassinating the others. This is the case with St. Boris. Grand Prince Vladimir, who converted to Christianity and founded the Russian Orthodox Church, had twelve sons. Not all of them shared their father’s new faith so you can imagine some of them were keen to ensure that their father’s successor was a pagan (none of the Christian sons had any intention of killing off their brothers). This meant that any brother who converted to Christianity was a threat. Boris was a popular ruler in his own principality of Rostov, a popularity which may also alarmed his pagan brothers. This is what eventually led to St. Boris’s assassination in 1015 by his brother.

3) Prince Louis de Bourbon, Duke of Condé (1621-1686), claimant to the throne of Poland-Lithuania – twice. I’ve also written about the Duke before regarding his attempts to be elected king in last year’s “Around the World in Another 80 Gays”. You can read the details there.

4) Harry Domela (1905-1979) claimed to be Prince Wilhelm of Germany, grandson and heir to Kaiser Wilhelm II. He was, in fact, a Latvian-Russian of German ancestry. After World War I Harry moved to Germany where he began to claim various false identities. He was imprisoned several times for being an imposter but this didn’t stop him. He managed to make the acquaintance of several German aristocrats and made such an impression that they thought he was Prince Wilhelm of Germany travelling incognito. There was some resemblance between the two and Harry did nothing to deny it. In fact he willingly went along with it and began adopting the lifestyle that implied he was the disinherited heir to the German empire. This was in despite of the fact that the real Prince Wilhelm was studying at the University of Bonn at the time. Very shrewdly Harry kept well away from people and places where the real Prince would likely to be known. It wasn’t long before Harry was uncovered as a fraud and once again arrested in 1926. While in prison he wrote his autobiography “A Sham Prince”. The courts decided his imposture was harmless and released him. His book sold well, and he even starred as himself in a 1927 film and a play. During this period he lodged in the guest rooms of the Magnus Hirschfeld’s Institute for Sexual Science in Berlin. Openly gay and something of an enigmatic figure after the 1930s Harry had many other adventures, often accompanied by French gay writer André Gide. I’m sure I’ll write about them in the future. Incidentally, the real Prince Wilhelm renounced his rights to the German throne in 1933.

5) James Knight Ord III (b.1976), claimed by perpetually unreliable and homophobic “Daily Mail” and “Mail Online” as the “true heir to the British throne” in an article in 2016. I debunked this claim in this article in which I give proof with actual documentary evidence, something any experienced Daily Mail journalist could have researched for themselves. Last year Mr. Ord himself contacted this blog to welcome my research. He had been aware of his family legend of an illegitimate descent from King George IV of Britain, but has not paid any serious attention to it.

In October I’ll present another set of lgbt claimants and pretenders.

Around the World in Another 80 Gays : Part 29) A Games of Russian Thrones

Previously on “Another 80 Gays” : Record-breaking swimmer 57) Michael Mealiffe (b.1940) is married to Oscar-winning lyricist 58) Dean Pitchford (b.1951) whose Olympic song “Welcome” was augmented by the airship featured in the same James Bond film as the Château de Chantilly, home of 59) Prince Louis II, Duke of Condé (1621-1686), who unsuccessfully campaigned for a royal throne, unlike the successful 60) Dmitri I, Tsar of Russia (d.1606).

In “Game of Gay Thrones” I included 60) Dmitri I as a claimant to a throne. What distinguished him from the others was that he succeeded. Most thrones have had succession battles in their history, and Russia was no exception.

After Tsar Fyodor I died in 1598 the crown was given to his brother-in-law Boris Godunov. Boris’s reign started out okay but in a couple of years a massive famine and uncharacteristic, year-round, night-time temperatures of below zero led to the deaths of two millions Russians. As economic and public strife increased people started to blame Boris and some started rumours that Tsar Fyodor’s brother was ready to emerge from hiding to take over.

The problem with that was that Fyodor’s brother, Dmitri, had been murdered in 1591. In his lifetime Dmitri was declared heir to the throne, but the theory is that Boris Godunov wanted to be tsar and had Dmitri assassinated. As we’ll see later, it’s not the first time this has happened.

Another theory which gained popularity was that Dmitri escaped assassination and went into hiding. Those rumours bothered Tsar Boris, not because they might be true, but because it gave something for the Russian nobles who opposed him to rally behind. That’s when the first of imposter Dmitri arrived on the scene.

No-one is really sure who 60) Dmitri I really was. He may have been a minor noble or a peasant. He came to the attention of Tsar Boris after suspicions arose that he might be the long-lost, long-dead Dmitri after he seemed to be better educated than he should be. Before Boris could capture and interrogate him Dmitri escaped to the powerful neighbouring Poland-Lithuania Commonwealth (the one whose throne would later attract the attention of 59) Prince Louis, Duke of Condé). There Dmitri received support for his challenge to the throne of Tsar Boris.

In 1605 Dmitri, with support from the Poles, succeeded in overthrowing the unpopular Tsar Boris. Yet despite being accepted as the long-lost heir Dmitri had his opponents. He was seen as a westerniser, with policies which favoured closer ties to Poland-Lithuania and the Pope. The traditional ruling nobles, the boyars, objected and also accused him of sodomy because of his very close relationships with two young men.

There may be some basis of truth in Dmitri’s homosexuality. There was a different social attitude towards it in those days, or indeed than there was in Catholic Europe. The circumstances of Dmitri’s death strongly indicate his close relationship with Petr Basmanov. As mentioned in “Game of Gay Thrones” Dmitri and Petr were together in their bedchamber when they were attacked and later murdered. Dmitri was quickly declared an imposter, the first of three False Dmitris, as they are now called.

Succession to the Russian throne has resulted in violence before. The laws of succession were not as simple as they are today in the UK. The Russian heir was chosen from any number of candidates by a gathering of the boyars. Very often the only way for a prospective heir to ensure his succession was to kill of all the others, even if they were his brothers. This is what happened to 61) St. Boris (c.990-1015).

St. Boris was a son of St. Vladimir I, Grand Prince of Kiev (the title of the Russian ruler in medieval times). Boris was one of the twelve sons of Vladimir, and one other son in particular thought his right to succeed was greater than his brothers – Sviatopolk.

Even before St. Vladimir had died Sviatopolk was plotting to eliminate his father and his brothers one by one. His main rival was Boris, Vladimir’s favourite son and commander the army. He was also extremely popular with the populace, which Sviatopolk wasn’t.

On Vladimir’s death Sviatopolk proclaimed himself the new Grand Prince. Even though Boris expressed no desire to oppose him, Sviatopolk decided to make sure he didn’t by having him and his partner assassinated. Just to make sure he was safe on his throne Sviatolpolk then assassinated two other brothers.

St. Boris’s partner was 62) George the Hungarian (d.1015). He was a servant and the bond between him and his master was so close that Boris gave him a fabulously valuable gold necklace as a gift. When Sviatopolk sent his assassins they were camped with the army returning from battle. The assassins burst into their tent and killed them in the manner I described in “To Russia With Love”.

Not satisfied with completing their task the assassins turned their attention back to George the Hungarian and the gold necklace. They couldn’t unfasten it from his neck, so they sliced his head off and flung it as far as they could.


The assassination of St. Boris and George the Hungarian as depicted
in a series of 14th century icons in the Church of St. Boris and St. Gleb, Kolomna, Russia.

St. Boris, along with his assassinated brother St. Gleb, were canonised as the first saints of the Russian Orthodox Church, even before their father St. Vladimir who founded it. As with most medieval saints and legendary heroes many myths and legends grew up around them after their death. A common legend attached to many (St. George, St. Michael, St. Margaret, King Arthur, etc.) was a battle against evil in the form of a dragon.

An old Ukrainian legend tells of a dragon who terrorised the land demanding human sacrifices. The Grand Prince asked St. Boris and St. Gleb to rid him of this menace. In the legend the brothers are blacksmiths, and together they caught the dragon’s tongue with some red hot pincers and tamed it.

Dragon-slayers and tamers like Boris and Gleb appear a lot in eastern and northern European myths, more so than in Mediterranean Europe which tends to go for more serpent-like monsters like the hydra. That’s why Tolkien and programmes like “Game of Thrones” are set in northern lands.

These mythical dragon-slayers have been the source of many works of art, literature and music through the centuries, and perhaps most strikingly in the operas of Richard Wagner. His “Siegfried” relates the dragon-slaying adventure of the eponymous hero. Wagner loved the legends of old Germany so much that he named his son after this particular dragon-slayer – 63) Siegfried Wagner (1869-1930).

Next time : A medieval Eurovision Song Contest leads to death by fire.