Flower Power - green carnation

One of the earliest symbols of the lgbt community to emerge in the Victorian period was the green carnation, a flower not found naturally. It seems to have originated in the early 1890s. Oscar Wilde remarked in an essay in 1889 that green was “in individuals … always a sign of a subtle artistic temperament …” Wilde had spent some time in the artistic and literary world of Paris earlier in that decade and may have got that impression during that time.  Whether it was actually a secret colour between French homosexuals isn’t clear, but it is clear that by 1891 Parisian gay men were wearing green carnations, not necessarily just to the theatre.

Wilde later claimed that he himself had invented the symbol, but whoever thought of it first it was Oscar Wilde who was it’s champion. In 1892 Wilde came up with a little publicity stunt for the opening of his play “Lady Windermere’s Fan”. He invited several friends to the opening night and asked them to wear a green carnation in their button-hole. One of them asked what it meant. “Nothing whatever”, was Wilde’s reply. Apparently he just wanted the public to see several men wearing green carnations and wonder what it was all about. To the audience of “Lady Windermere’s Fan” the mystery was heightened by having one of the actors wear one as well.

The actual carnation Oscar Wilde would have worn is a little-seen variety called a malmaison. It was developed in 1857 in France. It was larger than the common variety of carnation and would look more like a rose. The petals were white with shades of pink and easily took up the artificial green dye into which the stem was dipped. The longer it remained in the dye the darker green the petals would become.

A year or so later a “novel” called “The Green Carnation” was published anonymously. It was actually written by Robert Hichens, one of Wilde’s circle of admirers. Although claimed as fiction the novel was almost fact with “only peoples names have been changed to protect the innocent”. The people, however, were not protected or innocent. So great was the impression that this “novel” of a young aristocrat having and affair with an older man referred to Lord Alfred Douglas’s relationship with Oscar Wilde that even Douglas’s father was even more convinced than ever that Wilde should be arrested. In fact, people thought Wilde himself had written “The Green Carnation”. He refuted the claim in a letter to the Pall Mall Gazette.

The novel was instrumental in Wilde’s arrest. Because of it the public were beginning to lose their fascination with Wilde and Lord Arthur’s father had him arrested in 1895. The green carnation became unpopular, and even the novel was withdrawn from sale. But the connection didn’t fade away, it just went underground. Such was the negative connotation the flower had acquired that the malmaison carnation became virtually extinct.

A hint at the green carnation’s past symbolism emerged in lyrics in Noël Coward’s 1929 musical “Bitter Sweet” :-

“Pretty boys, witty boys,

You may sneer

At our disintegration.

Haughty boys, naughty boys,

Dear, dear, dear!

Swooning with affectation …

And as we are the reason

For the ‘Nineties’ being gay.

We all wear a green carnation.”

It should be noted that Coward’s use of the word “gay” denotes the older definition meaning “happy and carefree”, though it may be a contributory factor in today’s use of the word to mean homosexual.

The malmaison carnation would probably have become totally extinct by now had it not been the discovery of a lone specimen in Scotland from which the National Trust bred a whole greenhouse full of the flower in 1993. However, it may take a few more years before there’s enough blooms to start dying green for today’s lgbt community to wear.

As for the association with Oscar Wilde, that has had a more fruitful revival. Today there are many organisations which openly use the name in connection with the gay community. The annual International Dublin Gay Theatre Festival uses a green carnation in its logo, and the very hotel where Wilde was arrested in 1895 offers Green Carnation Packages for their guests to retrace his steps around London.

Star Gayzing - Hercules

So, after many promises, here’s my post on Hercules (Herakles, in Greek) and his place in the night sky. And it all ties in nicely with the Olympics as well. This will have to be but the briefest of life stories as there are so many myths and stories about him. This can only serve as an overview.

Hercules’ constellation appears in the northern hemisphere. Originally the Greeks called his constellation the Kneeling Man, representing an un-named man resting from his labours. Even today the main star is called Rasalgethi, meaning “the Kneeler’s Head”. And, yes, the “Kneeler’s Head” is at the bottom of the star map! That’s because the constellation pictures the man upside down compared to those around it. When depicted as Hercules he is kneeling on the head of Draco the dragon, the constellation above him. Hercules was originally associated with Gemini, and it’s no wonder the Kneeling Man was later associated with him resting from his 12 Labours.

Hercules’ links to the night sky actually began before he could walk or talk. He was the son of Zeus and the mortal woman Alcmene. Zeus’s wife Hera was tricked into breast-feeing the baby, unaware that he was half-god. She soon found that Hercules was biting onto her too hard and she pulled him away. Milk from her breast sprayed across the sky to create the Milky Way. Having tasted Hera’s milk Hercules was now immortal as well as superhuman.

I told you last time that Hera became jealous of Hercules and how she tried to make life hell for him. She made him kill his family, and the 12 Labours were his punishment.

So how many of these Labours can be linked to the constellations? Here’s a checklist. Not all of them have star links. Some I’ve already dealt with and I’ve linked back to them. Others will be dealt with at a later date.

1.          Kill the Nemean Lion – LEO      

2.          Kill the Lernean Hydra – CANCER and HYDRA

3.          Capture the golden hind of Ceryneia

4.          Kill the Erymanthian Boar

5.          Clean the stables of King Augeias

6.          Kill the man-eating Stymphalian Birds – sometimes linked to ARGO, AQUILA and CYGNUS

7.          Capture the Cretan Bull – TAURUS

8.          Catch the man-eating horses of King Diomedes

9.          Steal the girdle of Queen Hippolyte

10.      Round up the cattle of the Titan Geryon

11.      Fetch the golden apples of the Hesperides – HERCULES, DRACO and THE SKY (via Atlas)

12.      Bring Cerberus up from Hades – HERCULES and CERBERUS (obsolete constellation)

In earlier times Hercules was depicted holding a branch from the tree of the golden apples of the Hesperides. Later it became the tail of Cerberus, a constellation now split between several others, including Hercules.

As I said in my Cancer post, Eurystheus though Hercules had help from his young lover Ioalus in two labours. But he wasn’t his only young boyfriend. The Greek writer Plutarch said Hercules had too many to count. In fact, myths about Hercules’ male lovers outnumber those of his female ones. I don’t need to remind you that the Ancient Greeks had different attitudes to same-sex activity – it was expected of all men. Another well-known boyfriend was Hylas. They both joined the crew of Jason and the Argonauts (ARIES and the obsolete constellation ARGO), but that’s a story of another post.

Finally, the link to the Olympics. One of the myths about the origin of the games (one that contradicts the origin depicted at Olympia) tells how Hercules set up the games as victory celebrations after sacking the city of King Augeias, who cheated him out of a reward for completing his 5^th Labour.

Carrying the Torch With Pride

Tonight in London the Olympic cauldron will be lit. To get you in the mood for the climax of tonight’s ceremony my chronicle of the Olympics continues with the history of lgbt participation in the torch relay.

A torch relay never happened at the ancient Olympics. But there were torch relays in other parts of Ancient Greece. Almost a year ago, when I started my blog, I told you about the Great Panathenaean Games, what I have nicknamed the “Gayest Games in Ancient Greece”. Like today, one of the most important and popular events was the torch relay and you can read about it here.

The modern torch relay was created for the 1936 Berlin Olympics. Since then many thousands of people have carried the torch. It will be impossible to identify all the lgbt torch-bearers, though I have listed in chronological order below those I have found. If anyone knows of any more I’d be very interested to hear from you.

Some of the torch-bearers are famous lgbt Olympians while others have worked hard to promote diversity in sport and the community. In the following list I give the Olympic year and venue first, then the name of the torch-bearer and a little biodata, and lastly the location and date of their part in the relay.

1996    Atlanta

Vicky Galindo, Olympic silver medallist 2008 (USA softball); location and full date unknown.

2004    Athens

Daniel Kowalski, Olympic gold medallist (Australia swimming); Melbourne, Australia, 5 June 2004.

2008    Beijing

John Caldera, San Francisco Veteran Affairs Commission member, US Navy veteran, the first Mr International Bear 1992; San Francisco, 9 April 2008.

Helen Zia, former Executive editor of “Ms” magazine, journalist, advocate of same-sex marriage; San Francisco, 9 April 2008.

2010 Vancouver

Brian Orser, Olympic silver medallist (Canada figure skating); Pickering, Ontario, 17 December 2009.

Mark Tewksbury, Olympic gold medallist (USA swimming); Taber, British Colombia, 17 January 2010.

Marion Lay, Olympic bronze medallist (Canada swimming), past Chair of Vancouver 2010 Bid committee; Pemberton, British Colombia, 7 Feb 2010.

2012 London

Andy Stonehill-Brooks, founder of Support U, a charity created to build a network of lgbt support centres nationwide; Combe Martin, Devon,  21 May.

Vincent Jackson, charity fundraiser; Cardiff, 25 May.

Tara Mifflin, youth leader volunteer with Stonewall in their campaign to tackle homophobic bullying; Y Felinheli, Wales, 28 May.

Colin Renshaw, volunteer support worker in the lgbt community, and Manchester Pride and the 2002 Commonwealth Games; Bolton, Lancashire, 31 May.

Kevin Bartlett, amateur rugby coach, former recording artist (as Kevin Marques), 1990 Vancouver Gay Games gold medallist (UK athletics); Ballycastle, Northern Ireland, 3 June.

Heather Davidson, student, Cerebral Palsy sufferer, volunteer with lgbt support groups in Manchester; Trafford, Lancashire, 24 June.

Trevor Burchick, MBE, founder of the Pride Games, Manchester, representative on the Gay and Lesbian International Sports Association; Stockport, Lancashire, 24 June.

Lorna McArdle, volunteer and past Chair of Reading Pride, member of local marching band; Reading, Berkshire, 10 July.

Jason Saw, head of MINDOUT, a charity founded to tackle mental illness in the lgbt community; Arundel, Sussex, 16 July.

Gideon Meade, founder of the Brighton Lesbian and Gay Sports Society; Brighton, Sussex, 16 July.

Colin Bentley, nursing assistant on an HIV ward, charity marathon runner; Brighton, Sussex, 17 July.

Gavin Owen, charity marathon runner, volunteer with Brighton Pride and London Pride; Eastbourne, Sussex, 17 July.

John Amaechi, OBE, former NBA basketball star, member of the London 2012 Diversity and Inclusion Group; campaigner for lgbt rights in sport; Greenwich, London, 21 July.

Tim Sullivan, Chairman of Kings Cross Steelers, the world’s first gay rugby club; Haringey, London, 22 July.

Mark Healey, founder of 17-24-30, a campaign set up to mark the anniversary of the London Nail Bomb attacks of 1999, founder of the Vigil Against Hate Crime; Lewisham, London, 23 July.

Chris Basiurski, Chair of the Gay Football Supporter’s Network, member of the Diversity Panel of the Football Association; Hammersmith, London, 26 July.

After the torch relay comes the lighting of the cauldron, not unlike the ceremonial lighting of the sacrificial fire on the Acropolis at the Great Panathenaean Games. My research has yet to identify any lgbt cauldron-lighter, and the chance of it happening tonight is zero (not unlike the Paralympic Games – Lee Pearson?)

But I actually have a connection to this year’s Olympic cauldron, which makes me really proud. The cauldron was designed and built by Heatherwick Studios in London. One of the freelance model makers they employed recently was my old friend Mark.

So I’ll be watching the ceremony very closely tonight and making notes for a post next month about the various opening and closing ceremonies.

Before then, I’ll bring you some of the lgbt involvement in the London games from its original bid up to the opening ceremony.

For all official information on the Olympics go to www.london2012.com

Star Gayzing - Leo

As a way of a prelude to my next Star Gayzing post which will be on Hercules we’ll look at the first of his famous labours – the defeat of the Nemean Lion.

The constellation we now call Leo was represented as a winged lion by the Babylonians, a creature seen a lot in their architecture. This idea of a super-lion transferred to the Greeks who identified the constellation with a super-lion of their own – the Nemean Lion.

In true ancient Greek style the creature was given a fantastical parentage. Several different sets of monstrous parents are mentioned in myths – his usual parents being the Titan Typhon (who had 100 heads and was as tall as the sky), and Echnida (a serpent-woman), who were also parents of Cerberus, the Gorgon, the Lernean Hydra and the Sphinx).

The lion’s fur was said to be pure gold and his skin was impervious to arrows or swords. This meant you had to be up close and personal if you wanted to deal with it, that’s if you manage to avoid it’s claws which could slice through thick armour like a hot knife through butter.

So how did Hercules get started on his labours? It started when the goddess Hera, angry that Hercules was yet another of her husband Zeus's illegitimate sons, sent Hercules mad. He killed his wife Megara and their children. Hercules travelled to see the Oracle of Delphi to be told what punishment he should receive. The Oracle decreed that Hercules should serve King Eurystheus of Athens and complete any task he set.

Eurystheus was a little scared of Hercules, so he came up with 10 difficult quests – the Labours – for Hercules to perform, hoping he’d not survive even the first one. As I mentioned last time, Eurystheus thought Hercules had help from his boyfriend Iolaus for two of these labours so Eurystheus added two more, giving 12 Labours in all.

The first labour the king sent Hercules on was to defeat the monstrous lion that was terrorizing the city of Nemea. Hercules took some arrows with him, but these would have been useless, of course, if he’d known.

After learning the hard way that arrows are no good Hercules trapped the lion in his cave and used a great club to stun the lion with a big wallop to the head. Then he used his great strength to strangle and kill the beast. With the lion now dead Hercules tried to skin the beast so he could wear its impervious fur as armour, but only the lion’s claws were sharp enough to cut through. Because of this Hercules was usually depicted wearing the Nemean Lion’s skin around him (other myths say it was different lion).

Like the Cancer crab and the Nemean Lion’s own brother the Lernean Hydra encountered by Hercules in his next labour, the super-lion was put among the stars by Hera.

Now that we’ve got Hercules firmly in our mind in this Star Gayzing series we’ll have our proper look at him next week.

[Article revised on 27 February 2017]

Olympic Countdown

Maybe it’s because the Vancouver Winter Olympics of 2010 were the most recent that I enjoyed them the most. Or it could just be family loyalty – my grandfather lived in Canada and I still have cousins there. It could also be because of a lot of lgbt coverage given to the Pride Houses by the media (more of which later).

Lgbt involvement in the Vancouver Olympics began before they own their bid for the games in 1998. The first Chair of the bid committee was Vancouver-born Olympic bronze medallist Marion Lay. She competed in Tokyo 1964 and Mexico City 1968. The pressures and demands of being Chair led to Marion leaving the post before the bid was won, but she remained involved as the Vancouver city representative on the Organising Committee’s board of directors. The IOC recognised Marion’s contribution to sport in 2001 by awarding her the Women and Sport Trophy for the Americas.

These definitely felt like a more gay-friendly games – except when it came to American figure skater Johnny Weir. Speculation about his sexuality had been circulating since his first Olympics in 2006. His performances were flamboyant and regarded by some as almost too camp. The Canadian media in particular thought this was enough of a reason to discuss Johnny’s sexuality on air. To his credit Johnny brushed most of this aside, rightly saying that his skating was the only thing that was important at the games.

Johnny couldn’t quite reach his 2006 5^th place, finishing 6^th. It wasn’t until January 2011 that he came out in his autobiography.

Johnny Weir wasn’t the only identified lgbt figure skater in Vancouver, because previous Olympic silver medallist Brian Orser was choreographer and coach to the female champion skater Yu-Na Kim.

But Johnny Weir wasn’t the only athlete in Vancouver who has since come out. New Zealand speed skater Blake Skjellerup was out to family and friends and made no attempt to “hide” his boyfriend in the athlete’s village. Being out was relatively new to him. He had come out to his family only the previous September and, like Johnny, decided his skating performance was more important in Vancouver. Fortunately, having a gay uncle and cousin meant his family were supportive.

Blake’s best result in Vancouver was 16^th place, having reached the quarter-final of the 1,000 meters. Once the games were over Blake felt comfortable enough to come out publicly the following May, the first to do so after Vancouver 2010.

Also in speed skating were 3 Dutch skaters – Renate Groenewold, Sanne van Kerkhof and Ireen Wüst. Sanne was making her Olympic debut and had been the partner of Ireen since the previous May. They didn’t compete against each other, however, because Sanne competed in the short track events and Ireen in the longer distances.

Naturally, the Canadians had high hopes of gold in the ice hockey tournament. The women’s team succeeded in holding on to their gold medals from Turin, again with Sarah Vaillancourt on the team. In the semi-finals they beat Finland who went on to beat Sweden for the bronze medal. Erika Holst made her 4^th Olympic appearance in the Swedish team.

The only other lgbt gold medal in Vancouver was won by Vibeke Skofterud, the Norwegian cross-country skier. This was a personal triumph for Vibeke after recovering from an eating disorder which stopped her from competing in 2006.

Also on the ski slopes Sweden’s Anja Pärson hoped to defend her slalom gold medal but crashed out near the end. She escaped serious injury and the following day won bronze in the combined event, as she did in the previous games. This was her 6^th Olympic medal, giving her the most medals of any individual female lgbt Olympian – 1 gold, 1 silver, 4 bronze (Sheryl Swoopes won 3 team golds).

Now to the Pride Houses. A previous attempt to provide a special gathering place for lgbt Olympians to relax and be themselves was in Barcelona 1992. With the Vancouver games being centred around a well-known gay ski resort at Whistler it was natural that the community there should set up a Pride House there. Whistler had been the home of Gay Ski Week since 1993.

Two Pride Houses were set up, by gaywhistler.com and the Vancouver Queer Resource Centre. Both were very successful and influenced the decision by community groups to set up a Pride House in London 2012 and Sochi 2014. The Sochi house has since been banned by the Russian courts because of its alleged bad influence on children. The London Pride House will go ahead after being rescued with support from Pridesports UK, the European Gay and Lesbian Sports Federation and the Federation of Gay Games.

In connection with that last named organisation, several lgbt Olympians have become Gay Games Ambassadors. I will list them all on the 30^th anniversary of the Gay Games in August.

The 2012 games has already broken lgbt records, with a record 19 out athletes (and counting) gathering with their teams in London. Before the next games in Sochi 2014 I expected more London Olympians will come out, and we shall see if its possible to exceed the list of 42 lgbt athletes who were at the Sydney 2000 games.

In 5 days time the waiting will be over. But my chronicle of lgbt Olympians will continue. I’ll also reveal the lgbt involvement in the torch relay and the opening and closing ceremonies. So I hope you “stay tuned”.

For all official information on the Olympics go to www.london2012.com

Warhol's Olympics

Almost a month ago a work of art was sold at the Phillips auction house in London for a record £6,761,250. It was the highest price ever paid for a joint work by Andy Warhol and Jean-Michel Basquiat called “Olympics” (1984).

Most people think the Olympics is only about sport. When Baron Pierre de Coubertin began the present modern revival of the games he wanted to include competitions for art, architecture, sculpture and music, and it is these “events” and associated artistic lgbt contributions which I’ll concentrate on in 2 posts over the next few weeks. Today we’ll look specifically at the Warhol and the Olympics.

Perhaps Andy Warhol seems an unlikely contender for an Olympic artist but he used the theme of sport before being invited to submit a work for the games. In 1977 the American art collector Richard Weisman asked Warhol to produce a series of paintings based on sport. The result was a series of 10 portraits of great sporting legends of the time, including Muhammad Ali and Pele.

Perhaps prompted by this sporting portrait series the organisers of the Sarajevo Winter Games in 1984 invited Warhol to submit a new work inspired by sport. It would be included is a portfolio of other work by other artists. Warhol used 2 images of a speed skater superimposed one on top of the other, giving the impression of speed.

In late 1983 Warhol was asked by Swiss art dealer Bruno Bischofberger to work with young graffiti artist Jean-Michel Basquiat. Warhol was one of Basquiat’s heroes and his energy brought a fresh source of inspiration to Warhol. Between them they produced several joint works inspired by the Olympics, which were being held in Los Angeles in 1984.

After his death in 1987 Andy Warhol became part of the “Olympic Establishment” when the Olympic Museum in Lausanne staged a retrospective exhibition of his sport-inspired work in 1995.

Another of the Warhol/Basquiat Olympic collaborations is on display in London this month. The Gagosian Gallery is showing the 1985 work “Olympic Rings”.

Olympic Countdown

Going into the Beijing games the lgbt media again attempted to list the lgbt Olympians competing in 2008. Their highest estimate was 11, but with some athletes coming out since then the list can now be recorded as 24, of which 13 were making their Olympic debut.

This time around women’s football tops the lgbt athlete list with 7 players. For the 3^rd Olympics in a row Germany won the bronze medal. In the team were Linda Bresonik and Nadine Angerer. Nadine missed out on a medal in the previous 2 Olympics because she was the substitute goalkeeper and didn’t actually play in the bronze medal match. But this time she was head goalkeeper and at last received her bronze medal. Unfortunately, Ursula Holl, her substitute, thereby missed out on a bronze.

One player with football in her blood was Isabell Herlovsen, a striker on the Norwegian team. Her father is Olympian and former Norwegian international Kia Erik Herlovsen.

The gold medal was won by the USA. They were coached by Pia Sundhage who had played for Sweden in the 1996 Atlanta games. On the Swedish team in Beijing was Jessica Lindström. Perhaps the most unusual record of any lgbt Olympian has to be held by American football forward Natasha Kai - the record for the most tattoos – over 55 in all!

Handball had 3 lesbian players. In the gold medal-winning Norwegian team were Katja Nyberg and team captain Gro Hammerseng. The pair had been living and working openly as a couple for 3 years and had sought to play for clubs in which they could play alongside each other. Gro had the honour of carrying her national flag in the closing ceremony. Katja was actually Finnish by birth and she became a Norwegian citizen in 2001. The couple have since split up, though they continued to play on the same club until 2011 when Gro retired to have a child.

Alexandra Labracére played handball for France, losing in a first round match to Norway but reached the quarter-finals, where they lost to Russia.

Lee Pearson returned to defend his 3 paralympic equestrian gold medals for Team GB. On 11^th September 2008 he became the greatest lgbt Olympian when his total gold medal tally reached 9. Who knows – will he make it 12 in 2012? In the main equestrian arena Hans Peter Minderhoud won a silver medal. The New Zealand couple of Blyth Tait and Paul O’Brien did not compete, but Blyth was the equestrian team manager for the Kiwis in Beijing, and Paul was an Olympic selector.

Winning a gold medal in women’s hockey was Marilyn Agliotti, She returned after an absence of 8 years to play for the Netherlands after playing for her native South Africa in 2000.

In the diving pool were the 2 Australian Matthews – Helm and Mitcham. Mathew Helm was making his 3^rd Olympic appearance. He had won a silver and bronze at the 2004 Olympics and 2 golds in the Commonwealth Games in 2006. He was tipped for 2 golds in Beijing. However, rising superstar Matthew Mitcham, who had come 4^th in the Commonwealth Games, exceeded most people’s expectations by beating Helm to the gold in the platform competition. Disappointingly, Helm missed any medal.

The remaining medals from Beijing went to Lauren Lappin and Vicky Galindo who won silver with the American softball team. Vicky’s involvement in the Olympics actually goes back to 1996 when, at the age of 12, she took part in the torch relay for the Atlanta games.

Of the remaining lgbt athletes in Beijing 4 were making their 4^th appearance: “veteran” German cyclist Judith Arndt, Australian beach volleyball player Natalie Cook, Brazilian judoka Edinanci da Silva and Australian tennis player Rennae Stubbs. A tennis player making her only Olympic appearance was Israel’s Tzipora Obziler.

German fencer Imke Duplitzer made her 3^rd Olympic appearance. She refused to attend the opening ceremony saying that she didn’t want to be part of the “circus” of a Chinese propaganda spectacle. Canadian swimmer Anne Polinario was also making her 3^rd appearance, coached by her father, gay Olympian Rafael Polinario. Anne defended her Paralympic 50m gold medal.

To finish on a golden note, the US women’s basketball with Seimone Augustus became Olympic champions.

For all official information on the Olympics go to www.london2012.com