The World's Oldest Porn?

In the remote province of Xinjiang in northern China there is a series of ancient rock carvings which may be the oldest depiction of sex ever discovered.

This post could easily have been made last month when I had archaeology as my Ology of the Month, but I thought I’d hold it back until now to tie in with my celebration of Asian-Pacific heritage. Archaeologically speaking, though, it seems that these carvings show the early influence of the west in China.

When the cave carvings, or petroglyphs, as archaeologists call this type of carving, were discovered in 1980 they were dated to about 3,000 years ago, but later research and comparisons to other carvings pushed the date back another thousands years to around 2000 BC. What they appear to show is some sort of fertility ritual or festival which shows a huge orgy.

In all 83 full figures are carved, with lots of headless torsos and floating heads (not thought to represent mutilation or death). Of the full figures 50 are female, 14 are male, and 19 are bisexual. To understand these numbers we must look at how the male and female genders are depicted. The differences are subtle but important. The drawing below shows the typical depictions in the carving for a woman (left) and a man (right).

 

The strange antenna on most of the women’s heads are representations of a ceremonial headdress associated with women of high status. Strangely, all of the figures have their arms in the same position. Perhaps this indicates some part of the ritual, or signifies the human connection between heaven and earth.

The figures described by archaeologists as bisexual appear to be sexually aroused men wearing female ceremonial headdresses or with female heads drawn on their chest. These have been identified as shamans and priests. The depiction of these shamans varies.

The culture which the carving represents, the one which carved it, may have been Eurasian in origin rather than east Asian. The area is near the mountainous region north of the dangerous Taklamakan Desert (it’s names means “you go in, but you won’t get out!”). It was an area where nomads from what is now Kazakhstan moved south along the mountains, like some Eurasian cultural finger poking into China!

With the area being so remote, and the current political situation, it is unlikely that any further such carvings will be found in the near future. It would be interesting to know exactly who these people were, how much ethnic mix went on with neighbouring Asian cultures, and how much this culture influenced northern China.

A scholarly article on the petroglyphs can be found here.

A Molecule For Murder

The drug of death! The chemical killer! That should get your attention! In contrast to last week’s life-saving molecule, the anti-malarial drug artemisinin, today we look at a famous chemical that was used in a gay murder.

As an anaesthetic chloroform was used extensively during surgery. Though looking at old thrillers and murder mysteries, where a hapless innocent victim is ambushed with a chloroform-soaked handkerchief being clamped over the mouth and nostrils, it is clear that there’s a darker use for this chemical.

Today’s tale begins in January 1885 in the port of Liverpool. On board the steamship “Cephalonia”, bound for Boston, Massachusetts, were two men who had just met. One was a well-off international salesman for a London textile company, 24-year-old Charles Arthur Preller. The other man was, he claimed, Dr. Walter Lennox Maxwell of London. He was no such thing. He was actually 32-year-old Hugh Mottram Brooks of Manchester - though he had studied medicine.

The two men’s friendship increased as they steamed across the Atlantic, and they both planned to carry on together to New Zealand. Preller had business in the USA first, so they agreed to meet up in St. Louis as few weeks later before heading off Down Under.

Brooks booked into a hotel under his alias of Dr. Maxwell. Preller arrived three days later. They shared the room, though to avert suspicion of their relationship Preller booked a separate room in his own name. The couple were indeed a couple, as letters discovered later would prove.

The relationship seemed to be like ones often found today – a  gay man with money finds himself in a relationship with a gay man who wants to spend it. The hotel staff noticed that it was Preller who had the money and Brooks seemed to have none. Then, on the evening of Easter Sunday, 5^th April, Brooks was seen waving a roll of $100 bills around in the hotel bar. There was no sign of Preller, which was unusual as they were always seen together. Brooks was drunk, and said to the head waiter “What’s the penalty for killing a man? Would $500 get a man off?”

The following day Brooks paid his bills and left, saying Preller had gone out of town and would be back for his luggage in a few days. No-one had actually seen Preller since Sunday morning. Brooks then travelled to San Francisco and boarded a steamship for Auckland, New Zealand.

Six days later the hotel maids reported an unbearable stench coming for a locked trunk in Brooks’ room. The manager had it dragged outside and opened by the local trunk dealer. The dealer recognised it as one he had sold to Brooks the previous week. When he opened it he discovered why Brooks didn’t take it with him.

Inside the trunk was the swollen, blackened, rotting corpse of Charles Preller, naked except for underwear bearing Brooks’ name. An autopsy revealed Preller had died of chloroform poisoning. It was clear that Brooks had murdered him and a manhunt began.

Brooks was traced to the steamer crossing the Pacific. Police sent a telegram ahead to Auckland, so that when the steamer arrived police were ready to arrest Brooks.

At his trial in May 1886 Brooks claimed he bought the chloroform to treat an ailment Preller was complaining off that fateful weekend. Using it as an anaesthetic Brooks claimed he gave him a second dose when it looked like Preller was coming round during the treatment. Preller died from the overdose. Doctors found no evidence of any treatment carried out on Preller’s body.

Brooks denied the murder throughout his trial, though the police gave evidence from Brooks’ time in custody when he admitted to a fellow prisoner that he had been angry at Preller for not paying for his ticket to Auckland. Brooks was heard to admit to wanting to “fix” Preller “on account of his meanness”. Prosecution witnesses included the men who sold Brooks the trunk and the chloroform, and hotel staff who said he suddenly had a lot of money on the day he checked out.

The trial caused a sensation around the world, not only in America and New Zealand, but also in England where journalists interviewed Brooks’ parents.

The jury retired to consider their verdict on the evening on 4^th June, and the following morning found Hugh Mottram Brooks guilty of the murder of Charles Arthur Preller. Brooks was hanged on 10^th August 1888.

Perhaps this murder would still be well-known today had it not been for the first in a series of murders which began three weeks later which caught the public attention – the first of Jack the Ripper’s brutal killings (more of him later this month).

A more detailed account of the St. Louis Trunk Murder can be found here. 

Asia-Pacific Heroes

The USA is celebrating Asian-American and Pacific Islander Heritage Month. The influence of these communities and cultures have reached around the globe. Each of these cultures has a unique character in their lgbt community which is often not fully understood, or even known, to people with a strong European-based heritage.

The Gay, Lesbian and Straight Education Network (GLSEN), based in New York, has produced this leaflet of 9 lgbt heroes from all walks of life and professions who are active in lgbt campaigns or have provided a valued contribution to society.

I’d like to add my own list of 10 more notable Asia-Pacific lgbt heroes from around the world and throughout history. Some you may have heard of, some you may not. (I’ll be producing a separate list of lgbt Asian-Pacific scientists later this month).

Xiaoai, Emperor of the Han Dynasty (27 BC- 1AD)

and Dong Xian (c.23 BC- 1 BC)

Xiaoai, or Ai, was emperor of the Chinese Han dynasty for 6 years from the age of 26. His relationship with Dong, a minor official who quickly rose in power and influence, is generally believed to have been homosexual. The legend of Ai cutting off his voluminous sleeve rather than wake the sleeping Dong Xian who had rolled over onto it, has become a by-name for homosexuality – the Passion of the Cut Sleeve.

Togo Ken (1923-2012)

At the time of the growing gay rights movement in the USA in the 1970s Togo Ken was almost single-handedly championing sexual rights in Japan. He left his wife and children to start a gay bar and even campaigned for election to parliament. Togo was unashamedly effeminate, wearing kimonos and make-up, even on his election broadcasts. Despite his legendary status in Japan his place as a pioneer in the freedom of sexual expression is largely unknown elsewhere.

Georgina Beyer (b.1957)

When she made her maiden speech in the New Zealand parliament in 1999 Georgina pointed out that she was the first transsexual in the world to be elected as an MP. Of Maori descent she has spoken on racial and civil union rights and environmental issues, and has been a keynote speaker at many international lgbt conferences, including several Outgames conferences. Sadly, Georgina has recently been diagnosed with chronic kidney disease.

Margaret Cho (b.1968)

Margaret’s career has covered many varied areas – stand-up comedy, writing, fashion design, acting and song writing. She grew up in San Francisco where she began her stand-up career in the clubs around her immigrant-Korean parents’ bookshop. Margaret has appeared on many American shows, being nominated for an Emmy award in 2011 for her guest appearance in “30 Rock”. The openly bisexual Margaret has often spoken on lgbt rights and racial issues.

Louisa Wall (b.1972) – Last month New Zealand legalised gay marriage. The original bill was introduced into parliament in May 2012 by the openly lesbian MP Louisa Wall. Louisa is of mixed-race heritage, having both European and Maori ancestry. The passing of the same-sex marriage act was, she said, like winning a World Cup final – she should know, she won the 1998 women’s rugby World Cup as part of New Zealand’s national team.

Gok Wan (b.1974)

Gok has carved out a niche on British television as the only “cool” fashion stylist, having several shows running concurrently and appearing as a guest on many others. Growing up in Leicester of mixed English-Hong Kong Chinese parentage, Gok suffered racial abuse at school, causing him to gain weight and attempt suicide. Since his career took off he has gained confidence and lost weight, and has promoted positive self-body-image attitudes in schools.

Dan Choi (b.1981)

Iraq veteran and New York National Guardsman Choi was discharged after coming out on US television. Choi, of Korean descent, immediately wrote to President Obama criticising the “Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell” policy banning open homosexuality in the US military. Choi campaigned vigorously to have the policy repealed, and formed Knights Out, a support group for lgbt military personnel. When President Obama repealed the policy in 2010 Dan Choi was present at the official signing.

Johnny Saelua (b.1988)

Jaiyah, or Johnny, Saelua made history last November when he played for American Samoa in the 2014 World Cup preliminaries against Tonga. Johnny became the first ever Third Gender soccer player. As a member of the Samoan male-born, female-identified f’afafine community Johnny believes the acceptance of his gender in his country made it easy for him to be accepted as a footballer on the national team. He also made history by playing in the first American Samoan team to win a match.

And finally, being about as topical and up-to-date as I can …

Amini Fonua (b.1989)

Just a couple of days ago this New Zealander of Tongan and English heritage (and of distinguished Tongan ancestry) came out publicly. He was already out at college in the USA and made his announcement in response to criticisms of his college being one of the most homophobic. As one of 2 Tongan athletes given wild card entries into the 2012 London Olympic Games Amina proudly carried his nation’s flag at the head of the 3-person Tongan team in the opening ceremony.

http://www.glsen.org/binary-data/GLSEN_ATTACHMENTS/file/000/002/2195-1.pdf

Flower Power - A Floral Molecule

Today’s flower is closely related to one I’ve already covered on this blog, Lad’s Love (Artemisia abrotanum). Today’s flower is sweet wormwood (Artemisia annua). It is the source of the Molecule of the Week, the main drug used to treat malaria – artemisinin. It’s quite a recent drug. It was first discovered and used by the Chinese in the 1970s, who were reluctant at first to pass on their discovery to the rest of the world, given the suspicion China had for the West at that time. Traditional Chinese medicine has always been highly regarded, and it was the use of sweet wormwood in medicine for over 2,000 that led the Chinese to research it’s medicinal properties.

Even though sweet wormwood grows all over the world and many drug companies now have plantations, extracting artemisinin is expensive. With almost a million people, including one child in Africa every 45 seconds, dying from malaria other methods of producing the drug, which has been the best and preferred drug for malaria treatment since 2006, has been on the minds of many biochemists.

For over ten years one gay scientist has been working on the synthetic production of artemisinin from bacteria. His name is Dr. Jay Keasling, Professor of Bio-chemical Engineering at the University of California Berkeley, and Chief Executive Officer of the Joint Bioenergy Institute, or J-BEI.

Jay’s work crosses several sciences – biochemistry, genetic engineering and synthetic biology. But at the root of his work on artemisinin is the reproduction of the chemical that comes from sweet wormwood.

Jay was born and raised on a Nebraska farm. He says that his research with producing artemisinin synthetically from yeast and e-coli bacteria has put his career in more touch with the farm than ever before.

Jay has compared the processes involved in producing the drug to a chemical factory. Using synthetically  manufactured DNA Jay has managed a way to make yeast and e-coli churn out artemisinin as if they were mini chemical factories. When Jay and his research team made their first successful production of the drug in this way in 2003 they were hailed as pioneers of bio-engineering.

In 2004 the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation awarded Jay $42.5 million to carry on research in order to produce artemisinin in enough quantities to distribute world-wide. Very soon, this year, in fact, the pharmaceutical company Sanofi-Aventi will turn Jay’s dream of a cheap and plentiful production of artemisinin into reality with the drug being launched on the market in the coming months.

Very soon millions of malaria sufferers will be treated with the synthetic drug created by Jay Keasling and, who knows, perhaps we’ll see the end of malaria as a fatal disease in our own lifetime.

But Jay is not stopping at artemisinin. Using the same techniques but synthesising other chemicals in the bacteria he has created a way for e-coli to produce a biofuel which will, hopefully, replace the oil-based fossil fuels currently ruling the world.

In 2006 Jay became “Discover” magazine’s first Scientist of the Year, and in 2010 he was announced as GLBT Engineer of the Year by the National Organisation for Gay and Lesbian Scientific and Technical Professionals (NOGLSTP). Jay was profiled on the PBS programmes “NOVAscience NOW” in 2011. Here is that programme in full, but if you want to skip forward to Jay’s profile go 39 minutes and 52 seconds into the programme.

Jay Keasling’s work may change the world. And all of this because the ancient Chinese saw the medicinal benefits in a plant called sweet wormwood.

Labour Day

The recent death of Margaret Thatcher revived a lot of old differences from the time when she was Prime Minister. During her funeral there were protests from lgbt groups about Section 28, the Thatcherite law which banned the promotion of homosexuality in schools. There were also other groups who chose to recreate the hatred generated from resurrecting other long-gone political clashes. In particular groups from the trade unions and coalminers.

When I was asked to produce a display for LGBT History Month this February at Nottinghamshire’s County Hall the invitation came from a trade union, Unison. I was asked if I could include the history of lgbt rights in the British trade union movement. I found there was so much to research and so little time that I printed all my research material and put it in a folder instead of design a specific display panel.

With the start of May also being the traditional time of year for the celebration of working life and people this gives me my third reason to write up some of my research and present it here today. I will describe the campaigns by and for the lgbt community up to 1985.

The trade union movement has always been at the forefront of campaigning for the rights of workers. LGBT employment rights and equality was, however, originally led by a variety of non-union groups. These included the Socialist Workers, the Campaign for Homosexual Equality, the Lesbian and Gay Employment Rights group, and the Gay Rights at Work Committee.

In the 1960s and 1970s homosexuality, even after it was legalised, was still often seen as immoral. Many British trades unions, fearful of losing many members, were reluctant to openly back gay rights at work. They perpetuated the Victorian stereotype of gay men as being effeminate and not of the working class.

This attitude was prevalent in the region where I grew up, where the attitude of “if you don’t go down the pit, you’re a puff” was the rule – and it wasn’t meant as a compliment! In February I spoke to a group of lgbt youngsters from the same area who were receiving an award from the Nottinghamshire Rainbow Heritage project and I told them of the bigotry I encountered when I was their age. I wasn’t really surprised to hear from them that it still lingers.

The National Council for Civil Liberties were possibly the first to publish material specifically offering advice to trades unions on making work-places less discriminatory. Even though a high-ranking Labour MP, Tony Benn, wrote the introduction, the Labour government of the day gave it a cool reception. Surprisingly, in light of future events, it was the Tory opposition (which included Mrs. Thatcher) who pushed for lgbt employment rights.

But all was to be turned of its head in the late 1970s. Social and trade union unrest at the Labour government led to the election of Margaret Thatcher as Prime Minister in 1979. In the 1980s Thatcher’s anti-union policies united the unions, but there was still no effort to address anti-gay abuse in the work-place by the government, employers or the unions.

In 1984 the National Union of Mineworkers went on strike in protest at plans to close unworkable mines. It had the biggest and most far-reaching effect on the country as a whole than any other since the 1930s. Thousands of people travelled across the country to join or support picket lines and violent clashes between pickets and police became commonplace. Most of the country seemed to be sympathising with the miners, especially groups like the lgbt community who were already anti-Thatcher.

During the London Pride march of 1984 a collection was made for the striking miners’ families. From this collection came the formation of the group called Lesbians and Gays Support the Miners (LGSM). During the course of the year-long strike the LGSM and a splinter group called Lesbians Against Pit Closures raised funds for the miners’ families and supported picket lines and protests. Even though the strike was centred on the Yorkshire and Nottinghamshire pits in my own area the main focus for LGSM was on the pits of South Wales because there were more personal links to that area among LGSM members.

However wide-ranging the politics of the members of the LGSM, from Marxists to liberals, from anarchists to Labour Party members, the group remained united in its cause. During the 2-year of it’s existence the LGSM raised £20,000 for the miners. Their support was rewarded the following year at the London Pride march of 1985. At the head of the march was a group of miners and their families from South Wales, proudly carrying the banner of their local lodge of the National Union of Mineworkers.

Later in 1985, at the annual Labour Party conference, a motion was debated which called for equal rights and anti-discrimination in the workplace for gay men and women. The party leadership opposed the motion but the united votes of the Trades Union Congress pushed the motion through.

Despite the general public backlash against gay men in the face of the AIDS crisis in the mid-1980s the Labour Party and the trades unions continued to support lgbt rights throughout the remainder of the decade, though it could be said this was only politically motivated as part of their general anti-Thatcher policy rather than real belief in the idea.

1985 can be seen as a breakthrough year in the UK for lgbt employment rights. When the anti-gay Section 28 came into force in 1988 unified support for lgbt rights was already stable. By the time it was abolished in 2003 there was a well-planned course of action ready to begin by campaign groups. By 2006 lgbt rights in employment were finally put in place.

Sniffing Out a Gay Jekyll and Hyde

In the bathroom cabinet of every young gay man-about-town is a plethora of cosmetics (judging by those I know). In my young days all I needed was to splash on some aftershave and deodorant. Today millions of pounds are being spent by gay men on these and other things – facial creams, fake tans, lip gloss, hair gel, hair dye. These days there seems to be as many cosmetic products for men as there are for women. And why not?

The number of gay fashion designers marketing fragrances for men is ever-growing. It is, perhaps, very fortunate that today’s cosmetics are largely synthetic rather than natural Not that many decades ago people were still killing beavers and musk deer to obtain perfumes. If people today knew from which parts of the animal their perfume came from and splash onto their body in the name of smelling good they’d scream the house down!

The molecule of the week changed all that. It is coumarin, the first synthetic fragrance chemical, produced in 1868. The growth of the inorganic chemistry industry led to the possibility that there could be no natural smell that couldn’t be reproduced synthetically.

One of the champions of synthetic perfumery during the 20^th century, and an early gay rights activist, was Edward Sagarin (1913-1986). He straddle the homosexual fence. On one side he was a supporter of gay rights and anti-discrimination. On the other side he supported the view that homosexuality was an illness and should be cured. Sagarin has been referred to as “the Dr. Jekyll-Mr. Hyde of the American homophile movement” (Claude J. Summers, in his entry of Sagarin at GLBTQ Encyclopedia).

First we’ll look at Sagarin’s career in chemistry. He didn’t complete a university course in the subject but he had a keen interest. In the 1930s he began working in the cosmetics industry in New York to support his family. He quickly established himself as a respected chemist and specialist in perfumery.

In 1945 Sagarin published a highly popular and influential book on perfumes which is still valued by today’s perfumers. It was called “The Science and Art of Perfumery” and best shows Sagarin’s flair for synthetic perfumery. It also went into some detail about the history of fragrances and the several traditional methods by which perfumes were obtained. For a scientific book, Sagarin did not shy away from pointing out the links between perfumes of ancient times and their place in ritual, superstition and religion.

Obviously, being a chemist, Sagarin devoted much of the book to modern synthetic perfumery. He could not ignore a figure like Sir William Perkin in the history of the development of inorganic chemistry. Referring specifically to Perkin’s discovery of coumarin, the Molecule of the Week, Sagarin wrote: “Here was a synthetic, not only as fine as nature’s own, but different in no respect from the natural coumarin. This was man, the duplicator, in his supreme achievement”.

Though with no formal qualifications in chemistry, Edward Sagarin studied for a PhD in sociology at the age of 52. This was during the time he was heavily involved in the gay rights movement. In his “Dr. Jekyll” persona he published a book, “The Homosexual in America: A Subjective Approach”, in 1951, under the pseudonym of Donald Webster Cory. When his employer found out he was fired. This book was one of the first factual books on homosexuality to advocate the rights of gay men to live without discrimination and abuse. It pointed out that there were more gay men in the USA than people realised, and some reassurance to those closeted men to know that they “were not alone”. At the end of the book Cory gave his opinion that in the future millions of gay men would join together for their rights.

On the flip side of this book was Sagarin’s academic career as a sociologist. Even though hew was a member of the Mattachine Society, one of America’s first gay groups, he was opposed to the radical views and campaigns that he had seemed to advocate as Donald Webster Cory. This “Mr. Hyde” persona, an opponent of many in the gay rights movement, showed itself in his belief that homosexuality is an illness and could be cured. He expressed a view in 1976 that coming out of the closet was actually as renunciation of freedom rather than an affirmation of it.

In 1974 both personas were to clash at a convention of the American Sociological Society. As a guest of a discussion panel Sagarin  was “outed” as Donald Webster Cory by a fellow panellist. The confrontation ended with Sagarin in tears and he left the arena of gay rights for good.

Whatever Edward Sagarin’s motives for publicly opposing views on homosexuality, we can be sure that out of the bitter reception he received as an opponent of the gay rights movement, and his pioneering stand as Donald Webster Cory, we can be sure of the sweet scent of unity in his place in the history of perfume chemistry.

Ology of the Month - Chemistry

There are so many different sides to chemistry and it is everywhere. After all, everything in the universe is made of chemical elements. You could say that if physics shows us how the universe works, then chemistry shows us what the universe is made from.

During May I want to cover as many aspects of chemistry as I can, be it organic or inorganic, natural or synthetic, though some topics will also be covered later in the year (pharmacology and medicine in August, biochemistry in November, and AIDS drugs in December).

There are fewer chemists in history who can be identified as lgbt than most of the other sciences. There’s certainly many more lgbt chemists out and proud today.  As with other sciences the largest organisation for lgbt chemists can be found in the USA. The main group is the Subdivision for Gay and Transgender Chemists and Allies at the American Chemical Society (ACS) (surely there’s a shorter, snappier name they could come up with?).

The website of the ACS has an interesting little feature which has inspired me to try something similar this month. Its called “Molecule of the Week”. The website features a different chemical molecule and gives all its properties and all you need to know about what is does.

My Molecules of the Weeks will tie in with members of the lgbt community. I’m not a chemist myself so won’t go into all the scientific explanations you see on the ACS website. Hopefully, I’ll come up with 5 molecules which I intend to feature over the weeks that fall during May, and they will include drugs, poisons and perfumes. They won’t all appear on a Monday (like this week) due to other posts needing to appear on specific Mondays this month.

 

May is also the month which the USA celebrates as Asian-American and Pacific Islander Heritage Month. Also referred to as APAM, this commemorative month had its origins quite some time ago, way back in the days of Jimmy Carter. In 1978 the US Congress passed a joint Congressional Resolution to commemorate Asia-Pacific heritage across the States during the first full week in May. There were two reasons why May was chosen. Firstly, May was the month in 1843 which saw the first Japanese immigrants arriving in America. Secondly, the trans-continental railway, on which many of the labourers were Chinese, was completed in May 1869.

The success of the first Asian-Pacific Heritage Week led to support in Congress for the expansion of the celebrations. Following the example of others, such as World Women’s History Month and Black History Month, Congress approved the idea of spreading the celebration of Asian-Pacific culture across the whole month. The first full Asian-Pacific Heritage Month was in May 1992. More recently the name has been expanded into the official title of Asia-American and Pacific Islander Heritage Month.

It’s a pity it hasn’t officially spread to other countries yet. I’ll have a couple of posts devoted to Asia-Pacific heritage. It’s a pity the timing of the previous “On Track to the Outgames” devoted to the first Asia-Pacific Outgames didn’t make it into this month. There’ll also be a post dedicated to lgbt Asia-Pacific scientists.