List of reportedly LGBTQ heads of state throughout history

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The following is a list of heads of state throughout history who were reportedly LGBTQ but lived at a time with different views on sexuality and gender and/or never publicly came out, or were privately closeted. The article is for those who are reported by posthumous sources as being LGBTQ (or a sexual and/or gender minority) [a] and head of a sovereign state. It is difficult to piece together how historical figures would have self-identified, and modern terms and frameworks around sex and gender can be very different from past cultures. [5] Additionally, the criminalization and stigmatization of gender and sexual diversity is common throughout history, which motivated many LGBTQ people to remain closeted, [6] [7] and excluded LGBTQ topics and people from historical records. [8] The list is sorted by year of death from oldest to newest.

Contents

Before Christ

After Christ, pre-1800

Busts of the Roman emperor Hadrian (left) and his partner Antinous. Marble Busts of Hadrian & Antinous, from Rome, Roman Empire, British Museum (16497688477).jpg
Busts of the Roman emperor Hadrian (left) and his partner Antinous.
Painting of King James I JamesIEngland.jpg
Painting of King James I

1800s

Photo of Ludwig II Ludwig II king of Bavaria cropped.jpg
Photo of Ludwig II

1900s

Crown princess Victoria of Baden with Max von Baden and crown prince Gustav in the 1890s.jpg
Crown princess Victoria of Baden with Max von Baden and crown prince Gustav in the 1890s.jpg
1890 photo of a young Max von Baden. He was listed as a known homosexual by law enforcement of the time [40]

See also

Notes

References

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  2. Miller, Sam J.; et al. (3 July 2018). Uncanny Magazine Issue 23: July/August 2018. Uncanny Magazine.
  3. Parent, Mike C.; et al. (June 2013). "Approaches to Research on Intersectionality: Perspectives on Gender, LGBT, and Racial/Ethnic Identities". Sex Roles. 68 (11–12): 639–645. doi:10.1007/s11199-013-0283-2. S2CID   144285021.
  4. Davis, Chloe O. (2024). The Queens' English: The Young Readers' LGBTQIA+ Dictionary of Lingo and Colloquial Phrases (1st ed.). New York: Simon & Schuster Books For Young Readers. p. 259. ISBN   978-1-6659-2686-7.
  5. Kelleher, Patrick (3 February 2023). "Why are we so obsessed with debating whether famous historical figures were LGBTQ+?". PinkNews .
  6. Armstrong, Catherine (4 February 2021). "LGBT+ history month: forgotten figures who challenged gender expression and identity centuries ago". The Conversation . Loughborough University.
  7. Streitmatter, Rodger. "The Ethics of Historical Outing". Beacon Press . Retrieved 7 March 2025.
  8. Brightbill, Gregory A. "America: The Great 'Straightening' of Our History". University of Maryland, Baltimore.
  9. Ogden, Daniel (2009). "Alexander's Sex Life". In Heckel, Alice; Heckel, Waldemar; Tritle, Lawrence A (eds.). Alexander the Great: A New History. Wiley-Blackwell. p. 204. ISBN   978-1-4051-3082-0.
  10. Thomas K. Hubbard, ed. (2003). Homosexuality in Greece and Rome: A Sourcebook of Basic Documents . University of California Press. p.  79. ISBN   978-0-520-23430-7.
  11. Sacks, David (1995). A Dictionary of the Ancient Greek World. Oxford University Press. pp. 15–16. ISBN   9780195112061.
  12. Hinsch, Bret, ed. (1992). Passions of the Cut Sleeve: The Male Homosexual Tradition in China. Berkeley: University of California Press. p. 53. ISBN   978-0-520-91265-6.
  13. Birley, A. R. (2000). "Hadrian to the Antonines". In Alan K. Bowman; Peter Garnsey; Dominic Rathbone (eds.). The Cambridge Ancient History: The High Empire, A.D. 70–192. Cambridge University Press. p. 144. ISBN   9780521263351.
  14. Danziger, Danny; Purcell, Nicholas (2006). Hadrian's Empire. Hodder & Stoughton Canada. p. 215. ISBN   0340833610.
  15. Speller, Elizabeth (2003). Following Hadrian: A Second-Century Journey through the Roman Empire. Oxford University Press. p. 282. ISBN   0195165764.
  16. Scott, Andrew G. (2018). Emperors and Usurpers: An Historical Commentary on Cassius Dio's Roman History. Oxford: Oxford University Press. pp. 129–130, 135–137. ISBN   978-01-90-87960-0.
  17. Zanghellini, Aleardo (2015). The Sexual Constitution of Political Authority. Abingdon-on-Thames: Routledge. p. 59. ISBN   978-1-134-06706-0.
  18. Campanile, Domitilla; Carlà-Uhink, Filippo; Facella, Margherita, eds. (2017). TransAntiquity: Cross-Dressing and Transgender Dynamics in the Ancient World. Abingdon-on-Thames: Routledge. p. 113. ISBN   978-1-317-37737-5.
  19. Betancourt, Roland. “Transgender Lives.” Byzantine Intersectionality: Sexuality, Gender, and Race in the Middle Ages, Princeton University Press, 2020, pp. 89–120. JSTOR, https://doi.org/10.2307/j.ctv104t9rq.7. Accessed 1 June 2025.
  20. Addley, Esther (24 November 2023). "Was Roman emperor Elagabalus really trans – and does it really matter?". The Guardian . Archived from the original on 13 February 2024. Retrieved 1 June 2025.
  21. Burga, Solcyre (22 November 2023). "U.K. Museum Says Roman Emperor Was a Trans Woman". Time. Archived from the original on 22 November 2023. Retrieved 22 November 2023.
  22. Uzunçarşılı, İsmail Hakkı (20 April 1968). "Sivas - Kayseri ve Dolaylarında Eretna Devleti" [State of Eretna in Sivas - Kayseri and Around]. Belleten (in Turkish). 32 (126). Turkish Historical Association: 182. ISSN   2791-6472 . Retrieved 28 October 2023.
  23. Crespo Mendoza, José Antonio (2015). Antes de la conquista: anécdotas, sucesos y relatos[Before the conquest: anecdotes, events and tales] (in Spanish). México, D.F.: Litográfica Ingramex. ISBN   978-607-00-8623-6.
  24. del Castillo, Bernal Díaz (1632). Historia verdadera de la conquista de la Nueva España [True history of the conquest of New Spain](PDF) (in Spanish). Madrid: Imprenta del Reyno. pp. 87, 89.
  25. "Filled with 'a number of male lovelies': the surprising court of King James VI and I". BBC. 27 September 2017. Retrieved 21 January 2024.
  26. Painter, Sean T. (2015). "Rex Fuit Elizabeth: Nunc Est Regina Jacobus (Elizabeth Was King Now James Is Queen)" (PDF). The Chico Historian. 25. California State University, Chico: 16.
  27. Perry, Curtis (2000). "The Politics of Access and Representations of the Sodomite King in Early Modern England". Renaissance Quarterly. 53 (4): 1054–1083. doi:10.2307/2901456. ISSN   0034-4338. JSTOR   2901456.
  28. Black, Jeremy, ed. (1997). Culture and Society in Britain, 1660-1800. Manchester: University of Manchester Press. p. 97. ISBN   978-0-7190-4947-7.
  29. Troost, Wout (2005). William III, The Stadholder-king: A Political Biography. Translated by J. C. Grayson. Ashgate Publishing. pp. 25–26. ISBN   0-7546-5071-5.
  30. Van der Zee, Henri; Van der Zee, Barbara (1973). William and Mary. Knopf. pp. 421–423. ISBN   0-3944-8092-9.
  31. Blanning, T. C. W. (2016). Frederick the Great: King of Prussia. New York: Random House. ISBN   978-1-4000-6812-8. OCLC   918986371.
  32. Jaeger, Toef (29 November 2013). "Koning Willem II gechanteerd wegens homoseksualiteit". NRC.
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  37. Holzschuh, Robert, Das Paradies verlorene Ludwigs II': Die persönliche Tragödie des Märchenkönigs, Eichborn 2001, passim
  38. Przybilla, Olaf 'Auf vermintem Terrain', Welt, 9.11. 2001
  39. 31. Antiquaria Peregrina, Antiquariatsmesse Ludwigsburg, 2017, p62
  40. 1 2 Storkmann, Klaus P. (2025). Homosexuality in the German Armed Forces: A History of Taboo and Tolerance (PDF). De Gruyter Studies in Military History, Vol. 6. Translated by Harley, Noah. De Gruyter. p. 19. ISBN   978-3-11-108269-1 via OAPEN Library.
  41. Machtan, Lothar (2013). Prinz Max von Baden der letzte Kanzler des Kaisers ; eine Biographie[Prince Max of Baden, The last Chancellor of the Emperors: A Biography] (in German) (1st ed.). Berlin: Suhrkamp Verlag. pp. 154, 233, 440–445. ISBN   978-3-518-42407-0. OCLC   862796444.
  42. Buse, Dieter K. (December 2014). "Book Review: 'Prinz Max von Baden. Der letzte Kanzler des Kaisers. Eine Biographie.'" . Central European History . 47 (4). Cambridge University Press: 870. doi:10.1017/S0008938914002052. ISSN   0008-9389. JSTOR   43965098.
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  46. Mark Steyn (17 November 2003). "Zimbabwe's Banana left legacy of disgrace". The Irish Times . Archived from the original on 22 December 2015. Retrieved 10 August 2016.
  47. Essays in Honor of Bernth Lindfors, Volume 2, Barbara Harlow, Africa World Press, 2002, page 210
  48. Zim's presidential rape scandal, Mail and Guardian, 28 February 1997
  49. Taylor, Rebecca. 'They say that power corrupts – and it does'. The Guardian. 23 January 2002.
  50. McNeil Jr, Donald G. (27 November 1998). "Zimbabwe's Ex-President Convicted of Sodomy". The New York Times (Archives). Retrieved 8 July 2007.