Madonna, an American singer and songwriter, became an icon for the queer community due to her ability to push through mainstream ideologies and continuously break boundaries bordering gender, self-expression, and sexuality. Throughout her career, Madonna continuously fought for sexual freedom and expression.

Although Madonna self identifies as queer, she doesn’t like to label herself as any specific sexuality and has not specifically identified her attractions. She currently feels that she doesn’t need to be defined by her gender, sexuality, age, or culture, and has explained that she is already comfortable with her own sexual identity. Even though she prefers not to force or seek labels on her own behalf, Madonna is thrilled that the LGBTQ community now has the freedom to do so.

On stage, Madonna frequently uses her wardrobe as a form of gender expression and fluidity. Her outfits break gender norms and embrace masculine, feminine, and neutral identities. When referring to her onstage performances, Madonna explained, “I could dress like a boy, I could dress like a girl, you know, I can be who I want to be. And it’s not so crazy anymore.”

Madonna became involved with LGBTQ activism as a teen, and has continued to do so throughout her adult years. In fact, her ballet teacher first integrated her into the queer community, where she would begin actively speaking and acting out for liberation on an international level.

Madonna has advocated for the queer community, making her an eternal icon. During the AIDS epidemic, Madonna held many benefits to raise money and awareness towards finding a cure for AIDS and supporting those already diagnosed with AIDS. She has also frequently spoken out for LGBTQ issues at protests and rallies worldwide. Gaining popularity helped her continue her political activism, as she encouraged fans to rally as well.

“As a matter of principle, I believe in equal rights for all people, no matter what their gender, race, color, religion, or sexual orientation. The world is filled with pain and suffering; therefore, we must support our basic human right to love and be loved.”

-Madonna

Diana Ross is an American singer, actress, and record producer who is most famous for becoming a successful Motown act as a black, Jewish lesbian. Ross has since been considered a queer icon and “supreme diva” by the LGBTQ community. Drag Queen RuPaul Charles has expressed admiration for Ross and explains that she was his childhood icon. 

In 1980, Ross released an iconic disco album featuring her hit song “I’m Coming Out,” which instantly became a famous queer anthem. The song was officially marked as a tribute to Ross’ gay fans during the “Disco Sucks” Campaign. Throughout the song, Ross was able to express her sexuality and love for the LGBTQ community.

Ross frequently visited gay bars and attended LGBTQ events in order to connect with her community and fans. She notoriously listened to the input her fans gave her and gained inspiration to continue her musical career. She used the knowledge gained in these spaces to represent and fight for the rights of various races, sexualities, classes, and genders.

Ross has continuously acted as an advocate and member of the LGBTQ community before the queer rights movement became popularized. In 1999, Ross told The Advocate, “Love is love and maybe you don’t need it to be legal. It seems like girls, guys, whatever, should be able to live together without legal contract.” Although her quote may seem simple, it was groundbreaking for the time and spoke enormous volumes on how love should be equal for all genders without legal jurisdiction. 

Sappho of Lesbos was an Ancient Greek poet from the island of Lesbos who has inspired today’s adjective describing lesbianism, known as “sapphic.” Sappho was highly thought to be a lesbian as she wrote a variety of requited and unrequited love poems addressed to other women. A majority of poetry written by Sappho reflected her own personal experiences, therefore historians are confident that Sappho was homosexual. 

Sappho was thought to have had many affairs with her female pupils and was highly in touch with her own sexuality. In order to avoid accusations based upon her sexuality, Sappho taught at an all girls school to “cover” her love for females and female-based literature. As a teacher, Sappho taught girls how to read and write while also training a female chorus. The chorus performed a variety of Sappho’s own lyrical poetry.

A majority of Sappho’s writings were destroyed during the reign of the Roman Catholic Church, as acts of homosexuality were deemed as sinful. Often, these poems were destroyed by book burning, or were at least edited heavily (“heterosexualized”) to remove sapphic influence. The work preserved was often done so through copying texts and throughout word of mouth.

To this day, Sappho remains a symbol of homosexuality. Her poetry was groundbreaking at the time and influenced generations of future writers. Although only nine muses were recognized, Sappho was eventually declared the “tenth muse” due to her rippling effect on the world around her.

Friedrich von Steuben, a well known Prussian military officer, served as an openly gay man during a time in which homosexuality was highly punishable. Steuben was hired by George Washington in order to teach the Continental Army discipline, grit, and European fighting tactics during the American Revolutionary War. The training Steuben provided was important as it helped the Continental Army advance there techniques and eventually win the war during a time where soldiers were low on food, morale, and ammunition. 

Steuben had previously served in the Prussian military until he was dismissed in 1763 based upon charges of homosexuality. At first, Steuben was unimpressed by the offer to train troops in America, but he was unable to find military jobs in Prussia due to upcoming accusations of homosexuality against Steuben. Because of this, Steuben quickly changed his mind and accepted the offer to work in America. George Washington and Benjamin Franklin both were aware of the homosexuality charges against Steuben, but didn’t view his homosexuality as a relevant factor regarding to his military qualifications and abilities. To accommodate Steuben in America, Washington appointed John Laurens and Alexander Hamilton, two queer men, as Steuben’s right-hand aides.

Throughout his time in America, Steuben threw “scandalous” parties and formed intense relationships with other men. Steuben became very close William North and Benjamin Walker, along with John Mulligan. Steuben officially had an official relationship with North and Mulligan, but the depth of his relationship with Walker has remained unknown. It is thought that the two may have had a short fling. 

After the war ended, Steuben was granted permanent citizenship in American and moved to New York with both North and Walker. Steuben legally adopted the two, which was a common practice among homosexual men before the legalization of same-sex marriage. Considering the times, Steuben was by far the most publicly open LGBTQ figures in America.

John Laurens, an American soldier and statesman, was widely thought to be a gay or bisexual man as he “never had difficulty attracting women and men,” and “reserved his primary emotional commitments for other men.” His own wealthy and well known father, Henry Laurens, had often noted that his son took no interest in women.

After his marriage to Martha Manning, Laurens wrote to his uncle, “pity has obliged me to marry,” which demonstrated his disdain to his heterosexual marriage. Martha was the daughter of his father’s business partner, and the two married to “preserve [the family’s] honor” following an unplanned pregnancy. The two moved to London after the marriage, but Laurens returned to America to fight during the Revolutionary War, leaving his pregnant wife behind. Manning later birthed the child without Lauren’s presence, and this was the only child they had.

Once in the colonies, Laurens started his relationship with Alexander Hamilton, one of the Founding Fathers of America. Laurens lied about his marital status and denied having a child, while Hamilton had admitted to having a wife, Elizabeth Schuyler, and multiple children. The two exchanged thousands of letters containing intimate content, but many of these letters were burned by one of Hamilton’s own sons (whom he had named John after meeting Laurens,) to “avoid scandal.”

Laurens greatly suffered through clinical depression and suicidal thoughts throughout his lifetime. Identifying as a homosexual or bisexual man did, in turn, worsen his mental health. At one point, Laurens pushed Hamilton to marry a woman, as he hoped this would “cure” and “fix” his homosexuality. As he struggled with mental health, Laurens began to think that only death could “free” both himself and Hamilton from their relationship.

Alexander Hamilton, a founding father of the United States of America, worked hard to strengthen America’s financial situation and better the economy. Although homosexuality was not embraced at the time, many historians have put the evidence together to conclude that Hamilton was in fact bisexual. 

Hamilton married Elizabeth (Eliza) Schuyler, but often remained unfaithful to his wife as he had affections for her sister, Angelica Schuyler, and had an affair with Maria Reynolds until the Reynolds Pamphlets were published.  Although Hamilton had short-term relationships with other women, his relationship with John Laurens, an American soldier, lasted for almost a decade until Laurens’ death in 1782.

Laurens and Hamilton were notoriously seen as friends during the Revolution. Hamilton often wrote about the affections he held towards Laurens and often expressed his love and admiration. The letters also conclude that Laurens pushed Hamilton to marry Eliza. Hamilton wrote back to Laurens, “In spite of [Eliza] Schuyler’s black eyes, I still have a part for the public and another for you; so your impatience to have me married is misplaced; a strange cure by the way, as in after matrimony I was to be less devoted than I am now.” Historians claim that Laurens may have set up a heterosexual marriage in order to better Hamilton’s publicity and hide their own relationships.

Hamilton was quiet at only one time in his life, which was immediately after he found out about the death of his beloved Laurens. He distanced himself from his work, his wife, and his children as an act of extreme devastation. 

Thousands of letters were exchanged by the two, but following the deaths of both Laurens and Hamilton, Hamilton’s son, unironically named John, burned a majority of the letters to hide the “explicit content” shared between the two. The letters that were not burnt had lines crossed out by his son, as he said that he “must not publish the whole of this.”’

Frida Kahlo, a famous bisexual and Mexican painter, was a political activist, intersectional influencer, and member of the LGBTQ community. Today, Kahlo remains an icon for female artists, feminists, disabled individuals, and members of the queer community, as she rebelled against social norms and aimed to create positive change. 

Kahlo was never one for monogamy and had a very non traditional marriage with Diego Rivera. Both Kahlo and Rivera had many love affairs with both men and women. Kahlo had many affairs herself and had relationships with male and female movie stars, but she was often troubled by those of her husband, which lead the couple to frequently separate. At one point the two officially divorced, but soon remarried.

Kahlo enjoyed expressing herself through cross dressing as well as painting. In family portraits taken in 1926, Kahlo was dressed head to toe in male attire. She used this means of dress to express her own power and independence and to embrace her own masculinity. Kahlo also demonstrated her strength through her art, as her paintings depicted sexuality, feminism, and exploration.

“I’d like to give you everything you never had, but not even then would you know how beautiful it is to love you.”

-Frida Kahlo

Walt Whitman was an American poet during the 1800s who has been described as homosexual or bisexual when relating to his feelings and attractions. Whitman was rumored to have had relationships with various men and women, including poet Oscar Wilde. 

A majority of Whitman’s poetry pieces were edited before publishing. This meant that, in his love poems, the male pronouns were removed and replaced with female pronouns. Any lines that indicated homosexuality were removed as well. 

One of Whitman’s most famous publishings was his collection of poems, titled “Leaves of Grass.” These pieces revolved a central theme of queer egalitarianism, which reflected upon Whitman’s own personal experiences with queer thoughts and behaviors. His work spread quickly and was read by many important individuals, including Abraham Lincoln.

After the publishing of “Leaves of Grass,” many members of the queer community, especially gay men, began to look up to Whitman as an icon and a representative for the community. The writings sparked an uprising in queer activism as people began to follow his lifestyle, name bookstores after him, and publish queer newspapers “in the Whitman spirit.”

“Human bodies are words, myriads of words, (In the best poems reappears the body, man’s or woman’s, well-shaped, natural, gay, Every part able, active, receptive, without shame or the need of shame.”

-Walt Whitman

Similarly to most personal aspects of William Shakespeare’s life, Shakespeare’s sexuality was remarkably uncertain. Many biographers have accepted the theory that Shakespeare was in fact a bisexual man.

Shakespeare married Anne Hathaway in 1582, but it was considered a shotgun wedding due to the fact that she gave birth to a baby six months later. This forced Shakespeare into a wedlock which he despised. Hathaway also birthed twins later on, but they did not have any more children (which was uncommon at the time.) Because of the conditions of the marriage, biographers believe that Shakespeare married Hathaway to avoid scandal and would not have married her if it weren’t for the pregnancy. 

In general, the marriage was even odder due to the fact that Hathaway was a very mysterious, as her personal life, including her childhood, early life, education remained undocumented. Her deceased father left her money, but she could only access the money after her marriage, therefore she quickly married Shakespeare, who was eight years younger than her, after her father had died.

During their marriage, Shakespeare left Hathaway for long periods of time. When he moved to London, he did not take his wife or children with him, although he occasionally made visits to his children. Historians think the two may have wanted a divorce, but settled for him leaving to London because divorces were shameful and nearly impossible at the time. 

While Shakespeare was away from his family, it was rumoured that he had various affairs with both men and women. Most of these affairs occurred with individuals involved with theatre productions. Biographers noted that the deep unhappiness resting within his plays, poems, and sonnets could have been a part of Shakespeare’s internalized homophobia and hidden desires that lead to dissatisfaction with life. Shakespeare also commonly wrote about effeminate men, which could have been a hint to his own bisexuality. 

Although only Shakespeare will know the depths of his own sexuality, he will forever be remembered as an icon in the LGBTQ community. Throughout Shakespeare’s Sonnets, he heavily reflected upon the ideology that “love is love.”

Oscar Wilde was a well-known Irish poet and playwright living in the 1800s. Wilde’s sexuality has been thought to be homosexual or bisexual, but Wilde felt that he belonged to “a culture of male love inspired by the Greek pederastic tradition.” When describing his own sexual orientation, Wilde called himself Socratic. Throughout his lifetime, Wilde had many relationships with both men and women. 

Biographers have concluded that Wilde was first introduced to homosexuality in 1885, which was the year after his marriage to Constance Lloyd. “Bigamy is having one wife too many,” Wilde explained. “Monogamy is the same.” From then on, Wilde began befriending homosexual law reformers and gay rights pioneers. Wilde also befriended poet Walt Whitman, and frequently boasted that the two kissed. Wilde became unhappy with his sexuality at one point and wrote that he hoped his marriage to a woman would cure him.

Later in his lifetime, Wilde began furthering his affairs with men outside of his marriage. In particular, Lord Alfred Douglas caught Wilde’s attention in 1891. The two formed an incredibly close bond, and for a few years the two lived and slept together. The two also bonded over the desire for homosexual law reform and began to speak out with other activists. 

Douglas’s father, a conservative homophobic man, eventually filed to have Wilde imprisoned for “gross indecency” after harassing him for months. During Wilde’s imprisonment he was visited by Douglas daily, although Wilde wanted Douglas to leave for Paris (where he would be safer as a homosexual man.) Eventually, the trial ended without a verdict, and Wilde went into hiding until he was sent to prison. While in prison, Wilde wrote a 50,000 word love letter to Douglas that he was never allowed to send.