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LGBT Research
Many thanks to all of you who replied to my post, I really do appreciate the time and thought you have all put in to your replies. I take on board everything you collectively say, and yes, it is very difficult to assess someone's sexuality if they were cautious about revealing too much, maybe their relatives were ashamed of them and therefore kept talk of them to a minimum, or there is scanty evidence in records such as the census to go on. But if you think about it, 50 years ago finding out about the lives of ordinary women such as factory workers or domestic servants was also perceived as difficult or unimportant as "History" as a discipline was male centred in many ways. So it is now with LGBT history; it is a relatively new discipline and there is still much work to be done and if we keep searching, more information will come to light.
Court records, newspaper reports and other "Public Domain" resources are of course one excellent source of information and the individuals mentioned in them can be traced back to their relatives and put in a familial context. However, there are undoubtedly many LGBT people in family trees who have yet to be uncovered and oral history is a good way of doing so. I agree that one has to distinguish between "gossip" and genuine information, but that is one of the skills of an oral historian. I am sure all of you will have talked to older friends and relatives about their lives and so will be aware of the benefits and pitfalls of doing so.
I think it is highly likely that out of all the millions of entries in census returns, some same sex couples would have felt courageous enough to reveal their relationships to a degree, and of course due to the law, lesbians sometimes had a much easier time of it than gay men. As in every group of people, and LGBT people are no exception, some would be able to cope with being more forthcoming about themselves than others. Throughout history, for instance, lesbians have cross dressed, passed as men, and/or lived openly and largely peaceably with their women partners, whilst others could only pursue their love affairs with women from the relative safety of a "straight" marriage. Incidentally, just a gentle correction - there is no documentary proof that Queen Victoria stated she could not believe that two women would have a sexual relationship and therefore the matter did not require legislation. It's an amusing thought and would fit her character nicely!... but sadly the moment may not actually have happened.
Yes, many LGBT people were married in the past and therefore contributed to family trees in that they had children. My lesbian great grandmother married at 26, had nine children and ran a number of businesses. She had no choice in 1880 but to marry, the pressures on most women then to do so would be too great to fight, and the same is true of gay men. This does not mean that they didn't still feel the pull of their sexuality. It was only when my g-grandmother was older that she felt able to dress as she wanted to ( a blue pinstripe suit in her case!) and go out socialising with her women friends. As I sure you are aware, many thousands of LGBT people even today are married, raising families and struggling with their feelings at the same time.
Thank you all once again for your contributions. "Queer" family history is a very challenging and also exciting facet of genealogy and I am very much looking forward to building on my research so far. Kind Regards, Gil
Many thanks to all of you who replied to my post, I really do appreciate the time and thought you have all put in to your replies. I take on board everything you collectively say, and yes, it is very difficult to assess someone's sexuality if they were cautious about revealing too much, maybe their relatives were ashamed of them and therefore kept talk of them to a minimum, or there is scanty evidence in records such as the census to go on. But if you think about it, 50 years ago finding out about the lives of ordinary women such as factory workers or domestic servants was also perceived as difficult or unimportant as "History" as a discipline was male centred in many ways. So it is now with LGBT history; it is a relatively new discipline and there is still much work to be done and if we keep searching, more information will come to light.
Court records, newspaper reports and other "Public Domain" resources are of course one excellent source of information and the individuals mentioned in them can be traced back to their relatives and put in a familial context. However, there are undoubtedly many LGBT people in family trees who have yet to be uncovered and oral history is a good way of doing so. I agree that one has to distinguish between "gossip" and genuine information, but that is one of the skills of an oral historian. I am sure all of you will have talked to older friends and relatives about their lives and so will be aware of the benefits and pitfalls of doing so.
I think it is highly likely that out of all the millions of entries in census returns, some same sex couples would have felt courageous enough to reveal their relationships to a degree, and of course due to the law, lesbians sometimes had a much easier time of it than gay men. As in every group of people, and LGBT people are no exception, some would be able to cope with being more forthcoming about themselves than others. Throughout history, for instance, lesbians have cross dressed, passed as men, and/or lived openly and largely peaceably with their women partners, whilst others could only pursue their love affairs with women from the relative safety of a "straight" marriage. Incidentally, just a gentle correction - there is no documentary proof that Queen Victoria stated she could not believe that two women would have a sexual relationship and therefore the matter did not require legislation. It's an amusing thought and would fit her character nicely!... but sadly the moment may not actually have happened.
Yes, many LGBT people were married in the past and therefore contributed to family trees in that they had children. My lesbian great grandmother married at 26, had nine children and ran a number of businesses. She had no choice in 1880 but to marry, the pressures on most women then to do so would be too great to fight, and the same is true of gay men. This does not mean that they didn't still feel the pull of their sexuality. It was only when my g-grandmother was older that she felt able to dress as she wanted to ( a blue pinstripe suit in her case!) and go out socialising with her women friends. As I sure you are aware, many thousands of LGBT people even today are married, raising families and struggling with their feelings at the same time.
Thank you all once again for your contributions. "Queer" family history is a very challenging and also exciting facet of genealogy and I am very much looking forward to building on my research so far. Kind Regards, Gil
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