Is ther solid evidence that T.E. Lawerence was gay? Did he tell people he was gay? Or did people just assume he must be gay?
This article leads one to believe that Lawrence just wasn’t interested in the whole idea of sex.
http://www.firstworldwar.com/features/telawrence.htm
He was tortured and raped by Ottoman Turks in 1916 (you know the scene with Jose Ferrer …)
I’d heard that he was just Asexual.
That (asexuality) was also the conclusion Richard Schenkman came to in his “Legends, Lies, and Cherished Myths of World History.”
Well, his sleeping with young Arab boys is what gave rise to that whole “gay” rumor. No, I have no cite.
I read a large biography on him once that contained excerpts from his diary. Apparently he had a phobia of physical contact - the idea of a handshake even repulsed him. There are people out there who suffer from this kind of thing. I’m not sure what the name of it is, though. So if this was true, he might not have been attracted to ANYone…maybe we’ll never know…
Fascinating article (with nasty echoes of what’s going on now, if the rumours about what’s in the video Rummy mentioned are true)
My dad Meet Lawrence briefly when he was transferred back to the RAF as an aircraftsman (not called Lawrence BTW), they shared an interest in motorbikes but seemingly differed on girls. Apparently there was only one girl Lawrence would let ride with him on his bike because she was the only one who didn’t need to hold him tightly round the waist.
Can’t remember Dad’s opinion on Lawrence’s actual gayness (gaiety?) clearly; think it was that he was asexual - frightened of getting too close to anyone, male or female. But I do remember him using the phrase “Barking mad!” about him.
I’ll have to question dad a bit more closely when we next talk.
I’m guessing you’re thinking of the film!
(Lawrence didn’t look much like O’Toole according to dad)