# Who is the most famous homosexual? **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [July 14, 2009, 6:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-is-the-most-famous-homosexual/503009 "2009-07-14T18:05:15Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 3
**Author:** ![Lamia](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/8e7dd6/32.png) [@Lamia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lamia)\ **Post date:** [July 14, 2009, 11:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-is-the-most-famous-homosexual/503009/41 "2009-07-14T23:50:09Z")
> [@Dr.Drake](#): > > By “homosexual,” are you specifically excluding bisexuals? That would be difficult for interpreting historical figures who were silent on their orientation. Is there evidence that Leonardo da Vinci and Sappho were never in any sort of heterosexual relationship? Sappho was married (to a man), but a woman of her time and place was very likely to be married whether she liked it or not. I don’t think we can infer anything about her sexual orientation from the fact that she was in a heterosexual marriage. > [@bordelond](#): > > Is this true? Sir Elton’s profile in places such as Japan and Brazil is lower than Mick/David/Freddie’s? Surely Elton John has performed numerous times in scores of non-English speaking countries? Or hasn’t he? I lived in Japan 4-5 years ago, and Queen was very popular then – probably more popular than in the US at the same time. I don’t remember ever hearing anyone even mention Elton John, but I often saw Queen CDs, books, posters, etc., for sale, and knew teens with Queen ringtones on their cellphones. The Rolling Stones are fairly well-known in Japan (although not to the extent that they are in the US or UK), but David Bowie seemed to be mostly unknown. ---
**Author:** ![Chronos](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chronos/32/134_2.png) [@Chronos](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chronos)\ **Post date:** [July 15, 2009, 12:03am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-is-the-most-famous-homosexual/503009/42 "2009-07-15T00:03:49Z")
Not exactly comparable, since the societal norms around sexuality were different, but how about Julius Caesar? Male-on-male sex was relatively mainstream at the time, but the socially-superior man (older or wealthier) was expected to “pitch”, and Caesar had a reputation for preferring to “catch”. ---
**Author:** ![AppallingGael](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/b9bd4f/32.png) [@AppallingGael](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/AppallingGael)\ **Post date:** [July 15, 2009, 12:31am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-is-the-most-famous-homosexual/503009/43 "2009-07-15T00:31:26Z")
Continuing the Leonardo/Da Vinci/da Vinci hijack, I read Vasari’s \*Lives of the Artists \*recently, and it seems that “Vinci” was treated as a surname even at the time for the Mona Lisa guy (based on various tributes that were quoted in Latin, even though the book I read was an English translation). My vote for famous gay famous for being gay with some shown staying power would be Oscar Wilde. Sorry for my anglophone bias. ---
**Author:** ![Lightray](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lightray/32/391_2.png) [@Lightray](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lightray)\ **Post date:** [July 15, 2009, 12:41am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-is-the-most-famous-homosexual/503009/44 "2009-07-15T00:41:53Z")
> [@Skald\_the\_Rhymer](#): > > If you’re referring to an Eddic dwarf, I’m dubious. The being in Norse myth who was not 100% heterosexual was Loki. And, um, the master builder’s horse. Also, Odin. According to Loki, in some sagas. But I’ll agree with **Curtis LeMay** and say: Alexander the Great. Famously known to have had male lover(s)… and pretty much the whole world knew it. ---
**Author:** ![Tamerlane](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tamerlane/32/7602_2.png) [@Tamerlane](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tamerlane)\ **Post date:** [July 15, 2009, 12:53am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-is-the-most-famous-homosexual/503009/45 "2009-07-15T00:53:06Z")
> [@Curtis LeMay](#): > > Alexander the Great. > [@Lightray](#): > > But I’ll agree with **Curtis LeMay** and say: Alexander the Great. Famously known to have had male lover(s)… and pretty much the whole world knew it. Depends how closely you want to adhere to the “no speculation” rule of the OP and also whether you are tolerant of the bisexual argument. Alexander almost certainly had a sexual relationship with Hephaestion, but it is VERY suggestive hints only, not _quite_ plain text. Meanwhile even if you ignore his official marriages as requirements of state, he also almost certainly had at least one affair with an older woman named Barsine, who bore his bastard son Herakles. This also points to the difficulty of using modern terms to define individuals from very different cultural milieus. However the above caveats being accepted, Alexander would probably win. Except that I have no idea how widespread the general beliefs about his likely sexual proclvities are, outside of the west. ---
**Author:** ![Mahaloth](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mahaloth/32/1079_2.png) [@Mahaloth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mahaloth)\ **Post date:** [July 15, 2009, 3:33am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-is-the-most-famous-homosexual/503009/46 "2009-07-15T03:33:48Z")
> [@Busy\_Scissors](#): > > Gandalf Did you mean Dumbledore? ---
**Author:** ![Rubystreak](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/e5b9ba/32.png) [@Rubystreak](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rubystreak)\ **Post date:** [July 15, 2009, 3:42am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-is-the-most-famous-homosexual/503009/47 "2009-07-15T03:42:33Z")
What about Achilles? He swung both ways, but he was definitely in a relationship with Patrocles. ---
**Author:** ![Markxxx](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/5daacb/32.png) [@Markxxx](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Markxxx)\ **Post date:** [July 15, 2009, 4:41am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-is-the-most-famous-homosexual/503009/48 "2009-07-15T04:41:15Z")
Darren Hayes, you know the guy from Savage Garden. Of course if I have to tell you who he is, he can’t be that famous. How about Harvey Levin the guy who hosts TMZ, with their scoop of Michael Jackson’s death, he got a lot of publicity world wide ---
**Author:** ![Darryl\_Lict](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/7cd45c/32.png) [@Darryl\_Lict](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Darryl_Lict)\ **Post date:** [July 15, 2009, 4:55am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-is-the-most-famous-homosexual/503009/49 "2009-07-15T04:55:19Z")
I’m going with Michelangelo, Oscar Wilde, and my nerd call, Alan Turing. Man, Alan and Oscar were fucked over, big time. ---
**Author:** ![Diogenes\_the\_Cynic](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/e99b99/32.png) [@Diogenes\_the\_Cynic](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Diogenes_the_Cynic)\ **Post date:** [July 15, 2009, 5:36am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-is-the-most-famous-homosexual/503009/50 "2009-07-15T05:36:50Z")
> [@tdn](#): > > Josh Mostel or Rik Mayall? > > The depiction in the miniseries Jesus was pretty flaming. Isn’t there something in either the Bible or historical text that says we was some sort of degenerate? I have a vague recollection of reading something on this board about that. I think you first have to clarify which Herod you’re talking about. There were several of them. The only real “King Herod” was Herod the Great, who was the king the Gospel of Matthew accuses of killing all the babies to try to get Jesus. Herod the Great was accused of a great many things, but, as far as I know, homosexuality wasn’t one of them. His reputation was just the opposite, in fact. He was a pussy hound. When Herod the Great died, his kingdom (which conisted of pretty much all of Palestine) was divided up intp three “tetrarchies” between his three sons (called "tertrachs rather than kings). Judea (which contained Jerusalem) was given to a son named Archilaus, a son named Philip got the region east of the Jordan, and Galilee in the north (which contained Nazareth and the Sea of Galilee, and was Jesus’ home state) was given to a son named Herod Antipas. Herod Antipas is the Herod who cut off John the Baptist’s head, and sings “So you are the Christ” in JCS. Archilaus was such a horrible ruler, even by Herodian standards, that Rome removed him from power and annexed Judea as part of the Syrian province in 6 CE. That’s what put Judea under the authority of the Syrian Governor, Quirinius (who imposed the census referred to in Luke), and eventually Pontius Pilate. The Gospels say that Pilate tried to pass Jesus off to Antipas (who happened to be in Jerusalem for Passover) because Jesus was presumptively Antipas’ subject, being from Galilee, but that Antipas only wanted to see Jesus do magic tricks, got bored when Jesus wouldn’t perform, decided he was a harmless nut and sent him back to Pilate. Antipas was not reputed to be gay either (his major controversy was divorcing his first wife to marry his niece – something the Gospels claim John the Baptist was critical of, and that his criticism was the reason for his death), but Mel Gobson portrayed him as somewhat effeminate in _The Passion of the Christ_, so maybe that’s where you got the idea. I guess that’s a lot of information just to say the Herods weren’t gay. My answer to the OP is that Alexander the Great is probably the most famous gay man who ever lived, and I can’t think of any more famous than Elton John who is currently living. I guess Jodie Foster, Rosie O’Donnell and Ellen Degeneres are at the top of the list for women. ---
**Author:** ![Yllaria](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/yllaria/32/3452_2.png) [@Yllaria](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Yllaria)\ **Post date:** [July 15, 2009, 5:49am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-is-the-most-famous-homosexual/503009/51 "2009-07-15T05:49:01Z")
[ignore] ---
**Author:** ![Other\_Dreams](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/f4b2a3/32.png) [@Other\_Dreams](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Other_Dreams)\ **Post date:** [July 15, 2009, 5:49am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-is-the-most-famous-homosexual/503009/52 "2009-07-15T05:49:45Z")
> [@Hippy\_Hollow](#): > > Gay Book of Lists :dubious: > [@Electric\_Warrior](#): > > he was second place on American Idol and made waves for potentially being the first gay American Idol winner. Better than a gay president! :rolleyes: ---
**Author:** ![Freudian\_Slit](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/5daacb/32.png) [@Freudian\_Slit](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Freudian_Slit)\ **Post date:** [July 15, 2009, 5:52am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-is-the-most-famous-homosexual/503009/53 "2009-07-15T05:52:15Z")
> [@Other\_Dreams](#): > > :dubious: > > Better than a gay president! :rolleyes: Have we actually had one? Aside from that whole Lincoln sleeping in the same bed as a guy supposedly? ---
**Author:** ![Other\_Dreams](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/f4b2a3/32.png) [@Other\_Dreams](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Other_Dreams)\ **Post date:** [July 15, 2009, 5:54am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-is-the-most-famous-homosexual/503009/54 "2009-07-15T05:54:03Z")
> [@Freudian\_Slit](#): > > Have we actually had one? Aside from that whole Lincoln sleeping in the same bed as a guy supposedly? I fail at sarcasm, apparently. I just find the idea of someone being proud because someone belonging to their minority won a popular contest…silly. What a mouthful. ---
**Author:** ![chowder](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/977dab/32.png) [@chowder](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/chowder)\ **Post date:** [July 15, 2009, 6:37am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-is-the-most-famous-homosexual/503009/55 "2009-07-15T06:37:51Z")
Gary Glitter? More infamous than famous ---
**Author:** ![Gatopescado](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/gatopescado/32/5711_2.png) [@Gatopescado](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gatopescado)\ **Post date:** [July 15, 2009, 6:44am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-is-the-most-famous-homosexual/503009/56 "2009-07-15T06:44:07Z")
Hitler. ---
**Author:** ![bengangmo](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/50afbb/32.png) [@bengangmo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bengangmo)\ **Post date:** [July 15, 2009, 6:59am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-is-the-most-famous-homosexual/503009/57 "2009-07-15T06:59:35Z")
My first thought was Elton, but on reflection I would think that Freddy is more famous… ---
**Author:** ![SmashTheState](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/e36b37/32.png) [@SmashTheState](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SmashTheState)\ **Post date:** [July 15, 2009, 7:17am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-is-the-most-famous-homosexual/503009/58 "2009-07-15T07:17:23Z")
[Paul](http://www.beliefnet.com/Faiths/Christianity/2004/04/Was-The-Apostle-Paul-Gay.aspx). ---
**Author:** ![DMark](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/e68b1a/32.png) [@DMark](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DMark)\ **Post date:** [July 15, 2009, 7:28am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-is-the-most-famous-homosexual/503009/59 "2009-07-15T07:28:41Z")
It is not an easy question. I think in each country, there is probably some famous homosexual that is very popular on television today: Here in the US, you have the very popular Ellen Show. In UK you have Graham Norton. In Germany there is a guy whose name escapes me, but he is also well known on television there, but the Mayor of Berlin is also openly Gay and well-known throughout Germany. As far as internationally known, I think DaVinci/da Vinci/Da Vinci or Oscar Wilde would be high on the list in scholastic circles and Elton for pop culture. However, in international Gay communities, they would know of Jeff Stryker and most international Lesbians would know of Melissa Ethridge and k.d. lang. ---
**Author:** ![Electric\_Warrior](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/ee7513/32.png) [@Electric\_Warrior](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Electric_Warrior)\ **Post date:** [July 15, 2009, 11:14am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-is-the-most-famous-homosexual/503009/60 "2009-07-15T11:14:14Z")
> [@chowder](#): > > Gary Glitter? > > More infamous than famous Not gay. He was married to a woman and had children with her. He was also a pedophile. I really think that being a child molester and being homosexual shouldn’t be put in the same category. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-is-the-most-famous-homosexual/503009.md?page=2) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-is-the-most-famous-homosexual/503009.md?page=4)