Queer as Fact

We had an amazing time this week unpacking the queer themes of this novel - check out our podcast if you want to hear our thoughts! queerasfact.podbean.com/e/the-left-h...

"It is yin and yang. Light is the left hand of darkness ... Light, dark. Fear, courage. Cold, warmth. Female, male. It is yourself, Therem. Both and one. A shadow on snow."
Genly Ai, 'The Left Hand of Darkness' by Ursula K. Le Guin

NEW PODCAST EPISODE. The Left Hand of Darkness (1969). A cover of the novel featuring a galaxy vista and two people walking in the snow, shaped to resemble a yin-yang symbol. The Queer as Fact logo is at the bottom of the image.

New Episode! Today we discuss Ursula K. Le Guin's incredible 1969 science fiction novel, The Left Hand of Darkness.

Join us to hear about ambisexual beings who defy gender norms, the sexist man who comes to love them and a sexually charged journey across a glacier.

www.podbean.com/ew/pb-7h6pk-...

We hope you're excited for tomorrow's episode on Ursula K. Le Guin's science fiction novel The Left Hand of Darkness - I mean we hope you're excited for every episode we put out but this one is over TWO HOURS (2nd in length only to Robespierre!) so brace yourself.

Some relevant emojis:

👽🏳️‍⚧️🏳️‍🌈❄️😭

In 1999 Ruth Ellis becomes known as the USA’s oldest out lesbian, as she approaches her 100th birthday. Born in 1899, Ruth had been out since she was a teenager in the 1910s.
queerasfact.podbean.com/e/ruth-ellis/

Having met and fallen in love in Ravensbrück concentration camp during WWII, Nadine Hwang and Nellie Mousset-Vos leave Europe behind in the late 1940s to start a new life in Caracas, Venezuela, living together for over 20 years.
queerasfact.podbean.com/e/nadine-hwa...

In the early 20th century, Australian poet Lesbia Harford writes: “Would that I were Sappho, | Greece my land, not this! | There the noblest women, | When they loved, would kiss.”
queerasfact.podbean.com/e/lesbia-har...

From the 18th to the early 20th century groups of women in Guangdong, China, eschew heterosexual marriage in favour of forming Golden Orchid Societies, sisterhoods which focus on mutual social and financial support, and can include same-gender marriages.
queerasfact.podbean.com/e/golden-orc...

In the 17th century, Mexican nun Sor Juana Inés de la Cruz writes love poetry to other women, including one which reads “Your being a woman … cannot pose the slightest hindrance to my love, for you know that our souls have no gender…”
queerasfact.podbean.com/e/sor-juana-...

The Encyclopedia of Pleasure, written in 10th century Baghdad, tells the story of Hind and al-Zarqa', said to have been the first women to have lesbian sex. Their love is described as a model for poets.
queerasfact.podbean.com/e/queer-wome...

In 203 CE, Saints Felicity and Perpetua are martyred side-by-side. They go on to become a symbol for queer Christians, known as the patron saints of same-sex couples.
queerasfact.podbean.com/e/saints-fel...

In the 1st century CE, two Roman women, Fonteia Eleusis and Fonteia Helena, are buried together. Their tombstone shows them grasping their right hands, a traditional symbol of marriage.
queerasfact.podbean.com/e/relationsh...

Happy #InternationalLesbianDay to all the lesbians out there! Hope you're having a wonderful day. Here's a thread of a few historic lesbian stories (not necessarily stories about lesbians, but definitely stories that have a place in the history of wlw) to brighten your day. #lesbianhistory

Stack of 1970s Star Trek books featuring 'Meaning in Star Trek'; 'I am not Spock'; copies of 'The Best of Trek' and others

Absolutely incredible find at the op shop today! I can't
believe we just happened to come across these while
Jasmine is working on a Star Trek episode - if only
research were always this easy.
#startrek #fandomhistory

It's a flat white, if that's what you mean?

Photo of a cup of coffee and Ursula K Le Guin's 'The Left Hand of Darkness'

The weather in Melbourne is very bad today so I have settled in for a cosy afternoon of preparing for our next podcast episode.
#TheLeftHandOfDarkness #UrsulaKLeGuin

New podcast episode: Tu'er Shen. The image contains a stylised rainbow soundwave, a cute cartoon image of Tu'er shen, a man in historical dress with rabbit ears winking at the camera, and the Queer As Fact rainbow Q logo

New episode! Today's episode is on the a Daoist god of homosexuality, Tu'er Shen. We talk about homosexuality in 18th century China, secret gay statues, and a present-day queer religious space!

queerasfact.podbean.com/e/tuer-shen/

New podcast episode: Tu'er Shen. The image contains a stylised rainbow soundwave, a cute cartoon image of Tu'er shen, a man in historical dress with rabbit ears winking at the camera, and the Queer As Fact rainbow Q logo

New episode! Today's episode is on the a Daoist god of homosexuality, Tu'er Shen. We talk about homosexuality in 18th century China, secret gay statues, and a present-day queer religious space!

queerasfact.podbean.com/e/tuer-shen/

Hand holding Darcy Green's queer footy romance novel 'After the Siren', in front of a screen playing the AFL grand final

It's not queer history, but... we had a great time today at the Pride Centre watching the AFL grand final with friends (yes we admit it we are sports gays) - and I also picked up a copy of @darcygreenwrites.bsky.social 'After the Siren'! Super excited to read this queer footy romance.

Check out our podcast to hear our thoughts here: queerasfact.podbean.com/e/sherlock-h...

"It was worth a wound–it was worth many wounds–to know the depth of loyalty and love which lay behind that cold mask."
-Dr John Watson in 'The Three Garridebs'
We’ve been musing about how 19th-century readers would have interpreted the relationship between Holmes and Watson. What do you reckon?

Check out our podcast if you want to hear some of his poetry and find out more:
queerasfact.podbean.com/e/abu-nuwas/

Happy #bisexualawarenessweek! In 8th century Iraq, Abu Nuwas wrote love poetry to both men and women. This wasn’t unusual - the idea that someone could be attracted to multiple genders was widely acknowledged at the time! #bihistory #biweek

Happy #bisexualawarenessweek! Did you know that the 14th century Middle English poem ‘Sir Gawain and the Green Knight’ features Sir Gawain exchanging kisses with both Lord Bertilak de Hautdesert and his wife?
Check out our podcast if you'd like to know more: queerasfact.podbean.com/e/sir-gawain...

Yes, absolutely! I haven't read any Dupin (yet) but I definitely came across the edges of this conversation. I would love to know more!

What a happy coincidence that it's the start of #bisexualawarenessweek and #FiestasPatrias today - the perfect day to celebrate the bi Mexican artist, Frida Kahlo!

queerasfact.podbean.com/e/frida-kahl...

New podcast episode: Sherlock Holmes Sydney Paget illustration of Holmes and Watson sitting in comfy chairs

New episode out! Today's episode is on Sherlock Holmes, Sir Arthur Conan Doyle's iconic consulting detective! Join us as we talk about aromanticism, turn-of-the-century masculinity,and whether Watson is, in fact, a woman.
queerasfact.podbean.com/e/sherlock-h...

#sherlockholmes #queerhistory

If you've had it to the end and want to know what on earth that was all about, check out our podcast! queerasfact.podbean.com/e/gavin-arth...

The CAREER WOMAN ... is typified by the feminine, glamorous woman who is attracted to men but forms deeper emotional attachments with women. This type is usually heterosexual and polygamous in practice.

The CAESAR ... is named after Julius Caesar, who was said to be every man’s wife and every woman’s husband. ... Although he usually comes on like a tough guy, he often represses his bisexuality and compensates by demonstrating his heterosexual prowess ...