Same-sex desire and gender identity
The evidence for same-sex desire has
often been overlooked in the past, but museums and their
collections can allow us to look back and see the diversity of
human desire and gender throughout history.
‘Homosexuality’ as a way to describe
a single category of behaviour is a modern European term, but
same-sex desire is not a modern western invention (as has sometimes
been claimed).
The British Museum has a large
number of objects that provide evidence that desire between members
of the same sex and fluid ideas of gender have always been aspects
of human existence and experience, although they are culturally
constructed in a variety of ways.
Much of the historical
evidence is centred around men and their concerns and
often what survives is partial, fragmentary or
ambiguous. This is even true of evidence from modern times.
Such things have often been hidden in history, and obscured by
censorship, but now we realise the past is much ‘queerer’ than we
have often thought.
This theme is based on an original web trail published on
the Untold London website: www.untoldlondon.org.uk.
Some objects featured here are not on permanent public
display for conservation reasons.
Some images in this theme contain
explicit scenes, though these are too small to see in detail unless
you click through to larger versions.
More information about the object featured
here: