LGBTQ+ Kings and Queens of Europe

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[cynthtnyc]

Jessica, would you ever consider doing a collaboration with Xiran Jay Zhao on historical queerness? They have so much knowledge on queer Chinese rulers.

[colinwilson]

I fully endorse the BBC using you as the host for history programs !

[universalqueenfern]

Thank you for saying that asexual people can still engage in sexual activities. It really makes me feel seen. I am married and have children but am on the asexual spectrum.

[Out_in_the_Open_]

Please do a video on Frida Khalo! She is an iconic bisexual artist who was also disabled. When her husband cheated on her, she cheated back, with the SAME woman of course.😂

[scotmelee]

Frederick the Great of Prussia who growing up was disliked by his father for being interested in poetry and philosophy rather than soldiering and combat. His father, tragically, arrested Fredrick and his male lover as they attempted to flee to England and forced Fredrick to witness the execution. Frederick then went on to be one of the greatest military commanders of the era even inspiring some of Napoleon’s tactics all while struggling with his own conflicts and building an evolving Prussian state. He had flaws obviously and instituted unfair laws including banning women from positions of power and his court.

[jennifers]

The cover photo of Jessica in a crown is A plus! 👑

I love her Queer history lessons.

[elsakristina]

Queen Kristina is my absolute favourite. We’ll never know for sure how she would identify or label herself today, but IMO it’s possible that she/he/they was biromantic and either ace or demi and probably also genderfluid to some extent. So happy to hear you’ll have a video about her soon! I’ve been researching her and transcribing and translating her letters for years and she is endlessly fascinating.

[MoonMan]

I was literally watching a bunch of royal history videos. This got uploaded at the perfect time for me!

[annarooma]

I was wondering if Queen Kristina would be brought up in this video, and I'm delighted to hear that there will be a video all about her in a few week's time!
Really interesting video, I am mildly interested in both history and lgbtq+ things, so this was amazing

[EowynDriscoll]

Oh, we missed Frederick the great... the greatest King to play the flute.

[AR-syyel]

Great video 🌸 and your french prononciation was good ! 👍 Also not sure about the historical acuracy of what I am going to say but as a french the first queer monarch that comes to my mind is Philippe d'Orléans (brother of Louis XIV), known to wear dresses and fancy both men and women. I think he also supported Julie d'Aubigny/ mademoiselle de maupin, about whom you did a video 2 years ago.

[Arosukir]

I would love for you to cover queer monarchs outside of Europe! Asia, Africa, North and South America, and the Pacific Islands have such rich histories of existence pre- and post- colonization!

Someone already mentioned Xiran Jay Zhao as a possible collaborator, and I heartily second that!

[snazzypazzy]

Fun fact: the Dutch royals can indeed marry a person of any gender. As long as they're not Catholic (anymore). That is still a dealbreaker. And parliament needs to accept the proposal.

Anyway, from Dutch (and English, cause they're all related) history we have "stadhouder" (sort of king) Willem II of Orange who was according to some sources blackmailed over affections he had with a man. Potentially unwanted affections, so there's that... He was then pressured into accepting the new constitution by the people who helped him to get rid of the person accusing him. (They put him on a boat! No suspicious drowning here which is nice at least.)

He was followed by Willem/William the III of England and the Netherlands. (His mom was a Stuart. I think he's the one who made a mess of Northern Ireland? Or helped at least?). Anyway, he had some close male companions as well, and he was introverted. At the time he was rumoured to be gay, but that may have been slander, to make him appear more weak in the press.

No female queers afaik. But there's still hope for Princess Amalia ;)

Loved the video!

[charliebrown]

I'm so sorry to hear you've had a difficult month. Best wishes to you, Claudia and Rupert for brighter times ahead.

[HoneyDimon]

Loved that you started this video with king James I and his lovers. Especially since now there's a wonderful and raunchy show about him and George Villiers called Mary & George!

[ShadowAnimeation]

Fun Fact: The original KJV Bible doesn't have the word Homosexual in it. And while it does call male on male sex an "abomination" in Leviticus, it also calls eating pork an abomination, yet I've never seen a Christian refuse bacon XD

[jessicarousseau]

I know he has been mentioned but, Friedrich II of Prussia. His favorite residence Sanssouci was a woman-free zone during his lifetime, (basically a prince's man cave). It was his passion project. He dictated the whole design and decoration of palace and grounds as a place he could relax with his closest male friends.

[Agentlefox]

I have sex and I'm ace is honestly one of the most affecting things ive heard in ace content and discourse as a demisexual person. It reminds me that when moving beyond compulsory sexuality, its a choice to do something with another person, and that any choice has several motivations. Attraction+desire are just some of them, and i am fully capable of deciding i want to sleep with someone without feeling a compulsion to jump their bones, whether it be for sensual closeness/touch, because, like doing chores i hate for a partner with disabilities, it ultimately brings both of us closer, for stress relief, to celebrate, to scratch an itch so to speak, or just because I know i will feel fulfilled and satisfied with myself when agreeing to please somebody else as an act of service, none of which have to do with me being demisexual, but all of which have easily gotten tied into knots with my sexuality. If allosexual people can set a schedule for sex when life gets predicatable for the express purpose of staying connected regardless of current sex drive and attraction, its such a joke to suggest its somehow crazy that ace people couldnt also have sex irrespective of their sexual attraction. I struggled for a long time with the fact that sex was intellectually interesting to me and that the sensory aspects were so engaging for my undiagnosed autistic and adhd mind, even while i was waiting to "go all the way" because i was suppsed to feel a particular way beforehand, something that just didnt happen. I enjoy sex, and my platonic and romantic attraction are so profoundly similar, but its really easy to get stuck in my head about the fact that my enjoyment is typically far more in the camp of exercise, having a nice meal in a pleasant environment, cuddling, wrestling with a friend, and playing word/board games than what it seems to be for allosexual people. But, im ace AND enjoy having sex, and that means my experience will be uniquely my own, and it doesnt need to be compared to anyone else's.

[Aileexpress]

Jessica was missing, the biggest lesbian queen 👑
Great video as always.❤️❤️

Jessica, could you consider making a video about the artist Tove Jansson? She was a writer, painter, and sculptor Finnish and Swedish (if I'm not mistaken) who was a great artistic queer icon in Finland. Her sexuality also had a lot of influence on her art, in her books, she created characters that have an LGBT subtext (the characters are Too-ticky, Vifslan and Tofslan, Snufkin and maybe Toffle and Miffle)

Or you can make a video about the writer Arnold Lobel. ( he was gay)

Both of these artists practically "made my childhood"
Just suggestions, I send hugs :))

[LyingTube]

Greetings fellow Jessica Background Noise Enjoyers!