Sometimes I think about how romances written during the Regency era don't have any queer or trans people in them, but we know they existed, and we know they loved. We know, because we have the arrest records. Countless romances, told between the lines of police reports.
Have you heard abt James Barry? British army surgeon during the Napoleanic era, incredibly accomplished, they only found out he was afab bc his final wishes were ignored. Most trash that’s out there is “women pretending to be men for a career” but the real story is awesome. And includes gay romance!
I feel this is indicative of how fragile the past has been. A few uptight ministers, a bonfire or two, and several pages of history are stolen from us.
Not contemporary to the period, but Cat Sebastian and Alexis Hall have written Regency romances populated by queer and trans people. There’s a list here themillions.com/2022/06/the-...
Queer desire threatens the logic of all forms of social hierarchy.
Not Regency era, but THE QUEEN'S TIARA is a beloved Swedish classic that features Tintomara, a character who today could be described as nonbinary. www.goodreads.com/book/show/78...en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Que...
I swear you breathe poetry
Are you looking for reading recs?
This post was a roller coaster. Well done.
go on jadzia... give us the trans majors winning the napoleonic wars! the bloomsbury crews! the welsh havens for queer people fleeing england! doooooooooo it!
Periodically this post pops back up on my feed and I think about how you have a killer first line for something in there.
An epistolary novel about two queer/trans lovers told through arrest records, secret love letters written in code, and transcripts of court proceedings 🌈 👀