Historical Homos Sebastian Hendra

"Gay didn't always exist, but 'bottom' kind of did!"
How did people douche back in the day? Did they have lube? And how'd they find other gays to get off with?
In a turn of events that will shock absolutely no one, history is FULL of queer men doing the deed.
We boinked, we douched, we lubed, we bathed, and we cruised – long before today's modern luxuries, like running water...or Gun Oil.
Join me and my fabulous guest, Alex Hall, creator of The Bottom's Digest, on this magical tour of history's bottoms, bottoming procedures, and bottom cultures.
Tune in for Mesopotamian shame, ancient Roman twerking, medieval Japanese lubes (there were many to choose from!), and of course, Renaissance cruising bars in 1400s Florence.
The history of bottoming is anything but straight.forward. Every land and every era has dealt with its bottoms in its own unique ways. And Bottom History © has so much to teach us about our own bottom culture today.
You can follow The Bottom's Digest on Instagram, TikTok and YouTube for more of Alex's hilarious, amazing work.
And check out all the bottom-y treasures we mentioned in this episode:

Greek vase of man wiping with pessos (MFA Boston)
Ancient Roman tersorium aka sponge stick (Wikipedia)
Chugi aka Japanese "shit sticks" (Wikipedia)
Ancient enema syringe with bone nozzle (Science Museum)
Chigo no soshi aka "Book of Acolytes" (British Museum)
For more from Historical Homos, you can join our cult at www.historicalhomos.com and follow us on Instagram and TikTok.
If you like what you hear, please leave us a five star rating on Apple or Spotify. Do it. Yeahhhhhh just like that.
This episode was written and researched by Bash, hosted by Bash, and edited by Alex Toskas.

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

"And what we have to get into our heads, although it is difficult, is that [the] glamour of love, odd as it may sound, is just as much present between two homosexuals as it is between a man and a woman."- Lord Brabazon of Tara, House of Lords, December 1957
What was it like to be a (practicing) gay man in London after the Second World War? I thought you'd never ask...
The short answer: not great! But like everything in life, it wasn't all doom and gloom OR butterflies and rainbows. It was a dangerous time to be queer, but there was also a thriving subculture of artists, MPs, writers, drunks, criminals, Guardsmen, and working class queers – in short, a bit of everyone – who managed to live their gay lives in one way or another.
Our guest this week, Peter Parker, has collected their diaries, court cases, bitchy theatre reviews, puff pieces (or is it poof pieces?), and more in what is only the first volume of his incredible time capsule detailing queer life in London before the decriminalization of homosexuality (partial and tentative thought it was) in 1967.
When I read Peter's book, I laughed, sobbed, screamed, and gasped. I could not put it down for hours. It's a reminder that real history is not a story of politicians and battles. It's the stories of real people. People who loved, suffered, lived, and died in a world that, only 80 years ago, was vastly different than ours.
I hope you enjoy this chat with Peter as we uncover the dirty deets of life for gay men in London between 1945-1959: which parks to cruise in, who the best rent boys were, which gay soirées to meet John Gielgud and Michael Redgrave at, and of course, the real reason Noel Coward never revealed his BLATANT homosexuality to his adoring public.
Make sure you pick up a copy of the book, which is out today! It is a vivid and singular experience – we all owe Peter Parker our gay gratitude for this feat of loving research and magisterial curation.
For more from Historical Homos, you can join our cult at www.historicalhomos.com and follow us on Instagram and TikTok.
If you like what you hear, please leave us a five star rating on Apple or Spotify. Do it. Yeahhhhhh just like that.
This episode was written and researched by Bash, hosted by Bash, and edited by Alex Toskas.

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

PERIOD PIECE is back!
Lucy returns, with her flow in tow, for another historical film that I mansplain to her because education 👏 never 👏 stops.
This month, we're digging into MAESTRO, Bradley Cooper's biopic about the glorious, complicated, and very gay star conductor of the 20th century: Leonard Bernstein.
Lenny was so much more than Gigi Hadid's boyfriend shows us. His life was full of fame and cocaine and fabulous people, yes, but he also struggled with his identity and image as a father, political activist, homosexual, husband, and atheist-leaning Jew.
Tune in to discover the truth about LB's scandalously gay affairs, equally scandalous political activism, and of course the toiletries kit where he kept his personal stash (uppers on the left, downers on the right).
At the grand finale, Lucy and I will share our Standing Ovulations in all standard categories: Horny, Tears, Violent, Do I Look Hot?, and Quippery & Bitchery.
For more from Historical Homos, you can join our cult at: www.historicalhomos.com
And follow us on Instagram and TikTok. Do it. Yeahhhhhh just like that.
If you like what you hear, please give us an extremely high rating on Apple or Spotify (FIVE STAR ONLY).
This episode was written and researched by Bash, hosted by Bash & Lucy Hendra, and edited by Alex Toskas.

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

"Saint Sebastian is really just a Bored Office Twink." – R. Eric Thomas (April 2024)
Welcome to the wildly erotic, superheroic world of Saint Sebastian, who was initially martyred as a rugged Roman soldier before he blossomed into the lithe, Lana-Del-Rey-loving twink we cherish today.
Scientists now know it was the extremely gay Italian Renaissance that decided Saint Sebastian should ALWAYS be painted with skimpy loincloths and penetrative arrows, leaving 80% of any canvas to be devoted entirely to his exposèd flesh.
Along the way, Saint Seb – and the name Sebastian itself – has become a byword for "definitely gay maybe also kinky vibes" (a clunky phrase that needed a byword – thanks for that, Seb!). But how did this association with homosexuality develop?
Join our hysterically homosexual guest, R. Eric Thomas, as we uncover the truth about the OG Sebastian; his Middle Age superpowers that totally didn't stop the plague; making the career jump from Patron- to Pin-Up Saint; and finally, his reception amongst modern gays today.
Click on the paintings we discuss to follow along:

7th century Saint SebastianGiovanni del Biondo - Sebastian (1350s)Saint Sebastian praying to Jesus (1490s)Andrea Mantegna - Saint Sebastians (1450s)Sandro Botticelli - Saint Sebastian (1474)Il Sodoma - Saint Sebastian (1525)Guido Reni - Saint Sebastian (1615)Gianlorenzo Bernini - Saint Sebastian (1618)Nicolas Regnier - Saint Sebastian (1620)Keith Haring - Saint Sebastian (1984)
For more from Historical Homos, you can join our cult at: www.historicalhomos.com
And follow us on Instagram and TikTok. Do it. Yeahhhhhh just like that.
If you like what you hear, please give us an extremely high rating on Apple or Spotify (FIVE STAR ONLY).

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"And it is well-known that the King of England f*cks the Duke of Buckingham." – Theophile de Viau (1628)
If you've been watching Mary & George on STARZ, then you must be desperate to know how much of it is true. And the answer, my curious queers, is: a lot!
George Villiers, the scheming twink who dominated King James I's court, was hot and 100% DTF. He won titles, land, and money for himself by sacrificing these gay virtues at the altar of the king's pleasure.
But who was George the man? Was his royal boyf really in love with him (or indeed George with James)? And were George's narcissistic antics responsible for driving the country into the ground, laying the path for King Charles I's beheading in 1649?
Join me and my fabulous, hilarious, and shockingly erudite guest, Guy Branum, to steep yourself in the deeply queer historical tea.
For more from Historical Homos, you can join our cult at: www.historicalhomos.com
And follow us on Instagram and TikTok. Do it. Yeahhhhhh just like that.
If you like what you hear, please give us an extremely high rating on Apple or Spotify - FIVE STAR ONLY.

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Long live Queen James I of England!
James, as our guest Guy Branum notes this week, was always a little “dyke-y”.
Obsessed with love and relationships, she ruled Scotland and England entirely from her heart – and through her loins. James was known above all for promoting his male favourites to intolerable positions of power and wealth.
The rest of the court loathed these scheming twinks. But George Villiers, the most successful of them all, was particularly devastating to James’ credibility.
Tune into Part One to learn about James I's sleazy Scottish beginnings, and prepare for our next episode on George Villiers, his faggiest favourite!
For more from Historical Homos, you can join our cult at: www.historicalhomos.com
And follow us on Instagram and TikTok. NOW.

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.