THINGS YOU DIDN'T KNOW WERE TRUE - PART FIVE

 You've all heard of Alexander The Great, of that I'm sure.
No doubt also you are aware of not only the rumours but the scholarly essays suggesting that the great Alexander was homosexual. Gay in the LGBQT terminology. Sorry about that Robert but most research suggests that he played for the other side.

"Alexander III of Macedon (356 BC – 323 BC) is immortalised as one of history’s greatest generals for having never lost a battle and establishing a massive empire from the Balkans to the Indus River. His impact on history is immense: Alexander introduced the Persian idea of absolute monarchy to the Greco-Roman world, forever changing global governance. For such an influential figure, it should come as no surprise that historians have been interested in his personal life, notably his sex life.

Modern terminology that describes sexual identity is not appropriate for a historical figure when such ideas did not exist. To avoid anachronism, one must consider how the Greeks of the 300s BC viewed sex. Homosexual relations were ordinary amongst the upper classes, especially in the form of pederasty. Sexual orientation was not the defining factor in sex, rather the role that each participant played: the dominant, higher-class, older partner took an active role, and the younger, lower-class partner took a passive one. Nonetheless, homosexual men of the same class experienced social stigma as the passive role was more effeminate. As Macedonian king, Alexander could partake in sexual relations with anyone, so long as he maintained the dominant role."

Excerpt from  'Alexander the Great: LGBT Icon?' By Alexandra Birch of  The Manchester Historian.

This is interesting reading so here's a link for the less technologically challenged of you and even for Robert who is scared of links:
 ALEXANDER THE GREAT

But ... hold onto your hat .... that research is incorrect. In fact IT"S NOT TRUE!
Hold on though Robert before you breathe a sigh of relief as, to you and your church the news might well be worse. Alexander was actually a woman!

I guess that the history books should rename him as Alexandra The Great.
Alexandra Birch doesn't exactly suggest that Alexander should be recorded as an LGBQT icon but leaves the (closet) door open:

"Using contemporary terminology, it is reasonable to assume that Alexander was bisexual. Historical evidence suggests that he experienced lust, and potentially love, towards both men and women. Is this enough to honour him with the title ‘LGBT Icon’? Though by our modern standards Alexander would be a tyrant, in the context of his time, he is an icon, and thus, if he is analysed relatively, Alexander thoroughly deserves our homage. This leaves us with the question, almost 2500 years later, would Alexander want to be our LGBT icon?"

The Curmudgeons Inc.ⓒ is prepared to go one step further and say that Alexander/Alexandra was actually the 'T' in LGBQT and was actually transgender.

Before you Catholic historians get your knickers all twisted maybe you should have a look at the definition for 'transgender':

"The T in LGBTQ differs from some of the other letters in the acronym because it is not related to sexual orientation — being transgender has everything to do with gender identity and nothing to do with sexuality. A trans person can be straight, gay, bisexual, pansexual, queer or any other sexuality that is right for them.

Because gender identity is about internal understanding, someone who is trans does not need to do anything to their appearance to be trans — they are trans the moment they realise their gender identity is different from their assigned sex at birth.

Trans people may undergo a transition process to more closely align their gender expression and gender identity. This can include telling family and friends to use a different name or pronouns, dressing differently, pursuing sex and name changes on legal documents, starting hormone replacement therapy or undergoing medical procedures. But they also may not, and shouldn't be expected to by family, friends or others."

Clare Mulroy

USA TODAY

 

Richard of Richard's Bass Bag said similar things to Clare Mulroy in his most recent post. While the context is obviously different the sentiment is the same.

"Like in most social groups, there are quite a lot of LGBTQ+ people at this school. I worry for them as there seem to be a lot of Christian people at the school. How hard is it to accept that there is a wide spectrum of different types of people who have been born, like everyone else, with a set of needs or wishes. You have to understand that the majority of people don't have a choice about what they will be.

They are NOT sinning or breaking some law. They are just trying to be true to themselves. It seems to me that, if there was a Christian god, he has stuffed up quite badly.

There is too much hatred in this world.

There is too much self importance.

There are too many stupid people."

- Richard of Richard's Bass Bag

 

Now I'm not going to trawl through the history of Alexandra The Great as you can do that for yourselves but I do invite you to keep an open mind when reading history and know that... plus ça change, plus c'est la même chose 'the more things change, the more they stay the same'.