#historical lgbt figure
“And looking back on the great indifference
Looking back at the limestone walls
Thinking how beauty deceives you
Knowing how love fools us all”
-Oscar Wilde Gets Out by Elton John
[Image description: four black and white images with green font on them. The first is a photo of Oscar Wilde reclining on a couch with the lyrics “Long before the lords and law branded Oscar Wilde a sinner” across the bottom. The second image is a handwritten page of The Picture of Dorian Gray and has the lyrics “your biting wit still sharp enough” across the top and “to slice through every page” across the bottom. The third image is a depiction of Fleet Street as the Victorians would have seen it and the lyrics “When the ink ran red on Fleet Street” along the top and the lyrics “you turned your eyes to France” along the bottom. The fourth image is a photo of Oscar Wilde’s cell and includes the lyrics “Freedom for the scapegoat leaving Reading Gaol.” in the centre. End ID.]
“Gentleman Jack
Oh Gentleman Jack
Watch your back you’re under attack
The husbands are coming
You’d better start running
For nobody likes a Jack-the-lass”
-Gentleman Jack by O'Hooley & Tidow
[Image description: a series of four images containing lyrics in a curly purple, black and white font. Images 1 and 3 have black words with a purple shadow and a white outline while images 2 and 4 have white words with a purple shadow and a black outline. The first is a painting of Anne Lister with the words “Handsome Anne seduced them well” across her chest. The second image is of a blue plaque with a rainbow outline on a red brick wall. The plaque reads “Anne Lister, 1791-1840 of Shibden Hall, Halifax. Lesbian and diarist ; took sacrament here to seal her union with Ann Walker. Easter 1834.” Across the top are the lyrics “The husbands are coming” and across the bottom is “You’d better start running”. The third image is a photo of a page from Anne’s diary and says “Loaded words in the diaries found” in the top right corner and “Wants exposed in a baffling code” in the bottom left. The fourth image is a photo of Halifax Minster where Anne was buried and across the bottom it says “Behind her back she’s Gentleman Jack”. End ID.]
“You’re not a well-known figure in our history
It seems a few have even heard your name
The tales of your success become a mystery
So tell me your secret
Tell me your secret, Doctor James”
-Doctor James by Gilmore & Roberts
[Image description: a series of four sepia images containing lyrics in a messy green font. The first is a photo of Dr James Barry’s headstone. The inscription reads “Dr James Barry. Inspector General of hospitals. Died 25 July 1865. Aged 70 years.” Across the bottom the lyrics read “A high ranked man with a stone so plain…”. The second image is of a narrow street with the words “Trained in medicine, joined the army” in the top left corner and “On foreign soil you fought for change” in the bottom right corner. The third image is of a covered corpse laying in a bed with the words “This corpse has a female form!” in the top left corner and “Dressed as a man but she’s a woman born.” in the bottom right. The fourth image is a painting of Dr James Barry and across the bottom it says “I’m telling your secret, Doctor James”. End ID.]
