October 22nd in Queer History: Lord Alfred Douglas, Robert Rauschenberg, Robert Long, Mark Shaiman

Born this day:

Lord Alfred Douglas (1870 - 1945) UK Author / Poet / Translator


British writer and poet and lover of Oscar Wilde. Bosie, as he was known to his friends, married Olive Cunstance in 1902 and they had a son, Raymond, that same year. The 1997 film 'Wilde' tells the story about his relationship with Oscar Wilde.

Robert Rauschenberg (1925 - 2008) US 

Robert Rauschenberg was an American artist who came to prominence in the 1950s transition from Abstract Expressionism to Pop Art. Rauschenberg is well-known for his "Combines" of the 1950s, in which non-traditional materials and objects were employed in innovative combinations. Rauschenberg was both a painter and a sculptor and the "Combines" are a combination of both. Rauschenberg's approach was sometimes called 'Neo-Dada', a label he shared with the painter Jasper Johns , with whom he had a long artistic and personal relationship.

Robert Long

Dutch singer, writer, playwright, Radio- and TV-host and songwriter

Mark Shaiman

American composer, lyricist, arranger, musical director and music producer

Sodomy in History, October 22

1840 — Maine makes its sodomy law gender-neutral.

1968 — The Michigan Court of Appeals upholds a "crime against nature" conviction even though prior acts with others were admitted into evidence.

1971 — The Nebraska Supreme Court upholds a sodomy conviction based entirely on circumstantial evidence.

Source:
Calendar of Sodomy, October

Oscar Wilde, (1854 - 1900): Playwright and gay icon

b. October 16, 1854
d. November 30, 1900

"Society exists only as a mental concept; in the real world, there are only individuals."

Oscar Wilde gloried in flaunting his individuality during the Victorian Era, a period synonymous with social conformity and sexual repression.

Oscar Fingal O'Flahertie Wills Wilde was born in Dublin to a mother who was a noted poet and Irish nationalist, and a father who was an eye surgeon. Wilde showed brilliance from an early age, winning prizes at school and university. At Magdalen College, Oxford Wilde adopted his signature flowing hair and flamboyant style of dress, openly scorned "manly sports," and decorated his rooms with peacock feathers and beautiful objects.

Wilde first became a public figure as a spokesman for the Aesthetic Movement, whose motto was "art for art's sake." After a lecture tour through the United States, where he met poet Walt Whitman, Wilde said that "America is the only country that went from barbarism to decadence without civilization in between."

In 1892, the debut of his first play, Lady Windermere's Fan, introduced London theatergoers to such Wildean trademark witticisms as, "My own business always bores me to death; I prefer other people's," and "I can resist anything but temptation." Wilde's plays sparkle with keenly observed satirical wit that punctures the stuffy pretenses of Victorian society.

A turning point in Wilde's life came in 1891 when Wilde, who was married and the father of two children, began an affair with Lord Alfred Douglas, known as "Bosie," son of the Marquess of Queensbury. Infuriated by his son's involvement with Wilde, the Marquess instigated legal actions that ended with Wilde's conviction on a charge of gross indecency for "a love that dare not speak its name."

In April 1895, the night he was arrested for "indecent acts," Wilde's name was removed from the playbills outside theatres in London and New York where his hit plays "The Importance Of Being Earnest" and "An Ideal Husband" were playing.

Wilde was sentenced to two years' imprisonment at hard labor. He spent the last three years of his life in poverty and self-imposed exile. He died in Paris in 1900 at the age of 46, his life undoubtedly shortened by the rigors of imprisonment

The continued popularity of Wilde's plays and his novel The Picture of Dorian Gray,as well as numerous films and books about his life, have made him an icon of popular culture. His grave in Pere Lachaise Cemetery in Paris has become a pilgrimage site.

Oscar Wilde us listed at  number 3 in Paul Russell's ranking of The Gay 100: A Ranking of the Most Influential Gay Men and Lesbians, Past and Present.

Bibliography:

• CMG Worldwide: Official Web Site of Oscar Wilde
• Ellman, Richard. Oscar Wilde. Vintage, 1998.
• McKenna, Neil. Secret Life of Oscar Wilde: An Intimate Biography. Basic Books, 2006.

Selected works by Oscar Wilde:

• The Complete Works of Oscar Wilde: Stories, Plays, Poems & Essays (See all Contemporary Literature)
  
• The Importance Of Being Earnest
• The Picture Of Dorian Gray
  

DVD:

• The Oscar Wilde Collection
• Wilde
• The Trials of Oscar Wilde (aka The Green Carnation)