Subject: Re: queer couples, movies
From: Sam_Damon <[email-masked]>
Date: Sun, 11 Sep 1994 08:20:21 -0400 (edt)

> i need some info!  i'm looking for names of famous les/bi/gay couples.  i
> would prefer that both parties have outed themselves rather than it being
> assumed.  if you know of any, please email me with the information.  i need

Hmmmm ... here's something from The Book of Gay List (by Leigh Rutledge,
published by Alyson).  I don't know how many of these are self-outted, how
many verified by other means (i.e. Rock Hudson & Marc Christian, whose
relationship was revealed after Hudson died), and how many are assumed.
Most of the people in these couplings are dead, which I assume to be okay
since you didn't mention being alive as a requirement.  There are also
couples whose fame rest primarily on one half of the relationship but are
not included here (i.e. Melissa Etheridge and her lover, which were just
featured in The Advocate).  

BTW, I'm tempted to include Sesame Street's Bert & Ernie, but the show's
producer have categorically denied that rumor.  That despite today's episode
(yes, at 28, I still watch Sesame Street) which had Ernie signing a note to
Bert with "Love, Ernie."  How many platonic roommates sign notes reminding
each other to clean the house like that???  :)   ... which , by the way, is
just one of many progressive details on the show (I think it's wonderful to
tell kids that it's okay for males to say "love" to another male).  They
also often feature females in non-traditional roles.

=====================

"19 FAMOUS GAY & LESBIAN RELATIONSHIPS, THE AGE OF EACH PARTNER WHEN THEY
FIRST MET, AND HOW LONG EACH RELATIONSHIP LASTED"  (pp 13-14)

1. ROmaine Brooks (41) and Natalie Barney (39); 53 years
2. Peter Pears (26) and Benjamin Britten (23): 40 years
3. Gertrude Stein (33) and Alice B. Toklas (30): 39 years
4. W.H. Auden (32) and Chester Kallman (18): 34 years
5. Christopher Isherwood (48) and Don Bachardy (18): 32 years
   (definitely self-outted as they were active in Calif. gay politics)
6. Edward Carpenter (54) and George Merrill (26): 30 years
7. W. Somerset Maugham (40) and Gerald Haxton (22): 29 years
8. Sylvia Beach (30) and Adrienne Monnier (25): 20 years
9. W. Somerset Maugham (72) and Alan Searle (41): 19 years
10. Kenneth Halliwell (25) and Joe Orton (18): 16 years
11. Piers Gaveston (16) and Edward II (14): 14 years
12. Tennessee Williams (36) and Frankie Merlo (22): 14 years
13. Oscar Wilde (37) and Lord Alfred Douglas (21): 9 years
14. Walt Whitman (46) and Peter Doyle (18): 8 years
15. Hadrian (48) and Antinous (15): 6 years
16. Jean Cocteau (30) and Raymond Radiguet (16): 4 years
17. Serge Diaghilev (37) and Vaslav Nijinsky (19): 4 years
18. Rock Hudson (57) and Marc Christian (29): 4 years
19. Paul Verlaine (27) and Arthur Rimbaud (17): 2 years

[see also "6 INSTANCES OF GAY LOVERS BURIED TOGETHER" on pp 196-197]