since apparently larries invented closeting, here's some "historical figures which their rumored relationships were called friendships": a gay thread

Virginia Woolf and Vita Sackville-West:

For the longest time it's been set up they were really close friends.

Michelangelo and Tommaso dei Cavalieri:

Michaelangelo dedicated a series of drawings and dozens of love poems to Cavalieri
Letters exchanged between the artist and the Italian nobleman show that they carried on a mutual romance. They remained close until Michelangelo's death.

Oscar Wilde and Lord Alfred Douglas:

Alfred was the inspiration behind The Picture of Dorian Grey. Dorian got arrested for two years because Alfred's father was suspicious. They were forced apart by their families.

Greta Garbo and Mercedes de Acosta:

Ok but Hollywood's gay, wbk.
Fun fact: Garbo wrote de Acosta 181 letters, cards, and telegrams.

Walt Whitman and Peter Doyle:

Some scholars tried to deny that the nature-loving poet was queer.
Whitman disguised Doyle's initials in his notebooks by using the code "16.4" — representing the 16th and fourth letters of the alphabet.

Also, didn't dear Harry praised Walt Whitman at some point? Someone who clearly queercoded? Interesting.

Eleanor Roosevelt and Lorena Hickok:

The journalist joined the Roosevelts every Sunday night for dinner, went on trips with Eleanor to the opera, and was the first to interview her as she took on the White House.
When apart, the two professed their love via telephone and letter.

William King (the US’ 13th VP) and James Bucanan (President):

Yep.

Almeda Sperry and Emma Goldman:

Emily Crane Chadbourne was in a relationship with a woman for a long period of her life, and Emily and Florence lived together for a time after Florence divorced her husband, and the brooch has both her and Emily's initials engraved on it. But, yeah, just good pals!

Susan Sontag and Annie Leibovitz:

Leibovitz had a close relationship with writer and essayist Susan Sontag from 1989 until Sontag's death in 2004. During Sontag's lifetime, neither woman publicly disclosed whether the relationship was a platonic friendship or romantic.

Marlon Brando and James Dean:

In his memoir Brando denied that such a relationship occurred and claimed that Dean was 'never a friend of mine'.

Marlon Brando and Wally Cox:

"They were roomates." Also, after Cox's sudden death, Marlo kept his ashes and talked to him everyday. On his words, if he would've been a woman, he would've married him.

Vicente Minelli:

Garland's 2nd husband Vincente Minnelli had speculation for years that he was gay or bisexual. A biography claims he lived as an openly gay man in New York prior to his arrival in Hollywood, where they pressured him back into the closet.

Fun fact: In the early 1980s, the NIS was investigating homosexuality in the Chicago area. Agents discovered that gay men sometimes referred to themselves as "friends of Dorothy". +

Unaware of the meaning of the term, they believed that there actually was a woman named Dorothy at the center of a massive ring of gay military personnel, so they launched a futile hunt for "Dorothy", hoping to find her and convince her to reveal the names of gay service members.

Cary Grant and Randolph Scott:

Also roomies. Paramont Studios forced Grant to marry a woman, but they never stopped seeing and loving each other.

Frida Kahlo and Chavela Vargas:

Very good friends. Vargas did not officially come out as a lesbian until she was 81. Her autobiography also dedicated an entire chapter to an affair with Frida.

Emily Dickinson and Susan Huntington Gilbert:

Pals for 40 years.

Abraham Lincoln and Joshua Speed:

Really good friends. They slept in the same bed for 4 years.
Another fun fact: Lincoln also had an affair with his bodyguard.

A personal favorite: Leonardo Dicaprio and Lukas Haas

Dear Leo has been always linked to models, but he lived 7 years with his bestie on his mansion. How cute.

David Bowie and Mick Jagger:

Bowie's wife once caught them naked together in bed. They denied it, obviously.

There are definitely a ton of more relationships like these. It's not too far fetched to think our favs were closeted too. This is not a recent thing.
If you want me to add some more, let me know!
And thank u for reading! <3

mom antis found me