200 Years of LGBTQIA+ History

From Shadows to Pride — UK & Global Timeline

Source Record

Desire, love, identity: LGBTQ+ histories

Why this source is used

British Museum object trail contextualising Hadrian and Antinous within LGBTQ+ histories of desire, love and identity.

Start with the answer

Start with the answer How did UK queer media and cultural spaces build visibility? They built visibility by giving LGBTQ+ people dedicated news, support lines, political journals, protected venues, museum space and mainstream screen representation. Start with the answer What do ancient and early modern queer lives show? They show that same-sex love, queer social spaces and gender nonconformity existed long before modern LGBTQ+ identity language. Start with the answer How did anti-LGBTQ+ violence shape public memory? Major attacks and murders became remembered as community, legal and political turning points, not only as criminal cases.

Source Status

Publisher
British Museum
Type
archive
Reliability
high
Cited by
7 pages

Source Links

Open original source https://www.britishmuseum.org/visit/object-trails/desire-love-identity-lgbtq-histories Accessed 4 June 2026 Open archived copy https://web.archive.org/web/*/https://www.britishmuseum.org/visit/object-trails/desire-love-identity-lgbtq-histories

Used by Topics

UK Queer Media and Cultural Spaces Ancient and Early Modern Queer and Gender-Diverse Lives Anti-LGBTQ+ Violence and Public Memory

Used by Questions

How did UK queer media and cultural spaces build visibility? What do ancient and early modern queer lives show? How did anti-LGBTQ+ violence shape public memory?

Used by Timeline Events

c. 130 CE CulturalPeople

Emperor Hadrian and Antinous — Imperial Same-Sex Love

Roman Emperor Hadrian's relationship with the young Greek man Antinous was one of the most famous same-sex relationships in the ancient world. After Antinous drowned in the Nile in 130 CE, Hadrian founded the city of Antinoöpolis in his honour, deified him, and commissioned statues throughout the empire. More images of Antinous survive from antiquity than of almost any other figure.