As an Amazon Associate we earn from qualifying purchases.

History

Old Stones Bearing Warnings Resurface in Central Europe

by
Hunger Stone

Old stones bearing ominous messages have resurfaced in a river in Central Europe, according to news reports. Over the course of centuries, Europeans marked low water levels during droughts by carving lines and dates into boulders along the Elbe River, which runs from the Czech Republic into Germany. The idea was that if water levels dipped low enough to reveal an old carving, it would signal to locals that dry, hungry times — similar to those experienced in the marked year — were coming. Over a dozen of these “hunger stones” have reappeared in the Elbe this year, amid a … Read more

FOR WRITERS: Alternate History – When Things Changed

by
history - pixabay

FOR WRITERS Today’s writer topic comes from QSFer John Allenson: When things changed. What stories would you like to tell that would rewrite an event in queer history? Or that would make an event queer? Examples: What if Napolean had decided to invade Scotland rather than Russia? What if Abraham Lincoln had lost the election to become POTUS? This is a legacy chat. Join the chat

SCIENCE: Did Most Men Die Off 7,000 Years Ago?

by
warrior - pixabay

Modern men’s genes suggest that something peculiar happened 5,000 to 7,000 years ago: Most of the male population across Asia, Europe and Africa seems to have died off, leaving behind just one man for every 17 women. This so-called population “bottleneck” was first proposed in 2015, and since then, researchers have been trying to figure out what could’ve caused it. One hypothesis held that the drop-off in the male population occurred due to ecological or climatic factors that mainly affected male offspring, while another idea suggested that the die-off happened because some males had more power in society, and thus … Read more

HISTORY: When Gay Sex “Rocked” the World

by
gay lovers - rock

An 11,000-year-old pebble believed to be one of the earliest depictions of sex is to go on tour in an LGBTQ themed exhibition. The Ain Sakhri Lovers, a figurine carved from a pebble, will be one of the artefacts shown in a new touring exhibition from the British Museum to celebrate LGBTQ history. As the people depicted in the Ain Sakhri Lovers are ambiguously gendered, the British Museum does not state they are heterosexual and have therefore included the artefact as a potential early representation of gay sex. By Jess Glass – Full Story at Pink news

What We Know About Atlantis

by
Atlantis - Pixabay

The idea of Atlantis — the “lost” island subcontinent often idealized as an advanced, utopian society holding wisdom that could bring world peace — has captivated dreamers, occultists and New Agers for generations. Thousands of books, magazines and websites are devoted to Atlantis, and it remains a popular topic. People have lost fortunes — and in some cases even their lives — looking for Atlantis. The Origins of Atlantis Unlike many legends whose origins have been lost in the mists of time, we know exactly when and where the story of Atlantis first appeared. The story was first told in … Read more

Out of the Past: LGBTQ Science Fiction, Fantasy and Horror 2010 – present

by

     As part of my ongoing history of LGBTQ+ speculative fiction, I’m in the process of doing interviews with authors, editors and reviewers who are working in different areas of the genre that I’m not as familiar with. I’m hoping to boost the signal on some of their projects, too so please check out their writings and other projects. There’ll be interviews with various folks on trans and nonbinary spec fic, indie queer romance, new trends and recommendations for short fiction and other fun things coming up as well as my essays on different aspects of the field. I hope … Read more

QUEER HISTORY: Polari, the World’s First Gay Language

by
Polari

“Bona to vada your dolly old eek!” That may seem like a string of nonsense words from Dr Seuss’s The Cat in the Hat or Anthony Burgess’s A Clockwork Orange but it’s a real-life greeting gay men in the UK would say to each other in the 1950s and 60s. It means “Good to see your nice face.” Until 1967, gay sex was illegal in England and Wales. To avoid imprisonment, gay men used Polari, a language that the Oxford English Dictionary says is “made up of Italianate phrases, rhyming slang and cant terms.” It had sprung up in the … Read more