Advertising helps fund Big Issue’s mission to end poverty
Get 8 issues for only £9.99 - delivered to your door
SUBSCRIBE
Books

Bad Gays: A Homosexual History is one of the most original queer history books of recent years

Hadrian, J Edgar Hoover and Ronnie Kray all feature in this alternative view of queer history through its most lamentable figures

rainbow street crossing

Image: Flickr

Bad Gays: A Homosexual History is out now (Verso Books)

In celebrating queer history, we often take time to remember the pioneering figures who weren’t able to be out and proud during their lifetimes. Anne Lister, Oscar Wilde, Alan Turing, to name but a few. But how do we approach the sticky subject of the gays of history who, perhaps, aren’t so worthy of celebrating? This is the exact topic Ben Miller and Huw Lemmey focus on in Bad Gays: A Homosexual History

Giving an alternative view of queer history through its most lamentable figures, Miller and Lemmey go deep on Hadrian, James VI and I, Lawrence of Arabia, J Edgar Hoover and Ronnie Kray, and don’t let up on the debauched details of their lives.

Starting its life as a podcast, Bad Gays very much feels like a distillation of that project. Not to say that the text in this book is a mere transcript of certain episodes, far from it, but it does suffer from some dense writing and the inclusion of Kenneth Williams-esque cheeky asides that jar rather than amuse. 

Scrolling through the episode list of the podcast, I am left wondering why the authors chose who they did to include in the book. The podcast has some genuinely left-of-field choices, such as Morrissey, Cecil Rhodes, Benjamin Britten and Cressida Dick. The book very much sticks to less-controversial choices, a rare piece of conservatism from their radical political publishing house, Verso.

All this aside however, Bad Gays can surely boast being one of the most original queer history books of recent years, and something that is sure to garner much conversation and debate. Let’s hope that Miller and Lemmey are more far-reaching with the next volume.

Barry Pierce is a journalist and cultural commentator

Advertising helps fund Big Issue’s mission to end poverty
Advertising helps fund Big Issue’s mission to end poverty

You can buy Bad Gays: A Homosexual History from The Big Issue shop on Bookshop.org, which helps to support The Big Issue and independent bookshops.

This article is taken from The Big Issue magazine. If you cannot reach your local vendor, you can still click HERE to subscribe to The Big Issue today or give a gift subscription to a friend or family member.You can also purchase one-off issues from The Big Issue Shop or The Big Issue app, available now from the App Store or Google Play.

Advertising helps fund Big Issue’s mission to end poverty

Never miss an issue

Take advantage of our special subscription offer. Subscribe from just £9.99 and never miss an issue.

Recommended for you

View all
The Summer We Ate Off the China by Devin Jacobsen review – digging for deepest meaning
Books

The Summer We Ate Off the China by Devin Jacobsen review – digging for deepest meaning

How four women raged a secret propaganda war against the Nazis during World War II
World War II

How four women raged a secret propaganda war against the Nazis during World War II

Top 5 British history books, chosen by historian and author Ian Stewart
British history

Top 5 British history books, chosen by historian and author Ian Stewart

The Death of the Author by Nnedi Okorafor review – profound understanding through science fiction
Books

The Death of the Author by Nnedi Okorafor review – profound understanding through science fiction

Most Popular

Read All
Renters pay their landlords' buy-to-let mortgages, so they should get a share of the profits
Renters: A mortgage lender's window advertising buy-to-let products
1.

Renters pay their landlords' buy-to-let mortgages, so they should get a share of the profits

Exclusive: Disabled people are 'set up to fail' by the DWP in target-driven disability benefits system, whistleblowers reveal
Pound coins on a piece of paper with disability living allowancve
2.

Exclusive: Disabled people are 'set up to fail' by the DWP in target-driven disability benefits system, whistleblowers reveal

Cost of living payment 2024: Where to get help now the scheme is over
next dwp cost of living payment 2023
3.

Cost of living payment 2024: Where to get help now the scheme is over

Strike dates 2023: From train drivers to NHS doctors, here are the dates to know
4.

Strike dates 2023: From train drivers to NHS doctors, here are the dates to know

Support our vendors with a subscription

For each subscription to the magazine, we’ll provide a vendor with a reusable water bottle, making it easier for them to access cold water on hot days.