Queer history isn’t our typical QSAC author guest post but I was asked to write a little something because I am kind of obsessed with this time period. Many of my stories are set during the Belle Epoque, including my soon-to-be-released sapphic romance.
Paris really was Gay Paree in the late 19th century, the “Belle Epoque.” There was an explosion of talent and creativity in the arts, much of it fueled by LGBTQ+ people. Although that’s not what they called us then, and we were definitely not “accepted” officially.
So what was Paris like for queer people, specifically lesbians, in the Belle Epoque? Parts of the city (like Montmartre) were becoming known for the music halls, cabarets, and night clubs. There were some famous lesbian hangouts like Le Hanneton and La Souris. They were managed by women and attracted women authors and artists.
The French Revolution had decriminalized homosexuality and the police mostly ignored “lesbian behavior within the confines of bars and brothels.” However, it was still illegal for women to wear trousers in public, but women, especially rich ones, flouted the law and flocked to the lesbian bars in Montmartre and Pigalle in full male evening wear.
Many lesbians in Paris didn’t declare themselves as such but there were several famous women who openly had love affairs with other women.
These include the Moulin Rouge can-can dancers Jane Avril, Cha-U-Kao, and La Goulue. You may have seen the posters of the Moulin Rouge by the artist Toulouse-Lautrec. He immortalized these dancers in his posters, drawings, and paintings.
The world-famous actress Sarah Bernhardt was life partners (because they couldn’t marry at the time) with artist Louise Abbéma. Abbéma became Bernhardt’s official portraitist.
Another lesbian artist, Rosa Bonheur, was a well-known “painter of animals” and lived in “unconventional matrimony” with two long-term partners in her lifetime.
The writer Colette (one of my favorite authors) became notorious when she and her lover Missy, a cross-dressing aristocrat, performed a risque pantomime at the Moulin Rouge. How risque was it? They shared a kiss. That doesn’t sound too scandalous now but a very public embrace between women was not acceptable for half the audience at the performance and it incited a riot.
I’ve only touched on a tiny part of this fascinating part of history but I hope you were intrigued. Probably not as much as me…
As an author, I am really drawn to this period and place in history. Instead of writing true historical fiction, I write historical fantasy so I can create a queer-normative society. The world the way I think it should be.