Queers in History: The Comprehensive Encyclopedia of Historical Gays, Lesbians and Bisexuals

The Hidden Stories They Tried to Erase
Volume One of Two • Newly Updated for 2026

Looking for Volume Two? Search ASIN: B0F6P8NF5W

The bestselling history book they tried to silence is back—bigger, bolder, and more revealing than ever.

History is full of secrets. Some were forgotten. Some were ignored. And some were deliberately left out of the story.

For centuries, the personal lives of countless artists, rulers, warriors, scientists, rebels, and cultural icons were edited, sanitized, or erased. Queers in History brings those hidden stories back into the light with over a thousand fascinating, surprising, and often astonishing biographies spanning from ancient civilizations to modern times.

What links these remarkable individuals?

They were all queer.

From Hollywood legends and world leaders to military heroes, inventors, religious figures, and literary giants, Queers in History uncovers the lives behind the headlines and reveals what traditional history books often left unsaid.

Inside you'll discover stories such as:

• The rumored romance between Joan Crawford and Marilyn Monroe.
• Leonardo da Vinci's arrests for same-sex relationships.
• Leonard Bernstein's love affair with an Israeli soldier.
• Claims that Howard Hughes pursued the husband of a Hollywood actress.
• The spiritual leader who helped shape Japanese traditions of male-male love.
• Angelina Jolie's desire to marry her Foxfire co-star, Jenny Shimizu.
• A First Lady who welcomed her female companion into the White House—and a president whose closest relationship may have been with a male aide.
• A celebrated Revolutionary War soldier who lived as a man and later formed a lifelong partnership with another woman.
• The Native American nation that proudly sent a person they recognized as a respected gender-diverse leader to represent them in Washington, D.C.

And those stories are only the beginning.

The result of more than three decades of research, this monumental work spans 700 pages across two volumes, making it one of the most comprehensive collections of LGBTQ+ history ever assembled. But this isn't a dry reference book. Every entry is a compelling human story—filled with ambition, love, courage, scandal, heartbreak, and triumph.

Praised by USA Today, Wired, The Village Voice, and many others, previous editions sparked discussion everywhere they appeared. Pick it up for a few minutes and you'll find yourself reading for hours. Leave it on your coffee table and it may become the most talked-about book in the room.

I'm Keith Stern, creator of some of the internet's most widely used biographical resources and author of the groundbreaking Queers in History series. This new edition includes a special foreword by Sir Ian McKellen—yes, Gandalf himself.

Visit QueersInHistory.com to learn more.

The history you were taught is only part of the story. Discover the rest.

This version (2019) includes minor corrections of the 2009 edition.