By Martha Baer
Queers in History compiles homo-notables from across the nations and professions, dating back to 612 BC. Clerics and soldiers, directors and designers – each historic figure is listed with a pithy description and one reference work. You'll find out about foredads and foremoms you never knew existed – from the Roman emperor Hadrian to techno musician Mark Almond – learning what they accomplished and who they screwed. You'll learn that author Yukio Mishima of Japan "equated gay love with the incarnation of Buddha," and that Dorothy Arzner – one of Hollywood's first woman filmmakers – directed stars like Kate Hepburn and Joan Crawford and liked to dress like a guy.
But, edification aside, most of all you'll be amused. This is history and dish garnished lavishly with innuendo, riddled with sarcasm and schmooze. Take, for instance, the notes on Captain Kidd: "Long months at sea. Rejection by society.... It all added up to one queer pirate." Or look up J. Edgar Hoover, where you get these fabulous details: the G-man "spotted at a Plaza Hotel party reportedly wearing, 'a black chiffon dress, very short with ruffles ... and high high shoes.'" And for those digital inverts who like to combine correct politics with their sense of humor, there are optional titles for the whole program: call it "Lesbians and Gays in Herstory," "Fags and Dykes in History," or just "Queers Through the Years."
The trouble with Queers in History is that if you don't have fun with it, there's not much else there. The Mac, DOS, or Windows database, which its maker plans to expand in the future to a CD-ROM, is nowhere near ready for use as a research tool, with bios sadly spotty and dates of birth often omitted entirely. Worst of all is an inexcusable failure of accuracy: since when did Proust's Remembrances comprise ten volumes? And when did Mary Cassatt become Mary Cassat?
So load up Queers in History if you're in the mood to play – the deluxe version even includes Queeries, a Jeopardy! game designed for fags who love daytime TV shows and dykes with good minds for trivia – or if you long to boast about who came before you. If most of it's hearsay and dirt, well, that's because there's still not a whole lot else to go on. Anyway, it wasn't at the library that you finally got your queer-geek life, so why go there to get your heritage?
Queers in History: US$14.95. Quistory Ltd.: +1 (310) 659 2783.
STREET CRED
Online User's EncyclopediaTwo Tot-Enthralling Titles
Queers Through the Years
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