Pirates, similar to cowboys, are often portrayed in the media as quintessential images of cishet masculinity. Is that true? Hell no! We’re fairly familiar with gay cowboys as a society I’d say, but a lot of people don’t realise just how gay pirates were and, as a gay obsessed with pirates, I think that’s a crime. So, for my post today, I’ll be exploring the incredibly gay history of the Golden Age of Piracy (1650-1730)!
Firstly, it’s important to drop a few preconceived notions about pirates at the door. Most European governments during this era portrayed pirates as evil, barbaric monsters who sought to destroy civilisation at all costs, but this isn’t entirely true. In fact, pirates actually lived very much in their own egalitarian society, outside of the racism, class divide and exploitation of the so-called “civilisation” the Western world sought to uphold. Pirates were largely of minority races (especially black people who had escaped slavery) and came from poverty. They believed every man was equal. Every man had his fair share of any treasure they plundered, and there was even compensation for any injuries during sieges. They received 600 pieces of eight if they lost a hand or foot, 1,800 pieces of eight if they lost both legs, 200 if they lost an eye and 2,000 if they went completely blind! Not to mention, the English Monarchy even endorsed piracy to loot Spanish ships for England at one point.
The illegal nature of piracy easily attracted young gay men, as at the time homosexuality and sodomy were punishable by death. On a pirate ship, however, which threw aside the unfair rules of the societies they had been born into, homosexuality was allowed – even encouraged.
Pirates had something called matelotage. This was a partnership between two adult pirates where they would share all goods and wealth and get a form of compensation should one of them die. Matelotage was very much a sacred thing among pirates that no one would interfere with, and there is evidence that it was much more than just “guys being bros”. They often took punishment on their matelots behalf, died together, lived together on land (such was the case with Robert Culliford and John Swan, of whom there is also a great deal of evidence of a romantic and sexual relationship between) and they were often intimate with each other as well. Buccaneer Alexander Exquemelin wrote of matelotage that “It is the general and solemn custom amongst them all to seek out… a comrade or companion, whom we may call partner… with whom they join the whole stock of what they possess.” There’s even more evidence to suggest matelotage was, in fact, very gay, as matelotage on non-pirate ships was conducted in secret, while pirate matelotage was very much loud and proud. Why would there be any need to hide it if it was just guys being pals? While historians may not want to address it very often, matelotage was incredibly likely to have been extremely gay. The term “matey” actually derives from matelotage, so when pirates in the media call each other matey, they’re essentially calling each other husbands and the writers probably don’t even realise this and it’s wonderful.
The island of Tortuga was particularly important to the pirates of this era, essentially being a pirate island that was homosocial due to the lack of women (the Dread Pirate Roberts wrote in his pirate code that women and children were not allowed on pirate ships presumably in order to prevent jealousy amongst the crew, but more on him later) and was very likely to have been openly homosexual. The French governor Jean le Vasseur had a plan to civilise the gay pirates. He organised the deportation of over 1,650 female prostitutes and petty criminals to Tortuga, expecting that the pirates would drop their male partners for female ones and that this would somehow turn the pirates into respectable citizens by Western standards. However, with the homosexual relationships having already been established, Vasseur’s plan inevitably failed. Rather than dropping their current, male partners for women, they engaged in polyamorous relationships instead, typically with one woman and two men. This disproves many of the arguments some people make that pirates were surely only gay out of necessity as it shows that, even with plenty of women around, the majority refused to drop their male partners.
Now, on to some famous queer pirates!
Bartholemew Roberts, also known as the Dread Pirate Roberts, is a name you’re likely to have heard at some point. He was one of the most successful pirates, taking hundreds of ships – and he was also definitely gay. When even historians accept someone may have been gay, you know there’s no denying it. Roberts had a relationship with the surgeon George Wilson. It should be noted that Wilson was not actually a pirate, so none of this comes in the form of matelotage. It is widely accepted that the two were in a sexual relationship, which was very likely to be romantic as well as they were always happier when the two of them were together. One account says: “They two [used] often to say that if they should meet with any of the Turnip Man’s ships [English King George I] they would blow up and go to hell together.” This was, unfortunately, not the dramatically romantic end they faced, but the sentiment was there.
Anne Bonny and Mary Read are perhaps some of the most well-known names in piracy today due to the fact that they were both women and were romantically and sexually involved with one another. It is argued that the two of them may have actually been trans. Both went by male names in childhood (Andy and Mark respectively) and preferred to take on the roles of men, however it’s unclear whether this was a rebellion against the gender roles and prejudices of the time, in order to find work at sea as women were not allowed, or whether they were actually trans. There are many stories that state the two exposed their breasts to men they killed as a taunt that their opponents were killed by women, or during battle as a tactic to distract their enemies. Whatever their genders may have been, they were undeniably queer. Bonny was in a relationship with Captain ‘Calico Jack’ Rackham, another name well-known today, and they met Read. It is then believed that Bonny became attracted to Read and revealed her secret and Read did the same, and that this was the point when the two of them became sexually involved with each other. It is also believed that Rackham became jealous of Read, believing he was a man who planned to steal away his lover, when Bonny revealed to him Read’s secret and it is widely believed that the three of them then engaged in a polyamorous relationship.
The three went on to steal a ship from Nassau and hire their own pirate crew. However, in 1720 their ship was stormed by a pirate hunter while the crew had been having a party. Whether Rackham and his men were too drunk or too afraid to fight is unclear, but only Bonny, Read and one other member of the crew fought the pirate hunters. Allegedly, Read shot at their own crew in anger when they refused to fight. The crew were captured and sentenced to death, though Bonny and Read escaped immediate execution by claiming they were pregnant, as it was illegal to hang a pregnant woman. Whether these claims were true or not is often disputed. Rackham was executed (and it is commonly said that Bonny’s last words to him were “Had you fought like a man, you need not have been hang’d like a dog”) while Read died in prison of a fever. It’s unclear what happened to Bonny as she seems to disappear from history after this, so many believe that she may have lived.
I hope you all enjoyed learning a little bit about the queer history of pirates! Of course, there’s plenty more than everything I’ve written here should you want to dig a little deeper. If less talked about eras of queer history is something you’re interested in, then please check out my post next week, where I’ll be talking about homosexuality in the Renaissance Italy art scene and Donatello’s David!
Please all of you stay as safe and healthy as you can!
By Kezia Johnston
コメント