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Gay Coins – From Sappho to PRIDE

Collage of coins with the text "Gay Coins" on top.

Photo: Lill-Ann Chepstow-Lusty/UiO.

For the first time, queer love is celebrated on a coin! The Cook Islands, England and Canada have recently issued coins celebrating PRIDE. The three coins bear Queen Elizabeth's portrait on the obverse and symbols for PRIDE and the LBTQ+ movement on the reverse. As the slogan says: "We're here, we're queer, we won't disappear!"

Temporary exhibition

Closing 25 July 2023

From poets of antiquity and emperors of Rome to European nobility and Scandinavian leaders: queer love has always existed, across societies, cultures and time.

In this exhibition, you will get to know some of the important queer leaders and poets in our world history, and how they were portrayed on historical coins. How did history's significant, and queer, people actually experience the societies they lived in?

A jar and a golden coin
Sappho was a Greek poet, most known for her love poetry praising young women’s beauty. Sappho was from the island Lesbos, and her poetry was therefore called “lesbian poems”. Here she is depicted on a 2,500 years old vase.

According to an ancient Greek myth, told by the poet Aristophanes 2,500 years ago, there were three genders in the beginning: male, female and androgynous, and each person was twice what they are now. They had four arms, four legs, and two heads. The men came from the sun, the women from the earth, and those who were androgynous came from the moon.

One day the god Zeus cut each person in half, and the parts were separated from each other. Because all humans yearn for their original nature, Aristophanes tells us, we’re always trying to reunite with our other half – whether that is a man or a woman.

Many important historical figures and heads of state were queer. Alexander the Great's greatest love was a man named Hephaiston. The Roman emperor Hadrian's passionate relationship with Antinous is one of the most famous love stories of antiquity. Queen Christina of Sweden is said to have stated that she would rather die than marry a man.

Do you know which Roman emperor defied Roman laws to marry a man? Or which European king installed his queen in a castle in a completely different city, and rarely let women enter his own residence?

Throughout history, many societies and civilizations have recognized and respected not only queer love, but also transgender and non-binary gender identities. Kinnar in India, khawaja sira in Pakistan, quariwarmi in the Inca Empire, chibados in Angola, femminelli in Neapolitan culture, and two-spirit in many Native American societies are examples of this. Today, few countries recognize non-binary gender identities. Why?

A painting of a woman
Queen Christina of Sweden is said to have been masculine both in appearance and behaviour, and is said to have stated that she would rather die than marry a man. She had a lifelong intimate friendship, which was possibly sexual, with Ebba Sparre.

Through their portraits on historical coins (some of them are more than two thousand years old!), this exhibition presents some of history's important queer leaders and poets.

Throughout history, coins have belonged to the public domain, and the most powerful people in society adorn our coins. Getting a place on official coins has significant symbolic value for an issue such as the homosexuality struggle. A small coin can symbolize and reflect the true nature of love, simply and universally.

The English government, the Canadian government and the Cook Islands recently issued coins celebrating PRIDE. The three coins bear Queen Elizabeth's portrait on the obverse (front) and symbols for PRIDE and the LBTQ+ movement on the reverse (back).

Curator: Lill-Ann Chepstow-Lusty

Published Nov. 9, 2022 1:49 PM - Last modified July 25, 2023 7:41 PM

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