Friday, May 18, 2012

Know Your LGBT History - Josephine Baker







The legendary Ms. Josephine Baker is a perfect example of why I post a "Know Your LGBT segment" on my blog. I try to tell my lgbtq brothers and sisters, particularly the younger folks to not allow ignorant people to get them down, steal their glory, or mar their potential. We all have the potential for greatness and those of us who are lgbtqs can soar just as high, regardless of those who try to weigh us down with their ignorance.

Josephine Baker did in spite of racism and ignorance.

AND she was family, as one of her 12 children attested to:

Baker was bisexual. Her son Jean-Claude Baker and co-author Chris Chase state in Josephine: The Hungry Heart that she was involved in numerous lesbian affairs, both while she was single and married, and mention six of her female lovers by name. Clara Smith, Evelyn Sheppard, Bessie Allison, Ada "Bricktop" Smith, and Mildred Smallwood were all African-American women whom she met while touring on the black performing circuit early in her career. She was also reportedly involved intimately with French writer Colette. Not mentioned, but confirmed since, was her affair with Mexican artist Frida Kahlo. Jean-Claude Baker, who interviewed over 2,000 people while writing his book, wrote that affairs with women were not uncommon for his mother throughout her lifetime. He was quoted in one interview as saying:
"She was what today you would call bisexual, and I will tell you why. Forget that I am her son, I am also a historian. You have to put her back into the context of the time in which she lived. In those days, Chorus Girls were abused by the white or black producers and by the leading men if he liked girls. But they could not sleep together because there were not enough hotels to accommodate black people. So they would all stay together, and the girls would develop lady lover friendships, do you understand my English? But wait wait...If one of the girls by preference was gay, she'd be called a bull dyke by the whole cast. So you see, discrimination is everywhere."

Past Know Your LGBT History posts:


Know Your LGBT History - Clara Ward and Willie 'Little Axe' Broadnax

 Know Your LGBT History - Venus Xtravaganza

Know Your LGBT History - LGBTs who are changing the world for the better

 Know Your LGBT History - Danitra Vance

Know Your LGBT History - Oliver Sipple

Know Your LGBT History - Gay Rights, Special Rights

Know Your LGBT History - Alan Turing

 Know Your LGBT History - Bayard Rustin

Know Your LGBT History - Billy Preston

Know Your LGBT History - Sylvester

 Know Your LGBT History - Billy Tipton

Know Your LGBT History - Nell Carter

Know Your LGBT History - James Baldwin

 Know Your LBGT History - Paul Winfield

Know Your LGBT History - Barbara Jordan

Know Your LGBT History - Michael Jeter

Know Your LGBT History - All in the Family and Beverly LaSalle

Know Your LGBT History - The Lion in Winter

Know Your LGBT History - Saturday Night Live and 'Schmitts Gay'

 Know Your LGBT History - Brother to Brother

Know Your LGBT History - Shameless

Know Your LGBT History - Car Wash

Know Your LGBT History - The 37th anniversary of 'Flowers of Evil'

Know Your LGBT History - The Best Way To Walk

Know Your LGBT History - The Jackal

Know Your LGBT History - A Cage Without A Key

Know Your LGBT History - In & Out

Know Your LGBT History - 'The Fabulous Gays' of Steambath

Know Your LGBT History - Bound

Know Your LGBT History - Gay characters from children's television show and movies

 Know Your LGBT History - Gay documentaries, past and present

Know Your LGBT History - The Hotel New Hampshire

Know Your LGBT History - The Crying Game

Know Your LGBT History - Set It Off

Know Your LGBT History - The Wedding Banquet

Know Your LGBT History - Bachelor Party

Know Your LGBT History - Starsky and Hutch

Know Your LGBT History - The Naked Civil Servant

 Know your LGBT History - Partners

 Know Your LGBT History - All in the Family: Cousin Liz

Know Your LGBT History - Rebecca

Know Your LGBT History - urban African-American movies

Know Your LGBT History - Charles Pierce

 Know Your LGBT History - Torch Song Trilogy

The Best of Know Your LGBT History

Know Your LGBT History - Masters of Horror - Sick Girl

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 Know Your LGBT History - Gimme A Break

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Know Your LGBT History - My Beautiful Laundrette

Know Your LGBT History - The Rocky Horror Picture Show

Know Your LGBT History - I Now Pronounce You Chuck and Larry

Know Your LGBT History - The Gay Deceivers

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Know Your LGBT History - Never Too Young To Die

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Know Your LGBT History - The Streets of San Francisco

Know Your LGBT History - Two looks at transgender characters in films

Know Your LGBT History - Flawless

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Know Your LGBT History - Beverly Hills Cop

Know Your LGBT History - Some Like It Hot

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Know Your LGBT History - Dirty Laundry

Know Your LGBT History - The Willie Witch Project

Know Your LGBT History - Spartacus

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Know Your LGBT History - The Birdcage

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Know Your LGBT History - That Certain Summer

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Know Your LGBT History - Staircase

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Know Your LGBT History - Armed and Dangerous

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Know Your LGBT History - Suddenly Last Summer

Know Your LGBT History - Gay TV Now

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Know Your LGBT History - Don't be a Menace to South Central While Drinking Your Juice in the Hood

Know Your LGBT History - A Different Story

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Know Your LGBT History - Noah's Arc

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Know Your LGBT History - The Night Strangler

Know Your LGBT History - All in the Family

Know Your LGBT History - Tongues Untied

Know Your LGBT History - The Celluloid Closet

Know Your LGBT History - Querelle

Know Your LGBT History - Theatre of Blood

Know Your LGBT History - Strange Fruit

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Know Your LGBT History - The Children's Hour

Know Your LGBT History - Sylvester

Know Your LGBT History - Once Bitten

Know Your LGBT History - The Boys in the Band

Know Your LGBT History - Christopher Morley, the crossdressing assassin

Know Your LGBT History - Midnight Cowboy

Know Your LGBT History - Dracula's Daughter

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Know Your LGBT History - 3 Strikes

Know Your LGBT History - Paris Is Burning

Know Your LGBT History - The Women

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Know Your LGBT History - The Player's Club

Special Know Your LGBT History - Fame

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Know Your LGBT History - Barney Miller

Know your lgbt history - The Jerry Springer Show

Know your lgbt history - Martin Lawrence and that 'gay guy' on his show

Know your lgbt history - The Ricki Lake Show

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'Know your lgbt history - Cruising

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The Jeffersons and the transgender communit



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3 comments:

Cyn said...

Thank you so much for this. Miss Josephine was an awesome woman and now another good thing. Also explains my attraction. Alice Walker mentions the lesbians being called bull dyke or bull dagger in

And thank you for my LGBT history lessons. Great resource.

Cyn said...

Thank you so much for this information on Miss Josephine. I admired her before, this explains the attraction posthumously. Alice Walker mentioned lesbians being called bull dykes and also bull daggers back then.

And Thank You for continuing to teach us LGBT history. You are a great resource.

truthspew said...

I've known about her for some time. What stood out though was her ease of celebrity and her grace. It was amazing.

That racism in the U.S. prevented her staying here is a great loss to U.S. culture.