Maybe you saw the video on TikTok. Or on Instagram.

Or maybe you are seeing it here for the first time.

I’m so delighted to share a “deleted scene” – just a bit of the amazing LGBTQIA2+ history I learned that didn’t end up in No Way, They Were Gay?

Here’s Plato’s full quote from Symposium, translated by Benjamin Jowett over at the Internet Classics Archive by Daniel C. Stevenson, Web Atomics:

“And if only there were some way of contriving that a state or an army should be made up of lovers and their loves, they would be the very best governors of their own city, abstaining from all dishonor, and emulating one another in honour; and when fighting at each other’s side, although a mere handful, they would overcome the world. For what lover would not choose rather to be seen by all mankind than by his beloved, either when abandoning his post or throwing away his arms? He would be ready to die a thousand deaths rather than endure this. Or who would desert his beloved or fail him in the hour of danger? The veriest coward would become an inspired hero, equal to the bravest, at such a time; Love would inspire him.” —Plato, 360 BCE

You can enter the contest by:

1) commenting here, and/or

2) by liking/sharing/commenting on Instagram and TikTok, and/or

3) Posting your own favorite Queer History story on your own Instagram or TikTok.

Whichever way(s) you enter, make sure to tag me (@leewind on TikTok and @iamleewind on Instagram) and use the hashtag #Queerhistoryiseverywhere

Because it is!

Entries will accumulate the whole month of October 2021 (every time you share or comment or post with #Queerhistoryiseverywhere and tag me it’s an entry), and the randomized winners from all the entries will be announced in November 2021.

Good luck, and happy LGBTQIA2+ History Month!

The light in me recognizes and acknowledges the light in you,
Lee

Oh, want more Queer History fun? Check out my Queer History Quiz here!