Roger Casement has been a subject of fascination – and controversy – for over a century. During his lifetime, he was an internationally-recognized champion for human rights, and was instrumental in exposing the horrors surrounding the rubber industry in the Belgian Congo and Peruvian Putumayo. Significantly, he spent his life Read more…
Symphysiotomy. Probably not a word you’ve heard before – and if you have, I’m sorry? Symphysiotomy is an obstetric procedure in which a person’s pubic symphysis cartilage is cut to widen the pelvis for childbirth. Yes. Gross. I know. For most of the 19th century, symphysiotomy was a new solution Read more…
The 1884 Dublin Castle Scandal took the United Kingdom by storm when two British administrators governing in Ireland were accused of having sex with other men. Like most crimes, sodomy was usually a case of men caught in the act by patrolling policemen, or was otherwise uncovered by normal police Read more…
A brief history of the struggle over the St. Patrick’s Day Parades in NYC & Boston. Can a person be both gay and Irish(-American)? Of course – but not everyone agreed when it came time to march.