The Greatest Gay Love Stories Never Told

The Man in the Memorial
The Love Story: During the Revolutionary War, a decorated general falls in love with a soldier, only to lose him in battle. Centuries later, his memorial in the nation’s capitol echoes this love.

Friedrich Wilhelm von Steuben was a German-Prussian general who served alongside George Washington in the Revolutionary War and is credited with teaching the Continental Army the basics of military protocol and generally believed to have been a gay man.

The memorial to General von Steuben in Washington, DC bears the homoerotic image of a Roman soldier instructing a nude man in military protocol. Given that von Steuben was likely gay, this stirring image could be the perfect parallel to the celebrated military figure’s authentic personal life.

When German-born artist Albert Jaegers is commissioned to design a fitting tribute to the great man in the early 1900s, he is startled to learn from his research that the General was gay and had been in love with a young soldier who died in battle. But when he suggests including the General’s lover with him in the sculpture, the government officials behind the memorial balk, refusing to allow an esteemed member of the military be viewed as a homosexual.

Dedicated to preserving his subject’s authentic being, Jaegers instead includes an homage to the Roman army, including a pair of soldiers meant to represent von Steuben and his lost love.

The Pitch: The Girl With the Pearl Earring (2003) meets Atonement
The Cast: Victor Garber as the General and Randy Harrison as the soldier

Partnership: A Love Story
The Love Story: Matthew Roche and Christopher Cramp were possibly the first two men to be “married” in the UK following the passage of the Civil Partnership Act. The couple was granted a waiver of the two-week waiting period because Roche was dying of cancer.

Matthew Roche and Christopher Cramp may have been fortunate to be the first couple united under the Civil Partnership Act in 2005, but it was under bittersweet circumstances, to say the least. Roche, 46, was dying of lung cancer, and the couple was granted a waiver of the two-week waiting period, and allowed to marry on December 5^th, in his hospice room.

Following the ceremony, Roche said, “"Chris and I have always wanted to do this - it is just a shame that I have been taken so early."

Roche passed away the following day.

The Pitch: I Now Pronounce You Chuck & Larry meets Terms of Endearment
The Cast: Stephen Fry and Hugh Laurie as Cramp and Roche

The Best Little Molly House in London
The Love Story: Within in the walls of Mother Clap’s molly house, London’s gay men find love and adventure.

At the turn of the 18^th century, there weren’t many places for gay men to meet one another in London. At the time, in fact, homosexuality was punishable by execution. Enter Margaret Clap (better known as Mother Clap), an enterprising woman who opened what would become the most famous brothel for gay men in all of London.

As the dandies and rough-and-tumbles of London search for love amidst her boudoirs (and pine openly in songs written for the screen by Stephen Sondheim, of course!), Mother does her best to protect her clients and fend off the coppers. Mother Clap was arrested for assisting sodomites after a raid in 1726 and some of the men with her were hanged … but can’t we imagine that at least a few escaped to live happy lives together?