What's happening?

A new NetflixA television and film streaming service. People pay each month to watch programmes on Netflix. series tells the story of Alexander as he built one of the world's greatest empiresA political unit made up of multiple lands and peoples. Most empires have been built up through conquests and takeovers of land. in the 4th Century BC.

But the show has made headlines for a different reason. In the first episode, Alexander kisses another man.

On the show, one expertSomeone who knows a lot about a particular subject. says that Hephaestion, a young man, was not just Alexander's friend. In fact, he was Alexander's "greatest love".

Alexander was married three times - to women. Many think his first marriage to the princess Roxana was "a love match".

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In The Pink News, Josh Jackman lists nine other famous people from history that some now think were gay. They include Julius CaesarJulius Caesar was stabbed to death by a group of Roman senators at a senate meeting in 44BC., Leonardo da VinciAn Italian artist and inventor (1452 - 1519), considered to be one of the world's greatest geniuses. He painted the Mona Lisa and designed an early flying machine. and Richard IThe King of England from 1189 to 1199. He was also the Duke of Normandy. .

Was history gayer than we think?

Yes! Unfortunately, we have not always lived in tolerantBeing open-minded and listening to beliefs that are different to your own. times. This means that many gay people were not able to live openly. Or - for those that could - when their stories were told later, their LGBTStands for lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender. The initialism, as well as some of its common variants, functions as an umbrella term for sexuality and gender identity. identity was kept hidden.

No! Of course, there would have been LGBT people throughout history. But it is not really helpful to look for clues that famous people from the past were gay. In many cases, we must accept that we simply do not know.