“We are all in the gutter, but some of us are looking at the stars.” – Oscar Wilde, “Lady Windermere

“We are all in the gutter, but some of us are looking at the stars.” – Oscar Wilde, “Lady Windermere’s Fan” (1892).Picture: Oscar Wilde, 1882. Photo by Napoleon Sarony..On April 5, 1895, one hundred and twenty-two years ago today, Oscar Wilde’s criminal libel case against the Marquess of Queensbury came to a close as the judge sided with Queensbury, father of Wilde’s lover, Lord Alfred Douglas (better known as “Bosie”). Specifically, the court found that Queensbury told the truth “in fact and substance” and “for the public benefit” when he publicly accused Wilde of “posing as a somdomite [sic].”.During the trial, Wilde did himself no favors; on April 4, for example, when asked if he had ever kissed a particular young man, Wilde declined to deny the kiss, instead explaining: “Oh, dear no. He was a peculiarly plain boy. He was, unfortunately, extremely ugly.”.Hours after the trial’s end, Wilde was arrested on charges of sodomy and gross indecency; his name was removed from theaters where his plays were showing that night. He quickly was found guilty and sentenced to two years’ hard labor, and neither his career nor his health ever recovered from the impact of his prison stay..In 1896, after Wilde and Bosie both had forsaken their true selves in the name of religion, Wilde wrote to his Bosie, from whom he had not heard since the trial; “You came to me to learn the Pleasure of Life and the Pleasure of Art,” Wilde closed. “Perhaps I am chosen to teach you something much more wonderful, the meaning of Sorrow, and its beauty. Your affectionate friend, Oscar Wilde.” #lgbthistory #HavePrideInHistory #OscarWilde #AvengeOscarWilde #Resist -- source link

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