Frida Kahlo.
The other woman in this photo is Chavela Vargas, an influential ranchera singer-songwriter. Though she didn’t “officially” come out as a lesbian until late in life, she was well-known for dressing in men’s clothing and not changing lyrics/pronouns when performing songs traditionally sung by men. She and Frida are alleged to have had a relationship.
chavela actually did talk about her relationship with frida very explicitly! she even lived in frida’s house for an extended period of time. here’s some things they said/wrote about each other:
chavela: “frida loved me. it’s a shame I burned a letter she wrote where she said, ‘I live for you and diego only.’ it was a beautiful love. she used to say, ‘I birthed you. I had you.’ and I told her, ‘yes, I feel your blood in mine.’ she gave birth to me. I admired her deeply, but I loved her more than I admired her paintings. she had her black mustache. it was thick, thick black hair. I loved seeing her eyebrows and her mustache. and she loved her mustache.” (x)
frida: “carlos [pellicer], I met chavela vargas today. an extraordinary, lesbian woman. in fact, I took a liking to her erotically. I don’t know if she felt what I did, but I think she is a very liberal woman, and if she asked, I would not hesitate a second before undressing in front of her. how often do we not just want a good lay? she is, I repeat, erotic. is she perhaps a gift sent to me from heaven?” (x)
