Okay, no, as a French person who actually read the MĂ©moires du Chevalier DâEon, by FrĂ©dĂ©ric Gaillardet (yes itâs in French Iâm sorry I donât know if itâs available in other languages I donât think so), you can just stop the utter bullshit right there.
Charles, GeneviĂšve, Louis, AndrĂ©e, ThimothĂ©e DâEon de Beaumont was born in Tonnerre in 1728. Until the age of ten, he was raised in girl clothes, and not as a girl, mind the difference. After that he was raised like any other boy his age, and sent to school. He became a Doctor in Law and a lawyer at the Parliament, and he was one of the best swordsmen ever (he became PrĂ©vĂŽt de salles dâarmes, which is the highest rank one swordman could acquire at the time). So yeah, he was pretty badass even before what is of interest for us.
Now, you have to understand a very fundamental fact: the story of dâEon is deeply linked to the political situation of France and Great Britain at that time. The very first time dâEon disguised as a woman to serve as a spy for French King Louis XV was when he was sent to Russia, as a female reader for the Empress Catherine, under the name Lia de Beaumont. It was just a few years, and no one ever suspected that Lia was actually a man. When he returned to France, he was then sent in Great Britain, where, long story short, he used both his identities as man and woman to spy for the king; he ended up very well liked at the British Royal Court, but over the years he spent there, rumours about his/her âtrueâ gender began to spread, to the point where the British were actually betting money on it (which made him beyond furious for your information).
His gender was so confusing for the British government that they actually demanded an official statement from the French government to be sure of his true gender, and it so happened at that time that it was politically easier for the French government to state dâEon as a woman, for diplomatic reasons with the British mostly. But you have to know that it annoyed dâEon so much to be mistaken as a woman (yes, it annoyed him), that in the end, he said that if being a woman would bring peace, to him and both countries, then so be it, but he was very clear about the fact that while he wouldnât deny being a woman, he wouldnât clearly admit being one either. He was resigned.
And thatâs how dâEon was officially declared a woman. He didnât blackmail the French government, he was coerced into his fake gender (that he didnât like thank you very much) to avoid a political crisis between two jackass governments made of sissies.
What is to come is worse. When he finally returned to France, after the death of Louis XV, his tale had reached the ears of Marie-Antoinette, new Queen of France. At this time, it was easier for him to be a woman, because of financial reasons mostly, so like he said, he didnât deny being one when he was presented to the Queen, who liked him so much that she decided to make him an entire wardrobe. In other words, he was forced into disguising as a woman to survive, because the Queen, and not the Government, only accepted to support him financially as such.Â
Now you have to understand another fact: wearing womenâs clothes was making him sick. Like, really sick. Because corsets and shit like this werenât made for his male physionomy, and it was slowly killing him. He was ill all the time, very ill, he had to stay in bed for whole days, and in the end, he had to return to England just before the French Revolution, still being believed a woman by the whole country, just to die alone and poor with his landlady as his only friend in 1810.
So the only thing I have to say is: donât romanticize someone and make him a figure for your cause when you donât know shit about them. Le Chevalier dâEon was a hero, yes, but not for the reasons youâre completely making up above. If you want to assign a likely sexuality to him, it would be asexual and even aromantic, because he never married, never showed any interest in sex or romantic relationships, and was cold to anyone who tried to court him, and heaven knows that he was so beautiful, both as a man and a woman, that he thus had lots and lots of suitors.
So for the last time again: check your fucking facts before spreading bullshit.