Here is a comic about a man I admire very much! Karl Heinrich Ulrichs was an early champion of LGBT rights, and maybe the first person to speak publicly for them as he did in Munich in 1867. The last picture there is the place where he spoke. He used the word “Urning” for gay men, a term he coined, because even the word “homosexual” wasn’t invented yet (it would be soon after). I only found out about him last fall, which is surprising and also sadly not surprising. But he was really amazing, I’m sure you will agree.
Hark! A Vagrant is a strange mix, sometimes the comics are straight jokes and sometimes, like here, I just want to talk about someone I think is great in a way that’s easy to pick up on - comics are great for that! And I tell you what, I got so much out of this particular collection, of all the things I read. Here is a link:
Karl Heinrich Ulrichs:
Urning Pride and the First Known Gay Activist
Translated and Edited by Michael Lombardi-Nash, PhD
The document is a mix of things, essays and Karl’s own writings and I think you will like it very much. I’m going to leave you with the epitaph on the stone his friends put up for him, he had many friends and admirers. It reads like a little affectionate biography.
Karl Henrich Ulrichs
who was born in Westerfeld near East Friesland
He distinguished himself and became renowned among
his equals by his mental faculties in the humanities and other disciplines
through instruction he received in Gottingen and Berlin.
He was concerned about new problems in anthropology and jurisprudence.
He had a remarkable sense of duty.
He was not elevated to prosperity nor was he humbled
by the attacks from his adversaries.
As a pauper he left the region of Hanover and went into exile.
He traveled through a great part of Europe.
He displayed everywhere a model character by his knowledge and virtue.
Finally he came to live in Aquila in central Italy to live for a long time.
He edited a Latin journal titled “Alaudae” [Larks]
which received praise from the old and new world.
Not complaining, not anguished, he died in our city in his 70th year
on the day before the Ides of July 1895
His loyal friends and admirers here and across the Alps
joined in to pay for this gift for their best friend whom
they mourn the loss of, and mock his lack of fortune
by this truly excellent monument.
“New problems in anthropology and jurisprudence.” Victorians, amirite? Never stop … Victorianing things. But still, I mean, who doesn’t want their friends to mock their lack of fortune with truly excellent monuments?
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