Friday, September 06, 2013

Know Your LGBT History - The Lion In Winter


Richard confronts Philip in "The Lion in Winter" by 123lucyfur

One of my favorite plays and movies. The Lion In Winter, (1966 play) has been performed several times, the most famous being the 1968 motion picture in which Katherine Hepburn won an Oscar for Best Actress. It's a somewhat complicated play based upon English history mixed with a little fiction.

Henry II of England has let his wife, Eleanor of Acquitane, out of prison to spend Christmas with him. She had been imprisoned for constantly plotting to overthrow him. Also present are Henry's three sons, Richard, Geoffrey, and John. And let's not forget Alais, Henry's mistress and Richard's one-time fiance. She is also the half-sister of the last guest, King Philip of France. The entire play is an intense gamemanship as Henry attempts to keep his throne while verbally jousting with Eleanor. Eleanor, for her part, is plotting with Richard to overthrow Henry. Geoffrey and John are plotting to overthrow Henry also, but need the help of Philip. Meanwhile, Henry is torn between leaving his throne to John, who he thinks loves him the most out of all of his sons, and gaining a new heir with Alais.

You got all of that? The Lion in Winter is a serious wild ride in which alliances are formed and broken within seconds. Where characters express their love for each other in the middle of verbally slashing each other to ribbons. For the purpose of this blog, there is just one more interesting point.

 It would seem that Richard had an affair with Philip when Philip was younger. That is the subject of the above clip featuring Andrew Howard as Richard and Jonathan Rhys Meyers as Philip in the 2003 movie . Be forewarned, however and remember what I said. In spite of the tender moment at which the clip ends, there is a vicious betrayal on the part of Philip.   Philip exposes Richard as his lover in front of his father and reveals that the only reason why he started the affair was to be able to rub it in Henry's face in the future. Nasty!

 In reality, Henry did have several sons, including Richard and John, who continued to plot against him with the help of their mother. Their rebellions earned them the name of the "Devil's Brood."  As for the supposed affair between Richard (who was later named as Richard The Lionhearted) and Philip, historical details are rather sketchy.

Past Know Your LGBT History Posts:

'NOM's false concern for children is sad' and other Friday midday news briefs

NOM: ‘Generations Of Children Will Be Sacrificed To The Gods Of The Gay Lobby’ - What's up with the extreme hyperbole? NOM is constantly claiming that children do better with a mother and a father, but let me ask you something. Other than attempting to keep gays from getting married, what has NOM done for the issue of foster care and adoption? NOM seems to be more interested in keeping children away from good gay homes than making sure children are placed in homes period.

AFA does what AFA always does: Ends boycott, fakes 'success' - What if you announced a victory in a boycott WITHOUT showing how you were victorious?  

National Organization For Marriage Is Branching Out - Apparently attacking our transgender brothers and sisters is getting into vogue.  

Fox’s Todd Starnes Will Lie Until The Very End About San Antonio’s Proposed Non-Discrimination Law - Based upon his constant and deliberate attempt to push false and piss-poor stories depicting the gay community as the aggressors and "Christians" like himself as the innocent victims, I refuse to believe that there is not more to the hiring of Todd Starnes at Fox News than meets the eye. He serves a definite purpose for someone and that purpose doesn't entail accuracy.  

Fox's Todd Starnes: "Christians Are Trading Places With Homosexuals" In The Military - See my comment on the above news brief.

Hate Group Spokesman Peter Sprigg Shows Why NALT Christians Project Is Necessary - And where has Peter Sprigg from the Family Research Council been these days?

Video footage of the victory in San Antonio



Via the Associated Press comes the moment when the San Antonio passed the non-discrimination measure. Enjoy this moment of victory with the folks in San Antonio.