Queermunity's final LGBTQIA+ History Month Top Pick is Josephine Baker and comes to us courtesy of our Outreach and Events Co-Ordinator, Sarah Broadwell.
Josephine Baker has long been heralded as a symbol of the Jazz Age and Roaring 20s, notably in her banana skirt costume. Baker was the first black woman to star in a major motion picture, The Siren of the Tropics, in 1927, and spent her life as a French entertainer, French resistance agent, and a civil rights activist. Having a total of four marriages to men, the first of which being when she was only thirteen, Baker also had several relationships with women, including Blues singer Clara Smith, Belgian novelist Georges Simenon, and possibly Frida Kahlo. While such queer relationships were carefully hidden from the public eye, her on stage performing has been likened to that of modern day drag queens, complete with heavy make-up, glamorous gowns and ‘voguing’ - although this dancing style had not yet been given its title. Unable to conceive children herself, Baker adopted twelve children from all over the world, nicknamed, ‘The Rainbow Tribe’, and used their presence as a movement to advocate against racism. Interestingly, Baker never openly supported LGBT+ rights despite living well into the post-Stonewall era of gay liberation, but her audience consisted mostly of gay men by the end of her career. She died of a cerebral haemorrhage in 1975, surrounded by newspapers glowing with reviews of her final performance a few days earlier. Baker rewrote rules on sexual behaviour and contributed to the sexual liberation movement that fed into the emergence of the fight for LGBT+ rights that continues today.
"Baker rewrote rules on sexual behaviour and contributed to the sexual liberation movement."
I’m personally moved by her story and find her hugely inspirational. Using her platform to fight against racism, refusing to perform for segregated audiences forced societal change even at risk to her career. Moreover, her role in the French military intelligence is extraordinary, transporting top secret notes on invisible ink on her sheet music, or counting on her celebrity to avoid strip searches and hiding notes in her underwear. Baker was faced with immeasurable hardship: fervent racism, sexism, miscarriages and debt. Nevertheless, she ensured real change and was honoured in the Rainbow Honour Walk in San Francisco which notes inspirational members of the LGBT+ community.
Article Written By Sarah Broadwell
(She/Her)