I attempted to examine 19th century Western Australian convict sites as
potential sites of homosexual activity, given the historical hysteria
surrounding potential sexual activity between male convicts. The
documentary record is full of references to the necessity of preventing
"unnatural acts" between convicts, although there is limited actual
evidence of these occuring. The general perception amongst historians is
that much of the hysteria was anti-convict propaganda based in attempts to
demonise convicts and end convict transportation to Australia.

Nevertheless, following Matthews (2000) - (full reference below) I examined
the sites for evidence of homosexual relationships between convicts. This
was part of a larger attempt to investigate how convicts enacted personal
relationships in a colony where there was a stigma against them to begin
with and where there were two men for every woman. I found absolutely zip.
Matthews (2000) contends that much of the material culture related to
homosexuality will be everyday items reused and that the historical
tendency of LGBTQ people to act covertly to avoid sanction, means that
identifying queer behaviour within the archaeological record will be
difficult.

If you want more info email me off list and I'll be happy to discuss it
further. Here's the reference:

Matthews, K. 2000. The Material Culture of the Homosexual Male: A Case
Study for Archaeological Exploration. In: Donald, M., & Hurcombe, Linda.
(ed.) Gender and Material Culture in Archaeological Perspective, 3-17.
Houndsmill: Palgrave Macmillan.


On Fri, Nov 8, 2013 at 7:59 AM, Megan Springate <[log in to unmask]>wrote:

> Greetings,
>
> I am working on a project focusing on LGBTQ history and heritage in the
> United States. As an archaeologist, I want to make sure that
> archaeological sites and discussion of the potential of LGBTQ sites to
> expand our historical understanding are included.
>
> To this end, does anyone know of archaeological excavations of sites
> associated with LGBTQ history? I would be interested in learning about
> them.
>
> Regards,
> Megan Springate
> PhD Student
> University of Maryland, College Park
>