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A High-Profile 18th-Century Gender Transition
- The Chevalier deon lived publicly as a man then as a woman and demanded recognition as female, revealing complex 18th-century gender expressions.
- Cases like Deon show privilege shaped tolerance and the rarity of surviving trans narratives.
Anne Lister's Encrypted Diaries
- Anne Lister kept an encrypted diary detailing her sexual life, using a personal cipher of Greek and algebraic symbols.
- Her diary records explicit sexual encounters and terms like 'grubbling' for fondling and a cross for orgasm.
How Law Turned Accusation Into Punishment
- The 1885 Criminal Law Amendment Act created 'gross indecency' charges that were easier to prove and widely weaponized.
- The law's lower threshold and two-year sentences devastated lives, notably Oscar Wilde's career.