The Best of LGBTQ Secrets in History and Art

Discover the top hits of LGBTQ+ history & art from Professor Andrew Lear’s acclaimed tours of the world’s most celebrated museums and cities

Can’t Make The Time? Register in advance and receive access to the recording for 14 days after the live Zoom tour.

Travel across centuries and continents to uncover hidden and overlooked LGBTQ+ stories embedded in art, architecture, and culture. From Delphi to Naples, Paris to Munich, and Boston to New York, this engaging talk explores remarkable places and objects that reveal the depth and diversity of queer history.

You’ll encounter artworks and artifacts ranging from ancient relics to paintings, sculptures, frescoes, photographs, a gravesite, and even a country estate—each tied to compelling LGBTQ+ narratives. Professor Lear also explains the coded symbolism artists used to communicate identity and desire in times when openness was impossible.

Highlights include:

• The woman often described as “the first lesbian”
• An obelisk bearing prayers to an emperor’s beloved male companion
• The intersex gods of the ancient world
• The first male nude created after a thousand-year absence
• The gay cardinal behind one of today’s most famous art museums
• The country with at least 500,000 recognized third-gender people

Drawing on decades of scholarship, Professor Lear brings clarity, insight, and wit to stories spanning cultures, identities, and eras. You’ll leave with a deeper understanding of how LGBTQ+ lives have shaped history and art worldwide.