HELIOGABALUS aka Marcus Aurelius Antoninus, Roman Emperor, born (d: 222); Heliogabalis, also known as Elagabalus, the boy emperor of Rome, appears to have been a total madcap, if not completely mad.

His great love of swishing ceremony, inherited centuries later by the Roman Catholic Church, can only be suggested in the space available here. Since even madcap Gay Roman emperors were expected to produce an heir, a suitable bride was chosen for him, and he went through with the motions of consummation, finding it all rather futile.

But he was impressed with the ceremony itself and later went through it twice in one night, choosing as his “husband” a well-hung charioteer named Gorianus, and as his “wife” a boy named Hierocles. His wedding night with both was consummated in full public view. He had the makings of a great theatrical producer and virtually invented the casting call by sending out his agents to round up for audition the men with the largest penises in the Roman empire.

Eventually his enemies dispatched him with a sword up his bum and dumped his body in the sewer. He was just sweet seventeen.

The British sculptor and translator UNA VINCENZO, AKA LADY TROUBRIDGE was born on this date (d. 1963).  Born Margot Elena Gertrude Taylor, she is best known as the long-time partner (28 years) of Marguerite "John" Radclyffe-Hall, the author of The Well of Loneliness.  She married Admiral Ernest Thomas Troubridge in 1908 and gained her title when Admiral Troubridge was knighted in 1919.  Troubridge was an educated woman who had many achievements in her own right. Most notably she was a successful translator and introduced the French writer Colette to English readers. Her talent as a sculptor prompted Nijinsky to sit for her several times. 

Troubridge met Hall in 1915 as Troubridge was the cousin of singer Mabel Batten who was Hall's lover at the time. Mabel died in 1916, and Hall and Troubridge moved in together the following year.  Troubridge wrote about the intensity of their relationship in her diary: "I could not, having come to know her, imagine life without her." 

Both Troubridge and Hall identified as 'inverts', a term used by sexologists such as Krafft-Ebing and Havelock Ellis usually to connote what we now think of as homosexuality.  Hall and Troubridge raised and showed dachshunds and griffons. The dachshunds shown in the Romaine Brooks portrait of Troubridge were a prize winning pair given to her by Hall.

American poet, publisher, essayist and photographer JONATHAN WILLIAMS was born in Washington, DC (d. 2008). Williams was the founder of The Jargon Society, one of the most influential small presses of the 20th century. Jargon Society published poetry, experimental fiction, photography, and folk art for more than fifty years including many important books by Gay authors like James Broughton, Lou Harrison, Robert Duncan, Marsden Hartley and others.

But its biggest money-maker was the White Trash Cookbook, a manuscript that had been turned down by every other publisher because they thought it might be offensive to, um, white trash.

Book collectors take note. There are some great books Williams published that are treasures to be had by the Gay historian and literary lover. The letters between a young Hartley and Whitman's lead disciple Horace Traubel are an epiphany, as are the glorious editions of Broughton's homoerotic poetry published in the early 1970s.

Given these offerings it's no surprise that Buckminster Fuller once called Williams "our Johnny Appleseed," Guy Davenport described him as a "kind of polytechnic institute," and the literary historian Hugh Kenner hailed Jargon as "the Custodian of Snowflakes" and Williams as "the truffle-hound of American poetry."

Williams died March 16, 2008 in Highlands, NC from pneumonia. He was the last member of the Black Mountain poets to pass away. If you're interested in Williams' poetry, in 2005 Copper Canyon Press published what is now considered a "Collected Works" by Williams called Jubilant Thicket: New and Selected Poems.

On this date the American archaeologist, teacher and Gay & Lesbian activist PAUL REHAK was born in Ann Arbor Michigan (d. 2004). He studied at the University of Michigan and Bryn Mawr College. Rehak's research interests extended from prehistoric and Classical Greece to Imperial Rome. He taught at the College of Wooster, American University of Paris, Chicago's Loyola University and Duke University.

At Duke he was also popular as an out activist for Gay and Lesbian rights. In March 2004, just months before his death, the University of Kansas promoted him to associate professor. Rehak died in June 2004 of complications from a heart attack aggravated by a long struggle living with AIDS. Two years after his death his book Imperium and Cosmos: Augustus and the Northern Campus Martius was published by the University of Wisconsin Press. The book was edited by John G. Younger from a work in progress at the time of Rehak's death.

Today is INTERNATIONAL WOMEN'S DAY (IWD), originally called International Working Women's Day, is celebrated on March 8 every year. In different regions the focus of the celebrations ranges from general celebration of respect, appreciation, and love towards women for women's economic, political, and social achievements. Started as a Socialist political event event, the holiday blended the culture of many countries, primarily in Europe, especially those in the Soviet Bloc. In some regions, the day lost its political flavor, and became simply an occasion for people to express their love for women in a way somewhat similar to a mixture of Mother’s Day and Valentine’s Day.

In other regions, however, the political and human rights theme designated by the United Nations runs strong, and political and social awareness of the struggles of women worldwide are brought out and examined in a hopeful manner. Some people celebrate the day by wearing purple ribbons. Because, you know, it isn’t a thing until you have a ribbon.