Gay pirates

Recent portrayals of pirates have embraced the evident LGBTQ+ presence within piracy, culminating in numerous examples across multiple media. Burg describes it as “an institutionalized linking of a buccaneer and another male — most often a youth — in a relationship with clearly homosexual characteristics.” This civil union looked different for everyone.

If one partner died, their matelot would have ownership of all their possessions.

A partner was called your matelot, which can be interpreted as bunkmate. One main issue was that Bonny was already dating Captain John “Calico Jack” Rackham.

But out at sea, things were different. Read died of fever in prison. London, 1996.

Turley, Hans. Rum, Sodomy and the Lash.

He was so keen to get off on-board that he famously introduced a Pirates’ Code, one clause of which banned women and boys from the ship. Without too much in terms of spoilers, the entire plot of Black Sails is driven by Flint’s intense desire for revenge against the oppressive establishment that robbed him of his relationship with his male partner, decreeing that he intends to ‘wage war against the world.’

More recently, HBO’s hit comedy-drama Our Flag Means Death (2021-present) features no less than three separate LGBTQ+ relationships.

There’s a figure named Pierre — Pierre the Pansy Pirate, as he’s best-known, although the scarcity of sources on his life means some argue he didn’t actually exist — who reportedly owned a coffee shop, a hairdressing salon and a dressmakers’ shop, apparently enough to earn his “pansy” reputation. To reflect this accurately, historians used the term “sodomy” — a legal definition that described everything from gay male butt-fucking to literal bestiality — to describe the all “immoral,” non-reproductive, unmarried sex people were having.

Signed and dated in 1699, the document made it known that ‘by these preasants that Francis Reed and John Beavis are entread in courtship together.’ This is of course not the only instance of the practice between two male pirates. Some used it to strengthen their bonds with platonic companions; others saw it as an economic insurance policy.

A famous example of matelotage was between Richard Baker and Olauduh Equiano, a former slave who fell in love with Baker, a white, slave-owning American.

Some pirates went as far as baptisms in sea water, new names, and completely leaving behind their past identities.

Queer relationships at sea were not uncommon during the Golden Era of Piracy (1650-1730s).

Homoerotic unions like these add to the lore of pirates as proto-gay icons, and, like it or not, the gays have thoroughly claimed pirates as kin.

The practice was a formal agreement between two men, whereas one would inherit the other’s property if they were to pass away. While these instances do not necessarily denote a sexual relationship, the common saying that pirates married one another is a legitimate historical fact, if the exact nature of the relationship itself remains ambiguous.

It is no wonder then that this viewpoint has ventured into the realm of popular culture. These unions could range in meaning (fraternal, platonic, romantic, etc.) but were respected among most pirate crews. Several authors have firmly asserted the notion that matelotage was only a form of insurance lacking any kind of personal relationship, though I personally disagree with this narrow assessment.

Thus, it is perfectly plausible to suggest that pirates engaged in relationships, and possibly sexual relationships, with each other.