A taxpayer-funded museum in the United Kingdom has provoked ridicule after describing Admiral Lord Nelson—the 19th-century naval commander who defeated Napoleon’s fleet—as “queer.”
The Walker Art Gallery in Liverpool placed two paintings of Nelson’s death at the 1805 Battle of Trafalgar in an online exhibition on the “history of LGBTQ+ love.” The inclusion is based on Nelson’s reputed final words to his close friend, Captain Thomas Hardy: “Kiss me, Hardy.”
Curators said historians have “speculated about the exact nature” of the men’s relationship, claiming their bond represents “the sometimes hidden queer history of life at sea.”
The LGB Alliance, a UK-based advocacy group, condemned the move as historical revisionism. “We already have enough LGB heroes from history, without pretending that straight people were gay,” said the group’s CEO, Kate Barker. “Rather than ‘queering’ people who can’t answer back, museums should be celebrating real gay, lesbian, and bisexual Britons who achieved brilliant things despite the prejudice of their times.”
There is no evidence Nelson was anything other than heterosexual. He was married to Frances Nelson and conducted a widely known affair with Emma, Lady Hamilton, whom he mentioned in his dying moments.
