Shttps://storymaps.arcgis.com,stories,5643a9902b494936924bcd76bce3f574o I'm just gonna jump in with a poet I thought of today.
i know in the first post I talked specifically of authors but who care right?
So this poet's name is Lord Alfred Douglas. He was most famous for being the lover of Oscar Wilde but he also did some pretty amazing stuff himself. If you wanna find more out about the tragic story of their love affair I suggest you watch Wilde (it's on Youtube I think). It stars Stephen Fry and is amazing. You can also learn about the history of queer literature which is really fascinating here:
https://storymaps.arcgis.com/stories/5643a9902b494936924bcd76bce3f574
But anyway. Douglas wrote this one poem that I absolutely adore and I don't think it gets enough credit. It's called "The Two Loves". You can look it up if you want. It's all about straight love vs gay love and ends with the line: "I am the love that dares not speak it's name" as a refference to how homosexuality wasn't seen as actual love, but of course it was veiled since homosexuality could get you sent to prison for "sodomy" back then.
I think it's really beautiful as the poem doesn't attempt to paint either straight- nor gay love as being better than the other, but it emphasises the cruelty with which homosexuality was oppressed and the inherent sadness that can come (even today) with LGBTQ+ - individuals having the way they love not acknowledged as real.