🌍✨ Celebrating Queer Expats Who Shaped Global Culture | LGBTQ+ History Month 🌍✨
Queer folks have sought refuge and freedom beyond the borders of their home countries and communities since the beginning of time. Sometimes, life as an expat opens the doors to personal liberation by providing the space for self-examination. Other times, queer folks simply move away from persecution at home and toward acceptance abroad. In other ways, being foreign creates space to exist differently and outside the local cultural system. This LGBTQ+ history month, we honor five extraordinary queer expats whose lives abroad shaped their legacy and impacted global culture even through to today.
Gertrude Stein
From: Pittsburgh, USA
Lived in: Paris, France
Gertrude Stein
Gertrude Stein was a modernist writer and influential art collector who made her mark on both the literary and art worlds. Alongside her lifelong partner, Alice B. Toklas, she moved to Paris, where she hosted salons that attracted some of the 20th century’s most iconic artists and writers, including Pablo Picasso and Ernest Hemingway.
Living in Paris gave Stein the freedom to live openly as a queer woman and explore her identity in ways that may not have been possible in early 20th-century America. She became a central figure in the modernist movement, breaking boundaries in both art and literature. Her expat life allowed her to foster an international community of creatives and left a lasting impact on culture through her avant-garde writing and patronage of the arts.
Join our Queer Expats Worldwide community to connect with an international queer community today!
Langston Hughes
From: Joplin, Missouri, USA
Lived in: Mexico, France, Spain, Russia
Langston Hughes
Langston Hughes was one of the most prominent figures of the Harlem Renaissance, a movement that celebrated Black culture through literature, art, and music. Hughes was a poet, novelist, and playwright who traveled extensively during his lifetime, living in Mexico, France, and Spain at different points. Though Hughes did not publicly identify as queer, many scholars today recognize the influence of his sexuality in his work and relationships. His travels abroad, particularly to Europe, gave him new perspectives on race and identity. Living outside of the racially charged environment of the United States allowed him to connect the struggles of Black Americans with the global fight against colonialism and oppression. His experiences as an expat deepened his understanding of the human experience, which he expressed so powerfully in his poetry and essays.
Hughes’ I Wonder As I Wander is a autobiographical travel memoir like no other.
James Baldwin
From: Harlem, New York, USA
Lived in: Paris, France
James Baldwin
James Baldwin, one of the most influential writers of the 20th century, moved to Paris in 1948 to escape the racial and sexual oppression of the United States. Baldwin’s life as an expat gave him the space to reflect on his experiences as a Black, gay man in America. Living in France allowed him to distance himself from the daily discrimination he faced at home and focus on his writing. Baldwin’s essays and novels, such as Go Tell It on the Mountain and Giovanni’s Room, addressed issues of race, sexuality, and identity, often challenging the status quo. His expatriate life played a crucial role in shaping his worldview, giving him the freedom to explore his queerness in ways that weren’t possible in mid-20th-century America. His writings continue to inspire discussions around intersectionality and social justice today.
Baldwin’s Nobody Knows My Name is a profound piece of literary work.
Jane and Paul Bowles
From: Queens, New York, USA (Paul) and New York, USA (Jane)
Lived in: Tangier, Morocco
Paul and Jane Bowles
Paul and Jane Bowles were an extraordinary creative couple who built their lives in Tangier, Morocco, in 1947. Both were prolific writers who found inspiration in the cultural vibrancy of their expatriate community. Paul, a composer and novelist, is best known for his novel The Sheltering Sky, which explores the emotional complexities of culture and identity. His time in Morocco influenced his work and attracted other expatriates to the city.
Jane Bowles, though lesser known than her husband, was a brilliant writer in her own right. She penned the novel Two Serious Ladies, as well as numerous short stories and plays, earning praise for her unique voice and unconventional characters. Jane’s queerness was a significant part of her identity, and she openly explored her relationships with women while living in Tangier.
The Bowles’ unconventional marriage allowed both of them to navigate their sexualities in different ways, and their home in Morocco became a gathering place for other queer artists. Together, they created a literary and cultural environment that was open, dynamic, and ahead of its time. Their life abroad offered them the freedom to live authentically and explore their creative boundaries, leaving a lasting impact on modern literature and the expatriate art scene.
Read Two Serious Ladies by Jane Bowles.
Audre Lorde
From: New York, USA
Lived in: Berlin, Germany
Audre Lorde
Audre Lorde was a Black lesbian feminist, poet, and activist whose work transcended borders. Known for her fierce advocacy for intersectionality—addressing the intertwined issues of race, gender, class, and sexuality—Lorde’s life and work had a significant influence on both feminist and civil rights movements. In the 1980s, Lorde lived in Berlin, where her presence energized the Afro-German women’s movement, helping them forge a new identity as Afro-Germans.
Lorde’s time in Berlin wasn’t just about building communities; it was also a creative and intellectual period for her. While living abroad, she published several influential works, including Zami: A New Spelling of My Name, a groundbreaking biomythography that blurred the lines between autobiography, history, and myth to explore Lorde’s own identity as a Black, queer woman. In Berlin, she continued to write and speak out on issues of intersectionality and oppression, and her collection The Cancer Journals—which chronicled her experiences with breast cancer—became a powerful feminist work.
Her expat experience in Germany allowed her to strengthen cross-cultural solidarity, influencing both European and American feminist movements. She not only inspired the women around her but also facilitated vital conversations about racism, sexism, and homophobia on a global scale. Lorde’s work as an expat activist remains essential reading and continues to influence how we understand social justice today.
These five remarkable individuals each found freedom, inspiration, and community in their lives abroad. As queer expats, they were able to escape societal limitations and, in doing so, created work that transcended borders. From the literary salons of Paris to the activist spaces of Berlin and the artistic circles of Tangier, their impact on global culture continues to inspire and shape the world we live in today.
Let’s celebrate their legacies this LGBTQ+ History Month, and honor the ways they used their expat experiences to break boundaries and challenge the world to be better.
