Queer Ancestor Spotlight: Jean Diot and Bruno Lenoir
In 1750 Jean Diot and Bruno Lenoir were arrested in Paris for what one magistrate called “committing crimes which propriety does not permit us to describe in writing”. They became the last people legally executed in France as punishment for homosexuality.
Plaque placed in Paris, in front of 67 rue Montorgueil, at the intersection of rue Bachaumont, in memory of the execution of Jean Diot and Bruno Lenoir
Our understanding of the lives of men who had sex with men in 18th century France comes from archival records of state surveillance, arrests, and court records. In rare instances we may find personal letters. This is a common problem in LGBTQ+ historical research and provides only a narrow, biased window into the lives of queer* folks in the past. Additionally, the majority of records we have revolve around men who have sex with men because that behavior was policed, enforced, and often times navigated in public spaces. Women who had sex with women often navigated more private spaces that were not as surveilled, therefore we are reliant on the preservation of personal documents more than public or legal records.
According to the records that have been maintained, the Paris cruising scene that Jean Diot and Bruno Lenoir would have navigated included public spaces such as the Luxembourg and Tuileries gardens. These were public spaces that left these men open to the threat of surveillance and police decoys. In addition to public cruising, 18th century “sodomites” frequented taverns and rented rooms in boardinghouses for sex. Class also played an important role in this subculture, with men of higher social status or financial means often employing a “procurer” to find them sexual partners with whom they would engage in the relative privacy and safety of their personal homes.
Jean Diot, 40, and Bruno Lenoir, 23, were both working class men. On the evening of January 4, 1750 they were discovered having sex by a city watchman on the rue Montorgueil. They were arrested, imprisoned, and interrogated multiple times. Edmond Barbier, a French jurist who witnessed their execution, speculated that the men’s lower class played a role in the severity of their sentence, writing in his journal:
“These two workmen had no connection with persons of distinction, either at Court or in the city, and since they have apparently not named anyone [of rank], this example was made with no further consequences.”
The trial began on April 11, 1750 and they were condemned to death on May 27. On July 6 they were taking to the Place de Grève, what is now the City Hall Plaza, where at 5pm they were strangled and burned to death.
France ended the criminalization of sex between consenting adults in 1791.
*I’m using the word “queer” here as a shorthand for the variety of ways sexual desire and romantic attraction can present. Additionally, it is bad practice to apply our contemporary understanding and language around sexual and personal identity to historical figures. Social and personal identity are constructs heavily dependent on the norms, customs, and beliefs of the time so behavior we would consider indicative of same-sex romantic attraction today may have been culturally accepted behavior that may or may not provide an indication of a persons inner wants.
Learn more about Jean Diot, Bruno Lenoir, and 18th century Parisian queer culture here:
The Paris Cruising Scene in 1750 - The Gay & Lesbian Review
Affaire Diot-Lenoir Plaque - W & L Paris
Paris : la plaque en hommage aux derniers condamnés pour homosexualité à nouveau vandalisée - Komitid
Plaque Commemorating Two Men Burned for Sodomy Vandalized in Paris - Encounters with French History
