Queer History 126: Jean Cocteau

The Frivolous Prince Who Gave Zero Fucks: Jean Cocteau's Unapologetically Gay Life

Most artists hide their sexuality behind coded metaphors and careful innuendo. Jean Cocteau said fuck that noise and painted his gay life across every medium he touched—poetry, films, plays, drawings, novels—like a rainbow-colored explosion of artistic genius. This wasn't some closeted artist dropping subtle hints for future scholars to decode. This was a man who lived openly, loved boldly, and created fearlessly in an era when being gay could get you imprisoned, castrated, or worse.

From his first schoolboy crush to his legendary 25-year romance with actor Jean Marais, Cocteau never pretended to be anything other than exactly what he was: a brilliant, complex, outrageously talented gay man who refused to apologize for existing. He called himself "The Frivolous Prince," but there was nothing frivolous about the way he revolutionized art, defied Nazis, and built a life that was authentically, defiantly, gloriously queer.