Today’s episode is dedicated to all of our gender binary non-conforming cousins as we discuss the absolutely fantastical life of bad-assery that was the famous 18th Century French diplomat, soldier, spy, and eventual extortionist, the Chevalier d’Eon.
Follow us on Instagram @TheGayCousinClub or email us tgccpod@gmail.com
Follow on Instagram and TikTok @thegaycousinclub, email us at tgccpod@gmail.com, or find all of this info and more at www.thegaycousinclub.com
Today’s episode is dedicated to all of our gender binary non-conforming cousins as we discuss the absolutely fantastical life of bad-assery that was the famous 18th Century French diplomat, soldier, spy, and eventual extortionist, the Chevalier d’Eon.
Follow us on Instagram @TheGayCousinClub or email us tgccpod@gmail.com
Follow on Instagram and TikTok @thegaycousinclub, email us at tgccpod@gmail.com, or find all of this info and more at www.thegaycousinclub.com
Hello beautiful people. I'm Danny.
Britt:And I'm Brett, and this is the Gay Cousin Club podcast. All right, let's call this meeting to order. How are you doing, Danny?
Dani:good. I'm gonna start off.
Oh, that was the,
Dani:this is
Britt:That was sad.
Dani:bottles cuz it doesn't make the refreshing. I guess that means I'll have to drink too, cuz I do have a can down here also.
Britt:we can hear my wine glass clinking around, if that
Dani:for us.
Britt:Yes. Danny and I both received very good news this week, so we are excited. Cheer to the
Dani:Choose the camera. Good Should we say our news?
Britt:What's our news, Danny?
We both got new jobs.
Britt:Yeah, we did within 24 hours of each other. We both got new job offers, which is good. Cause not that we didn't like our we were in the same previous career path. Can I say what it was? Yeah, I can say what it was now. We were both high school English teachers for a long time, like straight outta college. That's what we've been doing for a long time and it was very rewarding. We loved it so much, but our health was taking a hit. Yeah. So it's just time to move on. So I'm excited. I'm excited for what the new chapter's gonna bring us and hopefully more work-life balance, which means more time for the podcast, which is awesome.
Dani:Yeah. I'm really excited for that and like I get an hour lunch now, which I'm like,
Britt:that's cool.
Dani:do you do with all that time?
Britt:Mean you are not eating in 10 minutes while people are knocking on your door and trying to come in What?
Dani:So I don't need to constantly burn myself on my Tencent Ramen because I'm trying to wall it down so fast.
Britt:Yeah. Like I said, rewarding job, but like whoof, there is not a lot of balance there. So for those of you still in it, we appreciate you. We respect the crap outta you and
Dani:to you.
Britt:there's gonna be a lot about it that we're gonna miss, but we're gonna be good. I think this is gonna be good for us cause we were both struggling mentally and physically.
Dani:I've been saying that if I want the chance to ever get back into education, I have to put the pause on it now. Otherwise, I'm already starting to resent it. But otherwise I'm going to resent education and start to hate it and start to hate teaching. And
Britt:and I know we both love it. Yeah. And we both love it. And we both believe in public education so much.
Dani:And just who I am as a person, I never wanna just like slam shut a door just in case, you know? So I have to leave now in order to like, leave that door open a crack of maybe I'll come back. But
Britt:Yeah, I get that. that's totally fair.
Dani:yeah. I feel like by the time we get to our next episode we're gonna be like shitting bricks, getting ready
Britt:my God.
Dani:new jobs
Britt:Yeah. It's really
Dani:or hiatus again. And, you know, we'll go
Britt:No, don't say that. I'm so sorry guys. it was really rough, as you can tell. My voice sounds very different from this episode versus the last one. And then we did have technical difficulties for a week where we literally just Danny couldn't get into our platform at all. So we were going through it, man.
Dani:I emailed. The company so many times like, Hey, help lit. I couldn't edit audio. I'm like, that's literally the only thing I need to do.
Britt:nobody else sees our faces.
Dani:yeah. And they weren't getting back to me. And then two days ago they emailed me three times
Britt:Oh,
Dani:I figured it out on my own. Thank you.
Britt:thank you. I'm an independent female. I don't need no company actually. We really do. we really do need that company.
Dani:we really do. They're very helpful, but I was just very angry and I might have cried. But then of course, like once I finally get it edited that you know me, I cry when I'm frustrated. So it wasn't like I'm sad, just I cry, but then I'm like finally getting it edited and I catch the plague and
Britt:And it wasn't even from me. it wasn't even from me. Cause I'm two hours away from you actually. Okay. Funny thing is I caught that. Okay. So we, no, I had my respiratory on a shit ton of steroids that made me Hulk out during the last episode. Plague on the tail end of that. Then stomach flu, puke so hard I threw my back out.
So she's been struggling.
Britt:Yeah. and then right after that you
Dani:a stomach bug. I was
Britt:yeah. then you had texted me that you also had a stomach bug. And I was like I am not to blame for that one at least. Cause I've not seen you in person in so long because I've been so ill
Dani:I literally then tried to re-edit the entire podcast, like from my bathroom floor as I was dying and
Britt:Oh my Well, you did an amazing job. I
Dani:time. Thanks,
Britt:like, well, I was gonna be napping there anyways, so. Oh man. Well, I guess we should jump into it.
Dani:let's do this thing.
Britt:I have a very different episode, A really fun episode for us today. No sad
Dani:you've been telling me that I'm really intrigued,
Britt:said I'm excited. It's gonna be fun. So today's episode, ladies, gentlemen, and friends, not constrained to the binary, is dedicated to all of our gender binary nonconforming cousins because despite what, you know, people like to say in the news and be ignorant and argue about and on social media like, all of our other gay cousins have always existed. And one of the most well-known stories of this is no better intriguing life of the famous 18th century French diplomat, soldier, spy, and sometimes extortionist the Cha Dayon um, friends. right now, I looked up so many pronunciations and as you know, pronounce names.com is super helpful, but my mouth still only does Midwestern things. So I'm doing my very best and it's gonna be rough and I'm so, so sorry It's a French story.
Dani:Yeah. As soon as you started saying it, I was like, Ooh, ooh, that's that's gonna be rough for you, but, okay.
Britt:yeah. Yes. So this, okay, so today's subject spent the first half of their life presenting as a male and the second half presenting as a female. We'd probably consider them a transgender woman today. That's what like most historians kind of have landed on, but, or there's some evidence that maybe non-binary would've benefiting role for this person or fitting um, identity for this person. some information that we'll discuss later, but since it takes place in the 18th century, there was obviously no frame of reference for that, that was widely understood yet. Um, I will say that there's some like biographers, like well-known biographers, like the ones that are lauded as like the experts on this person that. Just he, which I, love, I don't love that. So I'm going to stick to the non-binary they them just because, um,
Dani:Good choice.
Britt:some more recent historians are like, I've watched some, like short documentaries on this and um, kind of what they have landed on, where they're like, this person presented in multiple ways over time just cause like we've talked about on this before. something that's fluid in developing throughout your life. So I don't want to put them in a box, so I'm gonna use the they.
Dani:Yeah, I
Britt:Yeah. takes place in the 18th century. There was not a concept of this. So the story is wild and so much of it is based off of like the of the shali. So we really do have to take a lot of it with a grain of salt. I will say that because it was kind of sensationalized at the time. begin the Chavee, which by the way, chavee is French title, kind of like the equivalent of some knighthood like, sir. Okay. So we'll discuss more about that later.
Dani:Okay. Okay, this is, no, this is a dumb DNA moment trademark. Is sh Is shier. Spelled like Chevalier.
Britt:Chave. So like around by us. seen this as a last name Chave, in French it's
Dani:I have not
Britt:give you their given name. So very French, very long. apologies in advance. Alright, so
Dani:Pronounce names.com
Britt:pronounced names.com was like, bitch, I have nothing for you, they were born. Charles, Genevieve, Louis, Augusta, Andre, Timothy de On October 5th. Yeah. Yeah. On October 5th, 1728 in Burgundy, France to an old um, family. So the family had actually fallen on hard times, just like a lot of people in aristocracy at some point. they were considered nobles, but really like, poor or close to it. So day on, I'm just gonna refer to like that last name ish part. Um,
Dani:Okay. Thank you. I was literally going to ask you, I'm like, what are we referring to them as? Because I literally
Britt:also Dayon, regardless of when this person went as manure or meta mozel. Dayon stayed the same. So we're gonna stick to Dayon. So Dayon excelled in school and went on to move to Paris to pursue higher education in 1743. And according to, okay, so this is in a documentary like a short b BBC documentary that came out last April. Their descendant um, whatever. So homeboy Philippe is a descendant of Dayon It said that Voltaire actually, according to the lore of the family, Voltaire said of the Chavee, I just found the brightest man of the century, which if Voltaire really said that about them, I would be bragging about that too, a couple hundred years later. But also like this, I only saw that from the family member, so who knows? But I think that's like, I when you go on to hear the story, I think it's arguable that it could have happened. So they graduated with degrees in civil law and Cannon Law 1749. And due to this education and their noble family's connections, Dayon began an illustrious career in civil service, quickly climbing the ranks. And by 1756, Dayon was assigned secretary to the French Ambassador to Russia. But this was actually a front Daylen was actually a member of a top secret organization called the King's Secret. I'm not gonna say the French name. The King's Secret, which was a top secret network of spies and diplomats for the French King Louis the 15th. Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah,
Dani:The French Spy on the Russians.
Britt:fine on bitch, there's fine on everybody. All right.
Dani:Everybody okay? Oh
Britt:So Louie the 15th had established the secret group in the 1740s as part of a plot to get his cousin um, the Deconte in control of Poland to expand the French influence. All right? So the secret was so secret, in fact that it was unknown to the French foreign ministry. So like the French government didn't know about it, they, they reported to the king, the thing because they often operated against the French foreign ministry and con contradicted
Dani:Ooh.
Britt:So shady as fuck interestingly, this period of time may have had some influence on the story of the Three Musketeers, so that's kind of cool. Dan's job basically while serving as this funny secretary okay, is to. Do some show you stuff behind the scenes. Remember, a lot of this is lore, so there's like a lot of grand legends of adventures. But one such legend is that while in St. Petersburg to establish a relationship with Empress Elizabeth of Russia in order to get her support of Cantis control of Poland. Cause they were still doing that stuff. Dylan had to dress as a woman to infiltrate the court and avoid detection. it was Deon's job to basically get in Empress Elizabeth of Russia's ear to get her support for that move into Poland. took on the identity of the lady, Leah Demont and served as a maid of honor to the Empress.
Dani:That's a fantastic name.
Britt:Well, Demont is from their original name, but um, so a more simple reason of this that like, that this might have been happening where day. Dale was dressing as a, a female in St. Petersburg. Like some historians think that it was because the, the empress was known for throwing these like elaborate masquerade balls where attendees were encouraged to wear clothes of the opposite sex. and this may have been the first time that Dayon was introduced to actually dressing female presenting. So this might be where it came from. Again, this might just be legend. Okay. so all this is happening. That's just a little background about what's happening in DayOne's, like personal life. But at the same time, France starts the seven year war with England, and it is not going well for the French. So by March of 1762, Louis the 15th is trying to enter peace talks, realizing like, this not going anywhere good for me. And during all this, DayOne had left Russia to serve as a dragoon in the French Army. So a dragoon is, and I'm, I might be mispronouncing that too, but there a class of mounted infantry, so they, they horses, but they dismounted and fought on foot. And from the early 17th century onward, they were trained for combat with swords, firearms on horseback, off horseback. Like they're pretty badass. So DayOne was like a spy and a soldier so far, and a ass. Yeah. diplomat, so August of 1762, then Dale was appointed secretary to the French ambassador who was negotiating the peace with Britain at this time. They were also admitted to the prestigious Royal Military Order of St. Louis, which is a huge honor for any soldier. Like, basic, it's like getting a medal essentially, but then being put into this order. Huge honor. But Dale was only 35 at the time, so like that's, wild. Like, that's much older than us. Like that's like, That's intense. So this,
Dani:Okay. That hurt my feelings.
Britt:right. Did you feel so insignificant? Like
Dani:It's true. But that, oh, don't say
Britt:I know they were out there, like they were out there fucking shit up and we're just like, we got new jobs and hopefully we won't cry as much.
Dani:I stepped my toe the other day and I only cried
Britt:Oh man. So this, actually where they got, title of she, so like basically they were knighted. So that's where that part like cha day on comes from. Okay, so a peace treaty assigned in February of 1763, but this stripped France of its colonies in North America. So that cost some tension. And then not to mention the fact they're wildly in debt from this huge war. So the Secret Kings Secret had a new goal invade Britain because the king's basically like, all right, I need to sign this peace treaty cuz I'm not doing well. But fuck you, I'm so covered for you
doshehavethebooty---she-do-_1_12-22-2022_192354:Yeah. Fuck y'all. I'm gonna do it on my
Britt:right now, remember the French foreign ministry is not in on this. This is just the secret. So basically the king couldn't win through war. So he is gonna get real sneaky. Then moving on to April, 1763, Dayon is sent to Britain to infiltrate the court for the King's secret, but was functioning under the title of ambassador to make things look above board. All right. According to Dion's descendant Philippe that I mentioned earlier, when the king sent Dayon to England, he said of them, not only is DayOne my best secret minister, but the best officer of the seven years war.
Dani:That's badass. That
Britt:that's coming from a descendant, but that's still like, whoa, So well, while Dayon is there though, they're just kind of living the good life. They're doing their job, but like not slowing down.
doshehavethebooty---she-do-_1_12-22-2022_192354:Reaping the benefits of getting the perks of their
Britt:Yeah, they had very expensive tastes. Remember Francis hurting for cash after, like hemorrhaging so much money into this war, and Dayon ends up getting in trouble for importing too much fine wine. Yeah. And, okay, so remember, Dayon isn't actually an ambassador. Like they're posing as one for the secret. So eventually the real Ambassador Dehi would arrive in England and DayOne would be demoted to Secretary
Dani:Oh
Britt:Ye. But this is extra awkward because within the ranks of the Secret, which the French foreign ministry doesn't know about DayOne was actually above Gushi. So now somebody that's beneath them just passed them up publicly, they just have to feel crazy like, above this person, but nobody knows I'm above this person. You know? Like just suck. yeah. so Dayon is pissed and writes a series of strongly worded letters to their superiors. you kind of think about like, I guess today's equivalent when somebody gets angry and sends that email a little, like fires it off a little bit too quickly. it didn't go over well. They're fired for insulin October 4th, 1763. So they're given until October 19th to come home for further punishment, cuz it's not just you're getting fired. It's like you, you done fucked up.
Dani:Okay. That makes me actually really happy that we live in the time of text messages because I can just I can text you whatever I wanna bitch at somebody else. It's just this is for someone else, colon. Then just like my entire rant and then
Britt:Not what I will actually be sending. Yeah. I'm gonna send up her my last email
Dani:Exactly. It's just, I just, need to
Britt:Right. So they said, you know, you gotta get home by October 19th. Dale says, nah, They were not gonna go home because they're not stupid. They know that the government could basically make them disappear. They had seen it happen to other people for
Dani:Oh
Britt:Yeah.
Dani:yeah, I suppose because it's not like they are just getting fired for being sassy and then saying, okay, you need to come back home. Like If they were a regular ambassador because they were so high up and they have all of the like, training from the war and everything like that,
Britt:the king's damn
Dani:know all the secrets of the secret Like that. Yeah. It makes sense that if they would go home, they would get disappeared.
Britt:Exactly. So they did have a little bit of protection left because of their work. Well in the secret. they start throwing that weight around, right? Louis the 15th orders, Dayon be extricated back to France. But the British foreign minister, like they're not gonna do the French any favors at this point. They just got out of a huge war with them. minister refuses and basically said, nah, Dayon can stay here live freely as a private citizen of Britain, So
Dani:Hey, one of our, I know we just got done fighting, but we have this citizen who's over there who is really naughty, and we need, your help sending them
Britt:could you just like do as a solid? I'm like, nah, hell nah, man.
Dani:I like, I know. We just got done fighting, but like they, they're our enemy now,
Britt:Yeah. So like relations are not, yeah, British French relations are not good. So England's like, nah, dude. Like that's not happening. So French foreign ministry is not easily. S suede, though several attempts were made to just straight up kidnap and arrest Dion. Like drag them back kicking and screaming. Yeah. Dion's like, hell now. And they get pissed and they start blackmailing the fucking King of France.
Dani:Oh my
Britt:They tell their superiors that they will spill all the dirty details, every single scandal that they know about because they've worked for the French King against the French government. If they don't back off,
Dani:That's so sassy. I love it. Have a strong
Britt:this would be bad for the government. This would be bad for the king. Everybody would get fucked. Um, and then they just did do that. In March of 1764, they published a scandalous book. It was basically a warning because given their career, there was way more that they could have said. And they, said that this was gonna be the first of several volumes of all their diplomatic correspondence as part of the secret. It was bad. That's like, that's basically a lot.
Dani:they release the first burn book
Britt:Yes. They, oh my God, for real. And it was bad and like, essentially libel, but I mean, it worked.
Dani:Good for.
Britt:So the British people ate that shit up and basically made day own a celebrity. They're like, hell yeah, no, I'm the French
Dani:We love
Britt:So it kind of gave them the protection of the British people cuz they were at like celebrity status in the eyes of the British people. Um, the fact that they made themself an open enemy to the French foreign ministry made them even more useful as a spy, allowing them to go even deeper into British society. Louis the 15th is like, alright, uncle, uncle,
Dani:Wait. Oh, so still using,
Britt:Mm-hmm. So Louis GI Day on a lifeline long pension of 12 grand a year in exchange for reports about British politics and handing over incriminating documents from the secret that they possessed. So Louis's like, fine, stay there. I don't give a shit. Just shut your mouth, hand over all the info and while you're already in there, keeps buying for me.
Dani:Just for the love of God. Shut the fuck
Britt:So they, they did finish, finish those other promised volumes, but they were told like, do not ever come back to France. All right. Don't come back here Um, so Dan's
Dani:You hurt my feelings and
Britt:We are not friends anymore. Okay. Like I told you that in confidence. so Deon's life was actually given that they like, they kinda won in a situation, but their, their life was so difficult at this time because of being a celebrity to the British. It moved beyond just dishing on those secrets because there was an obsession with knowing their bi biological sex. They were presenting as female at this point. Remember? Like kind of after Russia? Well, they went off to war, but then they were presenting as female on the British Court. But there were always just rumors and people wanted to know. Um, and in some texts I even saw, again, it could be lore, I don't know, but some texts said that they couldn't even leave the house with the armed guards because many people wanted to see them naked. And there was a risk of like being stripped, like, mind you damn business. It's so, yeah. Yeah. So bad.
Dani:Honestly, though. To a certain extent.
Britt:Oh my god. I know, I know. 100%. Um, so by 1771 London bookmakers were taking bets on their gender, and I'm like, their gender is whatever they say it is. So if they're saying that they're female right now, then that's their gender fuck off, whatever. And there were like satirical prints and newspapers like making jokes of it. It was just really shitty.
Dani:Of course, there's nothing funnier than making fun of someone's gender. presentation.
Britt:So jump ahead. A few years to 1774 Louie dies. So King Louis the 15th is gone. His son Louis the 16th, takes over and just wants none of the mess of the King's Secret. So he decides I'm abolishing the group. Louis the 16th doesn't even wanna invade England like his dad did. So he doesn't need Dayon Spine work anymore, which makes day on a liability once again. Yeah. So 1775, they're approached to negotiate a return to France and to hand over all the documents from their work as a spy cause they've still been at it. And it would expose a lot, a lot, a lot of royal corruption as you can imagine. the French government goes back and forth with Dayon for months. Eventually Dayon agrees to the following conditions. They will give up all the papers and return to France as soon as possible. But the king's gonna pay some of their substantial debts because remember, they are still living the the high life their pension. So continue that pension and would publicly recognize DayOne as a woman. So much of the public actually already believed that Dayon was a woman. Um, even when Dre, when, remember when they were fighting in the seven years war, when they were dressed as a captain of the French dra goons they would sometimes be mistaken for a woman dressed as a man. So people, really thought that like a lot of, a lot of people kind and well, I mean those are already the fascination in Britain, but a lot of the French already believed that DayOne was a woman and had just, you know,
Dani:Yeah. DayOne just like presented their like truer
Britt:well, and here's the story for why. There's kind of a rumor for why this all happened and something that DayOne actually spread this rumor themself. Because at one point somebody came from, France, somebody was sent to interview DayOne, and this is the story that supposedly DayOne told them, and it was accepted as fact. One biographer thinks that Dayon planted a rumor themself so that when this person that was supposed to interview them came calling Dayon, was armed with a fictional narrative that they'd been born a female, but forced into the role of a son because their father needed a male heir.
Dani:I mean, hey,
Britt:Yeah. Right. So this would enable them to retire from the Secret and return to France as Gary Kates. Um, one of the big biographers that I've been referencing. he's the author of Monso, Deon as a woman. Gary Kates suggests that a quote, heroin who had dressed up as a man in order to perform patriotic acts for Louis the 15th um, is what Dayon would be considered in the eyes of the public. um, as a condition of this deal, Dayon was required to return to France dressed as a woman. But that's an issue because it seems like even though they wanted to be publicly recognized as a woman, Dayon was not interested in, in conforming to any kind of gender binary,
Dani:Yeah. Wanted to present how they wanted to
Britt:exactly. Um, so Dale was still wearing their dragoon captain's uniform when they stepped off the boat in France, which didn't go over very well. They flat out refused to wear women's clothing and for months the government pushed for them to adhere to that gender role. And eventually it took a royal decree, but they acquiesced to wearing women's clothing.
Dani:That's ridiculous.
Britt:I know. Oh God. And it gets worse. So they agreed really reluctantly, they still wore their St. Louis medal on the women's clothes. So I'm gonna actually post a picture of that on our Instagram. Like you'll see them, a print that was released in the newspapers of them dressed, you know, in female presenting clothing, but wearing, you'll always see like, wearing that metal. Cause they were like, nah, bitch, I earned this
Dani:I was gonna say, yeah, if they wanna wear their fucking uniform because they served in that war for you, don't
Britt:right. Well, and there's all these rumors that, you know, eventually they were wearing dresses like they were required to, but they always wear boots underneath them or they weren't really shaving and whatever. And I'm just like, who? Like literally who cares? Present how you wanna present, but whatever.
Dani:Exactly.
Britt:were handed over to Rose Bertini. she was a famous clothing director to Marie Antoinette. So they, like the king basically said like, no, you're gonna dress as woman if you don't like it out here. Like, this lady will make you the best of the best. And I'm still like,
Dani:That's at least
Britt:I guess yeah,
Dani:okay. So forcing them into it, but okay. I know forcing them into anything is bad, but at least I feel like. I'm probably projecting here, but I feel like the king is at least like, okay, we made this deal so in order for me to uphold this deal, I need you in the eyes of the French public to be a female. Cuz I'm not gonna fight this. So if like it's that you're not comfortable in women's clothing, then okay, we will get you the best of the best. You need to wear this. If I'm going to
Britt:Maybe. Maybe. Yeah. So, you know, Dale meets with Rose and Dale tells her, truthfully, Madam Mozel, I do not yet know what I need. I only know that it's more difficult to equip a lady than a company of Dragoons from head to foot. Like, they're like, I'm a soldier man. I don't, I don't understand all this fashion. they kind of seem.
Dani:I wonder if they hated
Britt:it seems, I don't know if they liked that, but it seems like they did enjoy the attention that they got at this time. Like they liked that celebrity status. They liked being in the public eye in that sense and, and people kind of lauded them as like a Joan of Arc character, like this woman who put, puts her life on the line and takes on a man's role, blah, blah, blah, blah, blah. You know? So here's the thing though. Dalen is used to having a lot of political swing. Unfortunately, as a woman, they also lost any kind of political voice that they had before because not only is history homophobic friends, it is misogynistic too transphobic as we saw earlier. Yeah. So when France, during the American War of Independence Dale wanted the government to allow them to don their, the captain's uniform once again so that they could go fight with the French soldiers. But the crown said, hell no, you're a woman. You don't get to do that. Apparently the government, because Dale, Dale kept pushing this, the government went so far to tell them to, to go to a convent or get married, to have some kind of political sway through their husband. you can't see me guys, but I'm flipping off the camera. Yeah. Yeah. Dale did not
Dani:Okay. No, no moment of silence for everybody to flip off the crown. Fuck you.
Britt:So
Dani:Okay.
Britt:didn't let up, and as we've seen before, they are nothing if not fucking resistant. they continued to demand that the government allowed them to go to war. It got them arrested. They were thrown into prison, which is the dungeon of Dejo. Like they were put in a dungeon
Dani:how fucking stupid is that? You have a metaled fucking captain. Someone who was a badass spy for your country for
Britt:who could whoop some ass
Dani:Clearly. Exactly. Clearly has some fucking merit. And your country doesn't have a great track record so far with some wars. So if they're pushing it, let me go at a certain point. Like just make up a lie so that they can like, what the fuck? Use your goddamn resources. That's like me oh, I'm gonna run a marathon, but I'm gonna be too proud to use my inhaler.
Britt:Yeah. My asthmatic as is gonna try to run 26 fucking miles.
Dani:exactly. Or oh, when the ambulance inevitably comes on half mile marker. One like to come save me, me to
doshehavethebooty---she-do-_1_12-22-2022_192354:be like, I'm
Britt:yeah. I know. It's so stupid. so they left them in that dungeon for 19 days. Finally,
Dani:Oh my God. My heart fell out my butt. I thought you were gonna say 19
Britt:Oh no, no, no, no. no. 19 days and Dayon promises like fine, I will stop asking. So every attempt by Dayon at politically being like politically involved at that point on was instantly shut down by the French government. And they were eventually forced into exile for seven years on their family estate. So they're sent out a Paris basically like, go live in the country, we don't want you around. So after, yeah, after that time was up, they were like, fuck this. I was having fun in Britain. So they moved back to England reportedly to take care of some of their remaining debts there, cuz there was still a lot, but it seems like it was more just to get out from under the controlled, the French government. and remember the Brits liked them. They thought of them as a celebrity, so they were welcome into Society, basically like a heroin. so they're still continuing to collect their pension, remember? Cause that was part of the second deal until 1789. Then it's suspended because the French Revolution starts.
Dani:Oh,
Britt:So.
Dani:difficult.
Britt:In, a number of sources. I found this, like what I think is a pretty cynical viewpoint from some biographers in not to be a, a dick here, but these are typically the biographers referring to them as he him. Um, and they're saying that DayOne just dressed as a woman to please the government and that they were a cis man looking to get his pension. they were still dressing as a female and presenting as a female after the pension dried up because of the fucking revolution. And they supported the revolution.
Dani:And if that's the case, there are like, they were a spy. There are easier ways where they could have like blackmail that money than having one of their caveats be, you must recognize me as
Britt:Hell yeah. Hell yeah. It wasn't just for cloud like,
Dani:my God.
Britt:Yeah. So
Dani:Pulled your head out of your small, tiny, little asshole. Like
Britt:And the thing is, they're quickly going broke. They had a ton of debt and now they're not getting a pension, so they're living in poverty and they still presented this way. All right, so they tried to scrounge up
Dani:Okay. Yeah, if that was the case, then also if they were just like, oh, I'm just gonna live as a woman to get money, then as soon as poverty would be hitting, it would be, Nope, jk, I'm a dude. So that they can easily make money because dudes have more rights
Britt:exactly. And mm-hmm. So they're quickly going broke. So they tried to scrounge up some cash by selling a famous collection of books that they had, but it didn't cover all the debts. 17 91 rolls around DayOne's. Now in their sixties, they resort to putting on these like fencing exhibitions. So it was like widely publicized fencing matches where they would hold these tournaments and they fenced with people in their full female. and it drew a crowd in newspapers published about it all the time because they, it was just kind of wild and like badass looking.
Dani:It gives me like free to do four vibes with, um, like I'm gonna climb a mountain in a goddamn dress.
Britt:Yeah, exactly. Exactly. uh, they're still seen as like, somewhat of like a B list celebrity, I guess, even though they were living in new poverty. And in 1792 their portrait was painted by Thomas Stewart, and I will include this on our Instagram as well. Um, DayOne's wearing a full cockade hat. So if you're not familiar with what that is the pictures of like, people during the French Revolution, like the kind of like circular ribbons that they were wearing with the, colors to show that there's support for the revolution? Yeah, so DayOne Heather portrait done wearing that. and in the, in the picture of portrait, they even included, the artist included some like stubble on DayOne's cheeks. So we kind of see again, DayOne, yes. Maybe Because at the time there was no concept of non like, non-binary and like European culture at least, or like the mainstream European culture. and Dayon was like in female dress now, but still had these characteristics that would be stereotypically male.
Dani:like five o'clock shadow kind of thing.
Britt:Right, right. Which makes, uh, again, makes me feel, I, I'm not gonna like decide what their gender is, which is why I'm doing they them. But like, to me like today that this person might feel more comfortable, like either with the, the title of transgender woman or maybe even non-binary. So always a soldier at heart and capitalizing on their celebrity status down, even offered to lead an army of women for the fledgling French National Assembly. It never took off. It never took off. but It created a buzz for sure. so this sword fighting career lasted until 1796 and then, like they're getting pretty old at this point, but they were badly injured during a tournament and were forced to retire cause they just couldn't heal. Yeah. And remember they're broke, so they're forced to move in with a widowed friend named Mrs. Cole. And I know we always joke about like, oh, they were roommates, they're friends, but this what I, I I can't find evidence anywhere, so I'm not gonna make any assumptions. And I also didn't find evidence anywhere of any other relationships that Dayon was in. So I'm not gonna assume their sexuality.
Dani:Okay. Pause from our sponsors.
Britt:me too.
Dani:There we go. That's a little bit better. Sorry, I just, I was getting parched.
Britt:No worries. So at this time, unfortunately they're getting old. They don't have any money. They kind of become a shut in and they're really just too ill to leave the bed most of the time. So eventually, after a very long and storied life over 80 years, they died on May 21st, 1810. So Mrs. Cole remembers the one living with them. Mrs. Cole defines their body and starts dressing and cleaning their body for the recognition before, you know, funeral and all of that. So Mrs. Cole made what was an extremely shocking discovery for her when she went to dress her friend's body for burial. Remember, everyone had accepted that story, that narrative that from DayOne, that they were born biologically female, forced to take on a male's role until the last half of their life when they were able to return to life as a woman. But this was found to be a false narrative because Mrs. Cole apparently reports that she literally screamed when she undressed, DayOne and discovered that they were not biologically as they said they were. and it just, it became scandalized because numerous doctors were called in to examine their body and to confirm that this is, you know, considered a male genitalia. And it was, it got bad because Dale's obituary a few days later, exposed to this information, and then it was just republished. It was republished through all the media in Europe.
Dani:Come on.
Britt:whole life, they literally didn't want people to know that. they didn't want people to know that, and it was nobody's business. And now
Dani:just fucking respect it. like okay. Even, even if the friend was like scandalized by it, like you were friends with them you, you know, like how they were like, why would you not just like, oh my God, I'm terrified, whatever, blah, blah. blah. But like, then just keep it under wraps. Yes, exactly. Like, have your reaction, but then keep it under wraps. Like bury your friend the way they wanna be presented, and then just leave it at that. Not have everybody poke and prod at their dead body. Like
Britt:And then, and then republish it in multiple gries
Dani:Exactly. Fucking disgusting.
Britt:It's bad. So I guess I lied before when I said there wasn't a sad part. Sorry that, that part really sucks. But their grape, sadly, has been lost over time. But in 1966, in 1966, the UK's first transgender group, the Beaumont Society, was named for DayOne. And in that documentary that I, the short, like b BBC one that I watched from April, a spokesperson for the Society said that DayOne just serves as like this wonderful example of someone who would advocate for the freedom to just be yourself, however they would identify today. It would just be yourself, you know?
Dani:I
Britt:So, yeah, it, oh, one another cool thing, this isn't in my notes, but I found this while I was doing research. I, I don't know how, like true to their actual story it is, but there's uh, an anime loosely based on DayOne. So that's kind of cool. I was like looking for pictures and I, I, I don't remember, it's something with their name in it though. But I was looking for images and I kept coming across like Anna. I'm like, what the fuck is is happening here? It's a weird style of art for this, but yeah. But, okay. I wanna end on a quote that it was published in 1781 from the annual register in London. It must indeed be acknowledged. And at this time, remember they were using the female pronouns because that was at that point, okay? So it must be indeed be acknowledged that she's the most extraordinary person of the age. We have seen no one who has united so many military, political, and literary talents. So,
Dani:exactly. They were such a
Britt:Yeah. So although these, these newspapers were publishing shit that was not anybody's business, at least they recognize like this person had some fucking skill and some sway, like
Dani:exactly.
Britt:Yeah. This is a
Dani:Like look at this person's fucking resume like they did. Much in so many different ways. They were so influential behind the scenes, like in front of the camera, everything, and like, ugh, to just do them dirty like that. I know part of it, it's the time. It's the time historically, which sucks, but I'm putting my 2022 lens on it and it makes me very angry.
Britt:I feel you. I feel you. But I just think like they're, they're cool. I love that they were just like, no, this is how I wanna live, and you're all gonna accept it. And the fact that they.
Dani:And that's
Track 3:Tried to extort the goddamn king of Friends, I think is so funny. I love
Dani:um,
Britt:Oh, they did. they successfully did do that. They did? the damn thing. Yeah, this one I just stumbled across and I was like, oh, I gotta do that. That's, plus we haven't done anything about that yet so, or anything. Yeah. So anything
Dani:I, I wasn't sure. I wasn't sure um, how we wanted to approach gender-based things because like that we said it's like the gay cousin club. I'm like, okay, are we only focusing on like romantic and sexual or like,
Britt:No. You know what? I think it's,
Dani:lgbtq?
Britt:I think anybody. Under that umbrella of genders and sexualities that just is trying to live their truth and do their damn thing. I think they are our gay cousins and I love
Dani:I agree.
Britt:Yeah.
Dani:Even if like, even if like the, the gay
Britt:Oh cuz Gay doesn't define us either. And we're calling each other gay cousins. So
Dani:Yeah. Yeah.
Britt:Yeah,
Dani:I like that.
Britt:this is a fun one. This was like a really
Dani:Yeah.
Britt:Can I show you? I'm gonna show you the package picture,
Dani:Yeah. Oh my
Britt:And that's so cool. Um, and here's another one. And notice how they're wearing their St. Louis Medallion in all of,
Dani:I love that.
Britt:And then there's this one that. was much, earlier on where it shows
Dani:Okay. Skinny butt.
Britt:well and it shows like, them in the different phases Yeah. Of their lives. Yeah. Where it's like this person doesn't wanna define themselves
Dani:artistic.
Britt:them. Yeah.
Dani:That's
Britt:Yeah. Cuz in it, the title of that one was um, Zel De or The Chave Dayon. and it says, it talks about like, you know, a female member of the court or captain of the Dre Go and I'm like, does it have to be? Or that person was a, was an, and they did it at all.
Dani:I feel like that's the biggest thing with the gay cousin club. We don't need, or we can be, and let's be inclusive with our terms, with our gender, with, I don't know,
Britt:with all of
Dani:our money.
Britt:and
Dani:wanna gimme money?
Britt:I'm glad that given, you know, we were in really good moods today that I did not bring us down with a depressing story. So that was good timing.
Dani:I mean like obviously it's something like, yeah, I feel like part of it also is like coming from that teaching perspective of. kids will come to me and say like, these are my preferred pronouns. Or like, this is my preferred gender. Please call me this name, but don't tell my parents where like, don't at me listeners, if you're one of those people where it's like, you shouldn't know that. No, I hate that because a lot of the times kids aren't in a safe space to be able to do that and like I wanna be able to like help them identify how they
Britt:Well, and also remember that we. We were teaching high school. So these people, like these,
Dani:Yes,
Britt:kids, but they know who they are. They've known who they are, and believe them when they tell you.
Dani:Yeah. So I feel like that alone just makes me like really angry when, I mean like I've had it in the past where like I'm talking about a specific student that I. Has like come out to all of their teachers they wanna present this way at school and then somebody else is like using their dead name and using the wrong gender. And I'm just like, how hard is it for you to just like, change your words? It's not that hard. Like I get if like occasionally you make a mistake, I do that. Like everybody occasionally misgenders like, but you recognize
Britt:when they're, what I don't like is the, they're too young to know that, so I'm just gonna call them by this for now. And I'm like no, no. That's not your call to make, that is not your call to make. I dunno, I just think it's awesome that, like DayOne is still studied today because like how, the reason there was the stuff coming up in April was there were some more documents that were discovered about some of like the assassination attempts on them and like libel cases against them. Cause I didn't even get into all the legal stuff. Like of course they had people coming after them, but um, and was also like a calling card that was left with somebody when, during their time in Britain and it was signed, Madame was all DayOne. So like there's, it brought up that conversation again of like, how would they identify, was it. That they would truly identify as a female, or is that was like, that was the other option at the time. Like they didn't know of like an or, you know. So yeah, it was just really interesting. And it was cool to see the b BBC historians take on it where they were talking in like, um, it was like British history, something that I was looking at. And they were saying how the exhibit that they have, because there's um, exhibit where they have a lot of like portraits and these documents and stuff from day on. And it, they were saying that like, it, just a testament to the fact that like, people like this have always existed, which we know because like, you think indigenous cultures with, Two, Spirit. these people Have always been around. It's just maybe it wasn't as widely publicized, but somebody like DayOne, you can't deny it. DayOne was, wi DayOne was a celebrity. It was well
Dani:love that. Also that like dayon just like, made themself like a celebrity, a well-known figure
Britt:Yeah. They were like, I'm not getting outta the public eye. This is where I'm
Dani:No, fuck you. Oh, oh, I'm sorry. Does do, do I make you uncomfortable? Good Cause here, I, I
Britt:Yeah. Yeah. And so I just think that's like, just to show that like you can act like people who want can be idiots about it and say like, oh, it's this woke culture, blah, blah, blah, blah, blah. I'm like, no, these fucking people have always been around. They didn't have the vocabulary to be able to define themselves as they saw fit.
Dani:Well, and like, now that we have the interconnectedness of the internet like, I mean us right now, we're two hours apart and we can be communicating, but then we can also have listeners and fucking Kenya like, it, it like,
Britt:listeners in Kenya.
Dani:yeah. Yeah.
Britt:I didn't know. I don't see our stats. That's cool. Yeah.
Dani:Oh, oh, sorry. I thought I had told you that, but yeah, we had at least a listener. We had at least a listener one time in Kenya, so I don't remember if there were more, but, but I mean, on that note, like we can, we have this connection where like we can spread our ideas and knowledge and comradery and support where, yeah, it makes sense then that more people now than ever before are coming out because one, like you said, they're getting the vocabulary and they're getting the knowledge, but also like you're getting the community support. You're not just like, oh, I'm the only one. Like we were talk, we've talked before how like neither of us realize that we weren't straight because we would only talk to each other about it. We're like, no, that's how everybody feels.
Britt:Yeah. my my and I were literally, we were literally talking about this the other night and I think it came up because we were watching um, white Lotus and Aubrey Plaza. I was like, God damn babe. And Oh no, no. It wasn't about Aubrey Plaza that like, it was about Christina Ricci, cuz we were watching Yellow Jackets, which by the way, go watch that show guys. It's so good. But anyway.
Dani:You've always loved
Britt:I know. Okay. So that's what we were talking about. We were talking about Christina Ricci cuz my partner who was like, oh, you kind of have a type like I can see the resemblance with like Christina Ricci and Aubrey Flaa and I was like, I suppose so. Yeah, kinda like the darker hair and stuff. But like, my God, that's why I was obsessed with the movie Casper as a kid. And he was like, yeah, no shit dude. And I was like, I guess I just always thought it was, cause I've always
Dani:Casper
Britt:I was like, I always thought I just wanted to live in a haunted house. And he was like, you did, but you also wanted to live in a house with Christina Ricci. He got dressed and I'm like, I wanted to
Dani:You. You. are correct, sir. That
Britt:how did it take you so fucking long? And I was like, because who was I talking to? My sister who was also like, yeah, girls are gorgeous. I also wish I
Dani:at her. that dress,
Britt:Look at She I agree. She fills it out nicely..I'm also sweating
Dani:my tummy hurts. It must be cause I'm nervous about the Uncle Ghost
Britt:Like cool. Everybody else was lusting after the little. Yeah. Everybody else was just lusting after the little blonde boy who's there for like 30 seconds. I was like, that must be the reason. But that's literally the part that I always don't know during like I was always like never because somebody
Dani:No, I would get excited because I did like his eyes and like the little whisper thing he did to her that gave my prebus and heart a
Britt:Can I keep you
Dani:Yeah. And now it's fucking creepy.
Britt:Yeah.
Dani:Can I keep you? No. in my closet?
Britt:So I guess if we learned anything on the gay cousin called podcast today, it's that. Transgender, non and non-gender nonconforming people have always existed, and that Christina Ricci is a certified fucking babe. Christina Ricci. If you ever find a tiny podcast, please at me. I love you so much,
Dani:I think you're really cool. And I liked you in Wednesday. You did really well.
Britt:You're amazing. Yellow
Dani:Re
Britt:love you so much.
Dani:remember the Werewolf movie She did.
Britt:Oh my gosh. Do I remember that movie? Are you kidding me? She was still
Dani:No, it's more like, I don't remember name of that movie, but she was so good in that movie.
Britt:She was so good. And while we're at it, Aubrey Plaza, also, if you ever find our tiny podcast,
Dani:Oh my God, I'm so excited to read. I haven't read my baby The um, Aubrey Plaza Christmas Witch yet. Last year uh, my wife read it to my belly. Uh, she would do that every night. She would pick a different uh, kid's book and she would read it to my belly. Um, it was really cute. It was her ways of saying goodnight to the baby. she read the Christmas switch for like a couple days and like in the womb, baby would like go Absolutely not to open Nas for it. So she knows.
Britt:My baby did that for Stoner rap and then he came out of Postie fan. So one of us is a better parent than the other. And I'll, I'll leave that up to our listeners.
Dani:no, no. Uh, to be clear, that was not me. That was my wife doing that. I would blast Lil Nas and Lizzo, and now she's like, that's a B
Britt:Oh my God, we're, we are still off on a tangent now, but my kids adore Lizzo and my oldest is in love with her. Like if he hears her like her coming from my phone, he like goes to grab it to look to see if it's like a video because he wants to see her and when he does he is like, she's so pretty.
Dani:I feel like he tears up.
Britt:he upstairs. And it's not in like a creepy way. It's just like in awe. Like his little eyebrows are just like up and he's like, oh my goodness. I'm like, I agree, She's a goddess. And I like, I don't know how to explain that to you. Like she's just perfect. You are correct, We went way off the rails. Sorry. Friends, if you're still here, we love you
Dani:Okay, so real quick um, we passed, we just passed Hanukkah and like when this comes out it will be passed it. So happy belated Hanukkah. Uh, we just celebrated Yule, so to all my other witchy pals. Hello. Happy Yule. and Winter Solstice, if you're just one of those folks. Um, Christmas So Merry Christmas I'm very sorry. I don't know when Kwanza is so happy. Kwanza, all the other holidays, I'm sorry that I'm ignorant and I don't know them, but happy holidays in the most sincere way possible. I hope you all are with your chosen family or regular family if they're supportive. And I hope you all are safe and happy and loved and just know that you always have us and we love you, and we're here for you if you ever need anything.
Britt:That was beautiful. I was gonna say that too. I hope you're safe and loved, so that's perfect. I agree.
Dani:All right.
Britt:being here with us.
Dani:And if uh, you wanna follow us, you know the deal, we are the gay cousin club on Instagram. If you wanna reach out to us, tell us anything or just, you know, have a voice to listen to. Um, tg cc pod gmail.com, like the gay cousin club pod gmail.com. And that's about it. Sore. You wanna wrap us up?
Britt:I do. Yeah. I've been rambling too much. Sorry friends. Alright, let's call this meeting to a close meeting Adjourned friends.