The men within these pages were the world's foremost heroes, among them the greatest military leaders ever known, Alexander the Great, seconded by his lover Hephaestion. Spartans at Thermopylae saved Western civilization from Eastern barbarism under Darius and Xerxes, while in Thebes the Sacred Band of 300 lovers defended the law that proclaimed it illegal for anyone to maintain that sex between men was not beautiful. Rome was less male-oriented than Greece, but two heroic emperors, Trajan and Hadrian, although married, may never have known their wives, women at the time satisfied enough with marriage to a man of wealth and social standing, while during the Renaissance poisonous religion found its antidote in the Medici who unearthed the texts of Ancient Greece, bringing forth the rebirth responsible for the masterpieces of homosexuals Michelangelo, Cellini and the greatest man to have ever lived, Leonardo da Vinci. Over the tomb of homosexual Frederick the Great, Napoleon declared to his generals, following their conquest of Prussia, ''Gentlemen, if this man were still alive, we would not be here.'' Richard I, born in England but raised in France, from whence comes his name Richard Coeur de Lion, took the crusades to the walls of Jerusalem, alongside the man who shared his bed, King Philippe II. T.E. Lawrence fought for Arab independence, bringing the troops of King Faisel up to and through the gates of Damascus, a fitting gift, he wrote, for the people of the boy he loved, Dahoum, and John Nicholson led British forces over the fortifications of Delhi in retribution for the greatest massacre of English men, women and children that Britain had ever endured, the Mutiny of 1857, his lover Herbert Edwardes the only man who knew of Nicholson's secret devotion for the soldiers he led.
And so on to our own day, heroes in every walk of life, Homosexual Heroes ending with Jack Mackenroth, swimmer, Outgames competitor, menswear designer, gay-rights defender and magnificently sexy pornstar. Yet despite the valiant men within these pages, despite same-sex marriages and the Great Liberator--Internet--heroism is still required for a boy to admit, to his locker-room buddies, that he prefers them to the chirping maidens in the adjoining showers.
This revised and enlarged edition is priced at the lowest cost permitted by the editors so that young readers can discover, with profound pride, the lives of the heroes who have cleared the path for us, pride shared by Apple president Tom Cook who stated, ''I'm proud to be gay and I consider being gay among the greatest gifts God has given me'', seconded by CNN's Anderson Cooper who proclaimed, ''I think being gay is a blessing, and it's something I am thankful for every single day.''
