Bonny and Read the Lesbian Pirates

From About.com

Bonney, Anne: (A.D. 1700-1722?) The most famous of all women pirates. Of Anne's various activities and proclivities, the one thing reporters are loathe to tell about is her lesbianism, citing instead her long association with Calico Jack, although Jack's lover was known as Pierre the Pansy Pirate, originally a dressmaker. Pierre had a passion for silk and velvet, of which there was too little in New Providence of the early 1700s. When Anne told him there'd be fine bolts of cloth to be taken on the high seas, he joined her crew. Pierre designed Anne's black velvet pants and Jack's famous calico coat.
Anne's actual lover was, of course, Mary Read. The four of them attempted at one point to retire from piracy and live peacefully inland as an extended family, but they were too notorious and pirate hunters were heavily rewarded in those days. forcing Anne and her chums to see it through to a dismal end. Another story to "prove" Anne's heterosexuality is that when she, Mary, and their crew came to trial and were condemned to die, they claimed to be pregnant, as pregnant women could not be hung. Few commentators question the peculiar coincidence of both of them being pregnant at the exact same handy moment, though all-round whorishness is generally implied. A wiser investigator discovered that the doctor who checked to see if they were indeed pregnant was, in fact, a long-standing associate of Anne's. Another myth quickly dispelled is that Jack introduced Anne into piracy. The fact is that he had never pirated until after he met her. She required a front man so that she could rule a pirate crew as regent.
She made a brave and crafty pirate. After boarding and looting a ship that included a trunk of fancy dresses destined for a bordello, her men could not resist a most absurd costume dance in celebration. Suddenly, there appeared on the horizon yet another ship worthy of attack. Anne had her cross-dressed men smear blood or red paint upon themselves and arrange themselves about the ship like corpses. Sailors are notoriously superstitious, and Anne took her next prize without resistance, as she was perceived as not a pirate but a ghost ship.
Her end is not really known. It is believed Mary died in prison of pneumonia while awaiting the phantom birth, but that Anne escaped and lived quietly thereafter, or may later have been hanged with a group of fanatical nuns over whom she held sway. Of her and Mary's capture, there is ample record, and they were by far the fiercest of their crew. Anne is reported to have quipped during the final fray, "Dogs! If instead of these weaklings I only had some women with me!" It is doubtful she meant to be ironic. [Carlova, Myron, Croix, Snow]

The citations are to:
Carlova, John. Mistress of the sea. New York: Citadel, 1964.
Croix, Robert de la. A history of piracy. New York: Manor Books, 1978.
Myron, Nancy and Charlotte Bunch (eds.). Women remembered. Baltimore: Diana Press, 1974.
Snow, Edward Rowe. Women of the sea. London: Alvin Redman, 1962.

 What truly concerns me about the excerpt written above is that it came from About.com, a website used and trusted by thousands of people because of its well deserved reputation for reliability.

The Truth

The simple fact of the matter is that there is absolutely no documented period evidence to suggest that Bonny and Read were lesbians, none to show that Calico Jack was gay, and none to show that Pierre the Pansy Pirate ever existed or had such a ridiculous and obviously made up name. But just for the fun of it let's have a look at the story presented above.

Pierre the Pansy Pirate is simply an invention. Calico Jack is known to have had associations with women other than Anne Bonny so he was not gay.

Both Mary Read and Anne Bonny "claimed" to be pregnant because they were. They were examined by a doctor to find out if their claims were true or if they had just made them to avoid the noose. Mary Read gave birth in prison (difficult to fake that!).

Calico Jack's career as a pirate before he became a captain is well documented. The idea that Bonny lured him into it to be her front man is disproven by his previous career in Captain Vane's crew.

Both Anne Bonny and Mary Read were married. Read may have been married twice. Both had children. Both had lovers aboard the pirate ship.

The real proof that Bonny and Read were not lesbians, bisexual, or in any way attracted to one another comes from Captain Johnson's General History, which along with the records of their trial provides almost everything that is known about Bonny and Read:

"Her sex was not so much as suspected by any person on board, till Anne Bonny, who was not altogether so reserved in point of chastity, took a particular liking to her; in short, Anne Bonny took her for a handsome young fellow and for reasons best known to herself, first discovered her sex to Mary Read. Mary Read knowing what she would be at, and being very sensible for her own incapacity that way, was forced to come to a right understanding with her, and so to the great dissapointment of Anne Bonny, she let her know she was a woman also;" from the Life of Mary Read

So, Anne Bony was sexually attracted to Mary Read when she believed her to be a man, but was greatly disappointed to discover she was a woman and lost all interest in her sexually. Hardly the actions of a lesbian.

Subsequent stories that Rackham once burst in on the two women naked in a cabin together have often been cited to show their homosexuality, but are entirely fictional having been made up in the 20th century to prove an unsupported theory, and have no basis whatsoever in fact.

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