Was oscar wilde gay?
Though Wilde’s sexual orientation has variously been considered bisexual, homosexual, and paederastic, Wilde himself felt he belonged to a culture of male love inspired by the Greek paederastic tradition.[2] In describing his own sexual identity, Wilde used the term Socratic.[3] He may have had significant sexual relationships with (in chronological order) Frank Miles, Constance Lloyd (Wilde’s wife), Robert Baldwin Ross, and Lord Alfred Douglas (“Bosie”). Wilde also had numerous sexual encounters with working-class male youths, who were often rent boys. Biographers generally believe Wilde was introduced to homosexuality in 1885 (the year after his wedding) by the 17-year-old Robert Baldwin Ross. Neil McKenna’s biography The Secret Life of Oscar Wilde (2003) theorises that Wilde was aware of his homosexuality much earlier, from the moment of his first kiss with another boy at the age of 16. According to McKenna, after arriving at Oxford in 1874, Wilde tentatively explored his sexuality,
