🌈 Dr Ross Brooks
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rossbrooks.co.uk
🌈 Dr Ross Brooks
@rossbrooks.co.uk
13K followers 10K following 570 posts
Historian. #histsci. #queerhistory. Working on my first book: Darwin and the Queer Origins of Life (Yale University Press, August 2026). Trekkie. Classical music. Seaside living (near Brighton). He/him. rossbrooks.co.uk. Agent: www.philippasitters.co.uk.
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rossbrooks.co.uk
Annual New Year cocktails up the Shard with the brilliant @djberry.bsky.social. Then we went to see a wonderfully wintry production of A Midsummer Night's Dream at Shakespeare's Globe (actually the Globe's indoor Sam Wanamaker Playhouse, so not *too* wintry!). Great day! #London 🍸🎭
Two chaps posing happily in the cocktail bar at the top of the Shard in London. Dominic is wearing a light blue top. I'm wearing a purple jumper and a striped shirt. The cityscape, including the River Thames, can be seen in the background. Photo of myself inside the Sam Wanamaker Playhouse just before a performance. I'm wearing a purple jumper and a striped shirt. I'm also wearing specs. Other audience members and the stage can be seen in the background.
January 3, 2026 at 8:43 PM
rossbrooks.co.uk
Lots of promising queer history books to look forward to in 2026. Here are just a few coming soon . . . 🌈📚🗃️

www.beacon.org/A-Black-Quee...

www.bloomsbury.com/uk/queer-inh...

www.dukeupress.edu/gay-print-cu...

manchesteruniversitypress.co.uk/9781526165312/

utppublishing.com/doi/book/10....
Front cover of A Black Queer History of the United States by @crileysnorton.bsky.social and Darius Bost. Published by @beaconpress.bsky.social in January. Front cover of A Queer Scrapbook: Britain and Ireland since 1945 by @justinbengry.bsky.social, Matt Cook, @rebeccajennings.bsky.social, and E-J. Scott. Published by @manchesterup.bsky.social. Front cover of I Will Not Abandon You: Queer Women in Nazi Germany by @schuneke.bsky.social. Published by @uoftpress.bsky.social in April. Front cover of How Queer Bookshops Changed the World by A. J. West. Published by @oneworldbooks.bsky.social in May.
January 1, 2026 at 10:37 AM
rossbrooks.co.uk
Did someone say 'boxing'?

'The Boxer' (1933) by Russian artist Konstantin Somov. 🥊🌈🎨

Happy Boxing Day!

#BoxingDay #Christmas #queer #lgbtq #art #arthistory #1930s 🗃️
Colour image of the painting ‘The Boxer’ (1933) by Russian artist Konstantin Somov. The young, handsome, and naked boxer sits in front of a mirror. His boxing gloves hang on a nail behind next to the mirror.
December 26, 2025 at 9:48 AM
rossbrooks.co.uk
I'll be looking out for Rudolph and her friends tonight! 🔴🦌🦌🛷🎁🎅

Same-sex sexual behaviours are well documented for reindeer, female and male. Read about it in Bruce Bagemihl's Biological Exuberance: Animal Homosexuality and Natural Diversity (1999). #queer #lgbtq #science #nature #Christmas 🌈
Drawing of two male reindeer standing side by side, one of which is courting the other by 'vacuum licking,' or slurping, by which the animal flicks or smacks its tongue against the upper palate while approaching the other male with its head outstretched. The image, one of many, was created by John Megahan especially for Bagemihl's 'Biological Exuberance.'
December 24, 2025 at 8:26 AM
rossbrooks.co.uk
🐵 #queer 🌈 #science 🦋 #nature 🏳️‍⚧️ #PrideInSTEM 🐍 #Christmas2025 🎁
Front cover of The Sexual Evolution: How 500 Million Years of Sex, Gender and Mating Shape Modern Relationships by Nathan H. Lents Front cover of Sex Is a Spectrum: The Biological Limits of the Binary by Agustín Fuentes Front cover of Feminism In the Wild: How Human Biases Shape Our Understanding of Animal Behavior by Ambika Kamath and Melina Packer Front cover of Forest Euphoria: The Abounding Queerness of Nature by Patricia Ononiwu Kaishian
December 16, 2025 at 10:19 AM
rossbrooks.co.uk
There have been some wonderful queer-themed books published this year which would make *FABULOUS* Christmas presents. Here are my top picks (history first, then science below) . . .

📚 #booksky 🌈🗃️ #lgbtqhistory 🏳️‍⚧️🎄 #queerhistory 🎁
Front cover of Queer Cambridge: An Alternative History by Simon Goldhill Front cover of Thank You for Calling the Lesbian Line: A Hidden History of Queer Women by Elizabeth Lovatt Front cover of Queer Georgians: A Hidden History of Lovers, Lawbreakers and Homemakers by Anthony Delaney Front cover of 50 LGBTQ+ Finds from the Portable Antiquities Scheme by Ben Paites
December 16, 2025 at 10:19 AM
rossbrooks.co.uk
Just a fleeting visit to Manchester this time, but I was sure to say hello to Alan Turing . . . 🖥️🏳️‍🌈🍏

#lgbtqhistory #queerhistory
Photo of Alan Turing Memorial in Sackville Gardens, Manchester. Turing is depicted sitting on a bench holding an apple.
December 12, 2025 at 12:06 PM
rossbrooks.co.uk
So happy being back in the great city of Manchester! 🌈🐝

Looking forward to chatting with Yuki and Tamsin at the Whitworth this evening . . .
Selfie taken on Canal Street in Manchester. I'm wearing a black jumper and blue jacket with a rainbow-coloured bee pin badge. The street is very colourful with rainbow flags and lights.
December 11, 2025 at 2:45 PM
rossbrooks.co.uk
It's always a thrill returning to Oxford where I lived, studied, and worked for so long. I'm giving a talk at the stunning new Life and Mind Building . . . 🏳️‍🌈🐵🏳️‍⚧️🧬

#Oxford #QueerBiology #lgbtq @oxfordbiologylgbtq.bsky.social
Selfie taken outside Life and Mind Building in Oxford. I'm wearing a dark blue jacket, red jumper, and a red and blue striped shirt.
December 2, 2025 at 3:02 PM
rossbrooks.co.uk
Two Minutes' Silence by Charles Spencelayh (1928)

#RemembranceDay #RemembranceDay2025 #LestWeForget #art 🗃️
An elderly man stands and prays for his lost son whose portrait hangs above the clock which marks the eleventh hour. A jar of garden flowers is set beside the clock.
November 11, 2025 at 11:00 AM
rossbrooks.co.uk
@bsky.app now has over 40M users! 🦋💙

To celebrate, I thought I'd repost the cover image of The Science of Life (August 1929) from which the beautiful butterflies on my profile banner are taken. The central specimens are all gynandromorphs (simultaneously female and male). #histsci #queerhistory 🌈🗃️
Front cover of issue 12 of The Science of Life by Julian Huxley, G. P. Wells, and H. G. Wells and published in August 1929. Illustrating an article titled ‘What Determines Sex,’ a colour photograph features a selection of butterflies from the collections of the London Natural History Museum. Down the centre are five gynandromorph specimens. For four of the species, female and male specimens are placed either side of the gynandromorph for comparison. Image made from my own copy.
November 3, 2025 at 10:15 AM
rossbrooks.co.uk
🦇🩸⚰️ Happy Halloween! 🧛🩸🦇

Same-sex sexual behaviours in bats were first documented in 1895! Here's a more recent study: www.italian-journal-of-mammalogy.it/Same-sex-sex...

#Halloween #HappyHalloween #histsci #histbio #STS #GLAM #queer #lgbtq #queernature #PrideInSTEM 🌈🗃️
Photograph of mounted great false vampire bat (Vampyrum spectrum) against light green background in the collections of the Cole Zoology Museum (University of Reading). Its wings are fully extended and it has sharp teeth. It looks very scary.
October 31, 2025 at 2:51 PM
rossbrooks.co.uk
Google 'Ross Brooks' and you'll find out what an amazing ice hockey goaltender I am . . . not! 🏒

Happy 88th birthday to Canadian sports legend Ross Brooks!
Black and white signed photograph of Canadian ice hockey goaltender Ross Brooks in action wearing goaltending equipment and holding a stick in front of a net on ice. It is signed in blue ink.
October 17, 2025 at 11:51 AM
rossbrooks.co.uk
It's #WorldAnatomyDay, a good excuse to give a shout-out to Michael Sappol's brilliant 'Queer Anatomies: Aesthetics and Desire in the Anatomical Image, 1700-1900' (2024) and double take at some of the extraordinary images he discusses. 🤔 #queer #history #hstm #histmed @museumbums.bsky.social 🌈📚🗃️
Front cover of 'Queer Anatomies: Aesthetics and Desire in the Anatomical Image, 1700-1900' by Michael Sappol. Anatomical illustration showing dissection of the perineum. The subject lies on his back, his hands and feet tied. Joseph Maclise, 'A Deeper Dissection of the Perineum, the Pudic Artery and the Artery of the Bulb are Shown,' from Richard Quain, The Anatomy of the Arteries of the Human Body (1841-1844).
October 15, 2025 at 10:43 AM
rossbrooks.co.uk
Series 7 of RuPaul's Drag Race UK starts tonight (BBC Three, 8:40pm)! I'll be cheering for 'Titan of Brighton' Tayris, who is truly fabulous. 👠🌈📺 #tv

Some Drag Race science: in 2020, a gorgeous species of Australian soldier fly was named after RuPaul - Opaluma rupaul! #PrideInSTEM #queer #science
Image of RuPaul in iridescent rainbow-coloured gown alongside photo of similarly iridescent rainbow-coloured fly, Opaluma rupaul.
September 25, 2025 at 9:24 AM
rossbrooks.co.uk
ADVICE TO FRESHERS! 📚🎓🍺

Don't smoke.

From the University of Oxford's student mag The Isis, November 3, 1906. 🗃️ #students #freshers #uni
Advertisement for Nestor cigarettes in The Isis (November 3, 1906). Two male students walk arm-in-arm, smoking. The main text reads: "ADVICE TO FRESHERS. After "Hall" smoke "NESTOR" Cigarettes. YOU WILL FIND A "NESTOR" After Lectures A Solace. After Chapel A Comforter."
September 22, 2025 at 9:13 AM
rossbrooks.co.uk
Another shot, especially for @museumbums.bsky.social 👍🏛🍑🌈
Rear view of John Flaxman's statue of St. Michael overcoming Satan.
September 19, 2025 at 3:14 PM
rossbrooks.co.uk
Wishing everyone a super weekend from UCL Main Library! 💫

Considering the thrilling research adventures that go on unnoticed in libraries everywhere, I'm well up for some suitably dramatic decor. @ucl.ac.uk leading the way here with John Flaxman's statue of St. Michael slaying Satan . . . 📚😈 #GLAM
Selfie taken in the Flaxman Gallery, UCL Main Library. I'm wearing a black jumper and a coloured frog pin badge. Behind me is a statue depicting St. Michael who is about to plunge a spear into Satan who is lying at his feet.
September 19, 2025 at 3:14 PM
rossbrooks.co.uk
Sorry, Ethan. None of my library memberships will let me access it. 😞 It appears that the British Library has microform copies for 1919 . . .
September 17, 2025 at 5:21 PM
rossbrooks.co.uk
I'm going on a trip around the moon! 🌕🚀

Come with me . . .

Launch Your Name Around Moon in 2026 on NASA’s Artemis II Mission www.nasa.gov/news-release... #space
Blue 'Boarding Pass' with NASA Artemis II logo and showing my name.
September 13, 2025 at 7:52 AM
rossbrooks.co.uk
Not everyone was impressed . . . #TheRedArrows
Photograph taken on Eastbourne beach during the Airbourne airshow. The backs of some other spectators can be seen. The Red Arrows are flying, performing a stunt above the sea against a clear blue sky. In the foreground, a seagull flies nonchalantly in the opposite direction.
August 15, 2025 at 7:13 PM
rossbrooks.co.uk
Wishing everyone a lovely weekend from the Eastbourne International Airshow #Airbourne! ☀️🌊✈️

The Red Arrows scared the bejesus out of me during a visit to Norwich earlier this year, but I was ready for 'em today @djberry.bsky.social!

www.visiteastbourne.com/airshow #TheReds #SouthCoast #UK
Selfie taken on Eastbourne beach as the Red Arrows fly in formation in the blue sky above. Other spectators are taking photos.
August 15, 2025 at 4:54 PM
rossbrooks.co.uk
Fab weekend in the great city of Norwich, thanks to the brilliant @djberry.bsky.social and his partner.

We saw Yuki Kihara's Darwin in Paradise Camp exhibition @sainsburycentre.bsky.social, a vibrant celebration of Samoan faʻafāfine and natural diversity. Highly recommended!

#queer #art #pride 🌈🐠🏳️‍⚧️
Photo of myself and @djberry.bsky.social outside the Sainsbury Centre in Norwich. It's a sunny day and large sculptures can be seen in the background. Photo of the notice accompanying Yuki Kihara's Darwin Drag installation which is part of their Paradise Camp exhibition at the Sainsbury Centre in Norwich. It reads: "The scientific research of British biologist Charles Darwin transformed how Europeans studied and understood the natural world. With Alfred Russel Wallace, Darwin proposed the theory of evolution by natural selection, which continues to form our understanding of how all species have developed. Darwin's theories were so radical, they brought him into conflict with some members of the Church of England. Despite this, he was still shaped by the traditional values of the time. Recent research by writers such as Joan Roughgarden and Ross Brooks has shown that he manipulated some of his findings to suggest that queer occurrences in nature were outside of the norm, when in fact they are prevalent amongst many species. Darwin's concept of sexual selection created a narrative in which females are often selected as mates based on aesthetics, and males display aggressive behaviour to gain their mates. New research complicates this and demonstrates that there are biological advantages to sexual diversity, for example in sex-changing fish. In this new video work, Yuki Kahara confronts this research, and its implications for the desire in Western science for oversimplification and easy answers to complex questions, in a playful and camp way." Photograph of myself visiting Yuki Kihara's Paradise Camp exhibition at the Sainsbury Centre in Norwich. I'm sitting inside a thatched Samoan beach fale in front of a large screen showing Yuki's video Darwin Drag. Colourful images of Yuki Kihara's Darwin in Paradise Camp exhibition at the Sainsbury Centre in Norwich. They depict Yuki by the statue of Charles Darwin in the London Natural History Museum as well as photos of Yuki in different stages of drag as they filmed Darwin Drag.
July 14, 2025 at 9:10 AM
rossbrooks.co.uk
Wishing everyone a lovely weekend from England's sunny South Coast! ☀️🌊🍦

I'm *loving* my new Progress Pride frog pin! Well done and thank you @canopyrobin.com (efficient service too, with extra treats in the envelope - wonderful!). 🌈🐸🏳️‍⚧️

www.etsy.com/listing/4327... #queer #LGBTQ #Brighton
Selfie taken on my local beach. It's a sunny day and the sea and white cliffs can be seen in the background. I'm wearing a light green shirt and an enamel pin badge in the shape of a frog and coloured with the palate of the progress pride flag.
July 4, 2025 at 3:07 PM
rossbrooks.co.uk
I'm thoroughly enjoying 50 LGBTQ+ Finds from the Portable Antiquities Scheme @benpaites.bsky.social, especially the botanical and zoological content. Well done, Ben! 🦒🌸🦆

Makes for a great present . . . 🎅(sorry!)

www.amberley-books.com/50-lgbtq-fin... #LGBTQ #queer #pride #pridemonth #skybooks 🌈🗃️📚
Front cover of 50 LGBTQ+ Finds from the Portable Antiquities Scheme by Ben Paites. It has a black background and features images of a glass intaglio with the words 'toujours gay' inscribed around the surface and a copper-alloy fitting showing the bust of a youth, probably Antinous. Image of a page from 50 LGBTQ+ Finds from the Portable Antiquities Scheme by Ben Paites. It's the beginning of Chapter 2, titled 'The Natural World.' 2 images from 50 LGBTQ+ Finds from the Portable Antiquities Scheme by Ben Paites. The top image is a copper-alloy Iron Age terret ring with ducks on. The bottom image is a line drawing of a duck. Colour photograph (by Andy Lee) of green carnations which features in 50 LGBTQ+ Finds from the Portable Antiquities Scheme by Ben Paites.
June 25, 2025 at 9:08 AM