Page 313 "The mukhannath were a caste of professional homosexuals in Moslem court culture."



Images above depict transgender males, either eunuchs or transvestites, in ancient near east civilizations.



From page 313 of the book: "The mukhannath," began Ebert, "were a caste of professional homosexuals in Moslem court culture. Around the 10-century, they wrote poetry, sang, performed dances, painted. Such perfumed, ear-ringed, coiffed effeminate men kept culture alive, at the sultan's court, in spite of all the killing and destruction that the empire was famous for. Thanks to them, Islamic culture was improved upon at a time when it might have fallen, like the Dark Ages of Europe. It was brought to new heights by the very people whose existence the Moslems would eventually outlaw.