The museum has consulted LGBT charity Stonewall and trade union Unison’s LGBT arm on exhibition best practices, ensuring “exhibitions, promotions and lectures are as up-to-date and inclusive as possible”. .
Keith Hoskins, a Lib Dem councilor and arts executive for North Herts Council, which is run by the Lib Dem and Labor coalition, said: “Elagabals definitely preferred the pronoun she, so this… This is what we reflect when we discuss her in modern times.”
“We strive to be as sensitive to the pronoun identification of people in the past as we are to people in the present. Only in a polite and respectful manner. Recognizing that Elagabalus is a woman And we know that he was clear about which pronouns to use, which shows that pronouns are not new.”
This pronoun choice is based on a description by the Roman chronicler Cassius Dio. He writes that Elagabalus was “called wife, mistress, and queen” and that he asked for a woman, telling one lover, “Do not call me lord, for I am a lady.” Genitals made for him.
However, Cassius Dio served Emperor Severus Alexander, who took the throne after Elagabalus was assassinated, and the account uses his allegedly erratic behavior as a basis for justifying his assassination.