Gay icon a prototypical portrait of a tortured closet case." Due to Saint Sebastian's status as a gay icon, Tennessee Williams chose to use the saint's name for the martyred character Sebastian in his play, "Suddenly, Last Summer". The name was also used by Oscar Wilde—as Sebastian Melmoth—when in exile after his release from prison. Wilde, an Irish writer and poet, was about as "out of the closet" as was possible for the late 19th century, and is himself considered to be a gay icon. Marie Antoinette was an early lesbian icon. Rumors about her relationships with women circulated in pornographic detail
Charlotte Melmoth obituary said of her "her talent, particularly in the higher walks of tragedy, was very generally acknowledged. She was much esteemed for her excellent private character." Charlotte Melmoth Mrs Charlotte Melmoth (c. 1749 – 1823) was an 18th-century English actress, the estranged 'wife' of British actor/writer Samuel Jackson Pratt ("Courtney Melmoth"), and known as "The Grande Dame of Tragedy on the Early American Stage" After a mildly-successful stage career in Great Britain and Ireland she emigrated to America in 1793 and became one of the best-known actresses of the late 18th/early 19th century. Little is known of Charlotte's early years;