The Forbidden Loves of Fairyland

Laurence Housman, who helped found the British Society for the Study of Sex Psychology (BSSSP) and wrote its statement of principles, published four collection of children’s fairy tales between 1894 and 1904. Housman’s original fairy stories for children depict dreams of alternative ways of living, struggles to connect with forbidden lovers, and associations between love and lunacy. In one of his publications for the BSSSP, Housman presents his theory of homosexuality in which he argues that same-sex love has its origins in what he calls “fellow-feeling,” an indiscriminate longing for connection seen in its purest form in children and continuing in the nonreproductive desires of adults for intimacy and connection. Housman’s fairy tales can be read as depictions of the mystical qualities of fellow-feeling and its potential to bring lovers together, even if just temporarily, by helping them overcome impossible obstacles, defy the cruelty or selfishness of others, or embrace moonstruck madness as a virtue .