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For #PrideMonth we’ll be exploring people in the Schuylers’ circle who were LGBTQ+. The first person we’re meeting is Chevalière d’Éon, who was a transwoman, born in France in 1728, and who was in Angelica Schuyler Church’s social circle. 
Possibly born intersex, d’Éon had been assigned male at birth and raised as a son of the French nobility. She had successful careers in the military, as a spy, and was highly regarded as one of the best fencers of her time.
Her espionage career eventually led to exile due to internal court politics, forcing d’Éon to protect herself by threatening to publish incriminating documents about members of the French court, including the king himself.
In 1777, at 49, d’Éon agreed to return to France and turned over the documents on several conditions: that she be legally recognized as a woman, be given a full feminine wardrobe suitable to her status, and be allowed to wear her military honors earned while presenting as a man.
Desperate to avoid scandal, the king agreed. From that point forward, d’Éon was able to live publicly as a woman. In 1787, she and the Chevalier de Saint-George held an exhibition match, which Angelica may have attended, and Schuyler Mansion recreated this past May.
It's exciting to consider that while Angelica was specifically crafting her political and social identity as an aristocratic American lady, d’Eon likewise actively defined her own identity as a woman who also rode, fenced, and wore hard-earned military honors.
Learn more about the Chevalière d’Éon and watch some of “The Match!” here:
(Image: Chevalier d'Eon by Thomas Stewart; 1792)
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