Ever wondered about the historical association between queer women and witches? We took it into our own hands to try and find the history of connections between queer women and witchcraft. Raed on to find out more.

Throughout history, queer women and witchcraft have gone hand in hand. Back in the 15th century, witchcraft was deemed heretical as Church and State were one. Women who were targeted as witches were unmarried or thought to be lesbians.

As a consequence, women who were believed to be witches were drowned, burned, or hanged. In 1487, German Inquisitor Heinrich Kramer wrote a treatise entitled The Malleus Maleficarum, which aimed to teach how to identify the traits of a witch and how to target and kill them. It caused the murders of thousands of women across centuries.

Misogyny was the root cause for targeting women that fell outside of the social norms. Some men were also killed for being co-conspirators with these witches. These killings happened throughout Europe, and then the mass hysteria made its way to America along with the pilgrims, in Salem, Massachusetts. 

Witchcraft accusations have also happened more recently. One such famous case is The San Antonio Four, where four Latina lesbians – Elizabeth Ramirez, Cassandra Rivera, Kristie Mayhugh and Anna Vasques – were accused of sexually assaulting Ramirez’s nieces for a satanic ritual in 1994. While the women were later proven innocent, in 1998, they were sentenced to 15 years in prison for a crime they didn’t commit. The women challenged their convictions in 2013 and they were released on bail. Three years after leaving prison, they were exonerated of all charges.

 

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More recently, in America, Rose Tagnesi, a lesbian teacher who was very respected in her field, was accused of being a witch. Tagnesi was left on paid leave of absence waiting for an investigation. Later, she filed a lawsuit against the board where she claimed that a board member had accused her and another woman of being “witches who were part of an LGBTQ+ coven.”

Women are still killed and punished in over 60 countries around the world under accusations of witchcraft. Many queer women throughout history were accused of witchcraft simply because they did not adhere to society’s norms. 

The connection between queer people and paganism and wicca is still alive today, with many LGBTQ+ folk rediscovering their spirituality. Witches and queer people have been villainised and punished over the course of history, and yet we endure and thrive.