Richard Burton


 * Not to be confused with Richard Burton, the Welsh actor.

Sir Richard Burton (Richard Francis Burton, 1821–1890) was a writer, explorer and diplomat.

In 1853 he disguised himself as a Muslim and undertook the pilgrimage to Mecca. Had he been discovered there as a non-Muslim he would probably been killed.

It is unclear whether Burton ever had homosexual relations, but he certainly investigated a male brothel said to be used by British soldiers, and the detail in his report has suggested to some that he may have been a customer. In his unexpurgated translation of the Arabian Nights he included a 14,000 word essay entitled "Pederasty" (Volume 10, section IV, D). Burton postulated that male homosexuality was prevalent in an area of the southern latitudes named by him the "Sotadic zone".