Uranus is the queerest planet in the Solar System.
I am not the first astrologically-inclined person to spot this, and I have written previously about both its unusual astronomical features and its transits through the signs, relating those to the liberation journey of the Lesbian, Gay, Bi and Trans movement.
What is missing it seems is anyone currently connecting the harsher climate that queer people are enduring in some western countries in recent years to the passage of Uranus through Taurus, where it is in its ‘detriment’. The revolutionary, speedy, quirky Uranian spirit is experiencing its time of greatest challenge as the planet moves through the most earthy, stability and tradition-loving of the astrological signs – and after a couple of decades of major progress in terms of LGBTQ+ rights and societal acceptance, the queer community has been experiencing a period of sustained, and increasing, hostility. This is most visibly happening in the USA and UK, and I am less aware of how this time is playing out in other European and American countries. Its impact is probably the most devastating however in parts of Africa.
Uranus is unique as the only planet in our solar system that rotates on its horizontal axis. He literally rolls through the universe, and at an amazing speed – for while the planet is 47 times the size of the earth, a day lasts only 10 earth hours. The first Uranian moons that were discovered were named after the faeries of Midsummer Nights Dream – Titania, Oberon, Umbriel, Miranda, and Puck. It’s easy to see that Uranus seems to be the queerest planet!
Oxfordastrologer asks ,“Is there a gay planet? Not really, but perhaps for obvious reasons, the planet of revolution, eccentricity and difference, Uranus, often makes itself powerfully felt in the natal charts of gay people. Some famous singing examples are Elton John with Uranus in the seventh house of marriage; KD Lang with Uranus conjunct Moon; Neil Tennant, Sun-Uranus conjunction.
But a strong Uranus is probably more about being out and proud, about breaking the rules than an expression of sexual preferences.”
Astrofundamento on Medium writes: “Nowadays, astrologers give great importance to Uranus when they are interested in the parameters relating to homosexuality in a star chart. Uranus in modern astrology is associated with characteristics such as unpredictability, rebellion, innovation, and progressiveness. It is considered an eccentric planet that rules over the future-forward zodiac sign, Aquarius. Uranus pushes individuals to stretch their minds and see beyond the ordinary.
“This is why Uranus is often associated with the concept of queerness and homosexuality in astrology. Uranus aligns with the role of bringing human equality to the forefront and embracing diverse traits, including same-sex love and non-binary gender variance.”
***
I offer below a review of the parallels between the passage of Uranus through the zodiac and developments in the liberation journey of LGBTQ+ people – and a message of HOPE as we anticipate the entry of Uranus into Gemini. Uranus departs the fixed earth energy of Taurus and moves into the mutable air of Gemini firstly from July 7th, 2025 until November 8th, when the planet retrograde motion will take it back into Taurus. On April 26, 2026, Uranus returns to Gemini and will be in the sign until August 2032.
Uranus is usually described by astrologers as the revolutionary or the awakener. The planet’s energy is associated with science, technology, humanitarianism, revolution, natural disasters and personal freedom! Quite a mix- but rarely do I see much mention of the fact that Uranus means ‘heaven’ and its role is to connect our individual minds to the collective, cosmic, unified field of consciousness.
Mythologically, Uranus the Sky-Father was a primordial god who united with Gaia, the Earth-Mother. But that was his only venture into male-female pairing – usurped and castrated by his own son, Chronos (Saturn to the Romans), his testicles dropping into the ocean and giving birth to Aphrodite, the Goddess of Love, Uranus dedicated the rest of his existence to the creation of art and beauty. Aphrodite Urania was the aspect of the Goddess who was patron of love that was spiritual and heavenly – which for the ancient Greeks meant same-sex love. Sexual love between men and women was ruled over by Aphrodite Pandemos – meaning of the people.
It was during a previous transit of Uranus in Gemini, in the 1860s, that German gay activist Karl-Heinrich Ulrichs, inspired by the conversation about Aphrodite Urania in Plato’s Symposium, proposed Urning – URANIAN in English – as a term for men who loved men. This term was adopted enthusiastically by gay intellectuals and poets in England, including Edward Carpenter and Oscar Wilde, who preferred it to the clinical and reductive word ‘homosexual’ that was first used in 1868 in a letter from Austrian novelist Karl-Maria Kertbeny to Ulrichs, and which first appeared in print in the 1880s in a German book called Psychopathia Sexualis by Richard von Kraft-Ebbing (translated into English in 1892, this book proposed that most homosexuals suffer from a mental illness caused by degenerate heredity).
Perhaps this next transit of Uranus, the queerest of the planets, through Gemini from 2025-2032 the URANIAN spirit will come home – and association of queer people with sexuality will be replaced gradually by an understanding that queerness (as both same sex love and gender fluidity) is in fact a spiritual quality, a sign of our soul nature, and not simply about sexual acts.
***
Seeking online for astrologers making the connection between Uranus and the Gay Liberation movement I found a piece written in 2003 by Jack Fertig (1955-2012), gay activist and one of the first Sisters of Perpetual Indulgence – Sister Boom Boom, in which he says, “Uranus is also a good indicator for queer community historical development.”
“From its first sighting it was as disruptive as a drag queen in an NFL locker room. And it continues to be. The anti-authoritarian nature of Uranus makes it extremely difficult for leaders to emerge in the gay community…
“Uranus rules astrology so few astrologers have anything bad to say about Uranus, but he can be so stubborn. Y’know that politically correct business of “I’m right about everything, and it’s for your own good”? Yes, there’s a lot of that in the gay community!
“Uranus’ willfulness and tendency to go off half cocked are part of why Uranian/Aquarian people do best in groups. Such people generally have 100 crazy ideas a minute and three of them are brilliant. They need their friends to help sift through the crazy ideas and help figure out which ones really are great. (Ever been to a gay political meeting?)”
URANUS — The Queer Planet by Jack Fertig
As far as I can tell, Jack is the only previous astrologer to write in detail about the association of Gay Liberation and the movements of Uranus, until me! Jack goes on to trace the connections between gay liberation and the queerest planet, pointing out that Ulrichs proposed the term Uranian for queer people in 1862 while Uranus was in communicative Gemini, and spotting progress during the early 20th century as it moved towards and through its home sign Aquarius. In his brief comment on Hitler’s suppression of the queer movement in Germany Jack does not mention that Uranus was at that time in its detriment in Taurus – from 1934-1942 – and he dives into his sign by sign analysis starting with Uranus in Gemini in the 1940s.
In fact while Uranus was in Pisces and Aries from 1919 to 1934 there was an explosion of queer culture and visibility, especially associated with Berlin nightlife and also the ground breaking work of Magnus Hirschfeld in the Institute for Sexual Research – which was then followed by serious repression in the 1930s (not only in Germany but in Russia and USA also), from which it took the queer community decades to recover. When Uranus is in Taurus the queer freedom comes under attack.
WE ARE GOING THROUGH THE SAME ENERGY PATTERN NOW: While Uranus made its transit through Aquarius (1997-2003), Pisces (2003-2011) and Aries (2011-2018) life was looking up for LGBTQ+ people. While Uranus was in Pisces equal marriage became established in western countries – legislation coming surprisingly from a Conservative government in the UK. Uranus in Aries, the sign of individualism, brought a revolution in identity, as suddenly lots of people adopted non-binary, transgender, asexual, pansexual and other labels. The backlash started around 2018, both in Trump’s USA and in the UK as Trans Exclusionary Radical Feminists (TERFS) and even some in the broad LGB community reacted harshly to the higher profile and activism of trans people. Uranus entered Taurus and the big gay party – faltered.
For seven years of the current Uranian transit of Taurus the queers of the west have been put under pressure. In the name of free speech the right wing of politics now claims the right to discriminate against us as it revels in its prejudice. Trans people are in the firing line from politicians and the media in ways akin to how gay men were treated until the 1990s – accused of criminal behaviours, mental illness, and of being a danger to children. As we come towards the end of the tough Taurus transit, the American administration’s attempt to erase trans people from government discourse, from passports, from the military, and then the UK Supreme Court decision around the definition of ‘woman’ in the Equality Act, have all come as blows to trans people and to most gay, lesbian and bi people too. We know the whole community is under attack, as we have often been in the past, this time are first in the firing line are trans people.
***
URANUS THROUGH THE SIGNS
In Taurus 1934-42
Repression of emerging queer subcultures in Germany, Russia, USA, reversing the cultural gains and social progress made since the late 19th century.
In Gemini 1942- 48
Jack Fertig wrote that “During the War American men were pulled out of their homes and sent abroad as never before. Opportunities for homoplay abounded and a lot of enlisted men found very enjoyable layovers in the big port cities where they would return after the war.”
In Cancer 1948 – 55
The gay rights movement, in the form of the Mattachine Society, was born while Uranus was in the nurturing, mother energy of Cancer.
“Cancer is about home, clans, community, patriotism, and group identification. In 1950 Hay started The Mattachine Society became the first gay rights organization in America. Lesbians were also coming together then in similar groups including the Daughters of Bilitis.” (Fertig)
In Leo 1956 – 62
“The new communities that had grown tremendously since the end of WW II fed a new gay culture.” (Fertig)
In the UK the 1958 Wolfenden Report recommended the decriminalisation of sex between men in private, but it would take another 9 years before legislation was passed.
In Virgo 1963 – 69
“A new wave of critique and analysis opened up as homophobic shrinks like Socarides and Bieber were railing against homosexuality while Evelyn Hooker and other progressive shrinks took our side.” (Fertig)
In the UK the 1967 act decriminalised sex between men over the age of 21, in private.
In Libra 1969 – 75
When the spark moment for gay rights came with the Stonewall Riots, June 28- July 1st, 1969, Uranus had just completed its journey through Virgo four days earlier and was settling into its long stay in Libra, the sign of balance and justice. The revolutionary Uranian energy burst forth, anger manifesting. The conciliatory, assimilationist, approach of the Mattachine Society was not producing results, but from 1969 onwards gay visibility, activism and pride spread through the western world.
“Uranus had just gone into Libra. There was a full moon. It was a hot Saturday night June 28, of 1969 and Judy Garland had been buried that day. What was supposed to be a then-routine bust of a gay bar, the Stonewall Inn, exploded into a riot when the bar patrons struck back. Riots and demonstrations filled the weekend and that marked an explosion of gay activism…
“The balance shifted radically when we saw queers coming together, forming societies, political groups, clubs as never before in history. The Stonewall era of gay liberation turned everything around for us. America’s closet door started blasting off its hinges. Gaymen and Lesbians had come together in the Libra period, but sexism quickly drove us apart when Uranus entered Scorpio.” (Fertig)
In Scorpio 1975 – 81
“Scorpio is about sex, death, and transformation. This was a time of incredible sexual eruption and transformative challenges. For men, backrooms in bars and bathhouses became erotic playgrounds that would have scandalized Imperial Rome, and forced the ancient Greeks to invent new words. Lesbians were perceived as a threat in the women’s movement — the Lavender Menace! Scorpio is about transformative challenges: Anita Bryant managed to overturn a gay rights ordinance in Dade County Florida but in the process she galvanized the movement she opposed and made us stronger than before. John Briggs’ Proposition 6 (to keep Gays out of public school systems) went down to defeat, but these challenges brought us into the mainstream of political discourse. Also in this time we had our first elected officials, one of whom became our first martyr. And Harvey Milk’s death also transformed the community.
“Scorpio also rules viruses. This is then an astrologically appropriate time for a new kind of virus to start appearing. At the very end of this period, we started noticing KS and PCP in startling numbers.” (Fertig)
In Sagittarius 1981 – 88
“The Sagittarian themes of religion, broadcasting, teaching, and internationalism became dominant in the eighties. The so-called “Moral Majority” was leading a religious campaign against queers when psychiatry had given up the fight and laws against us were falling. Gay religious groups proliferated. This was the heyday of the Sisters of Perpetual Indulgence. The Pope declared that homosexual orientation was not in itself sinful, and for the Catholic Church that is a radical step forward! This time also saw tremendous growth in queer publications and bookstores.” (Fertig)
While Uranus was in Sagittarius (1981-88) the search for ways to treat HIV was underway, as was the rise of a politicised and self-conscious queer community. Those of us coming out in the 80s entered a gay scene in which a sense of community, of the need to work together for our very survival, was strong. This community sense was catalysed through adversity – AIDS deaths and political apathy or outright hostility. The UK Conservative government’s introduction of Clause 28 in 1988, outlawing the ‘promotion’ of homosexuality in education, galvanised us further. Gay Pride events swelled in numbers and determination and continued to do so while Uranus was…
In Capricorn 1988 – 96
“When Uranus went into Capricorn we started seeing queers in prominent positions of power. Four congressmen came out, though not of their own volition…. Uranus is not always co-operative and graceful. Some of the largest and most established companies have started offering Domestic Partners’ Benefits and for the very first time America got a chief executive who articulated queer concerns. We also saw the rise of Gay conservatives and Gay Republicans gaining visibility in their party.” (Fertig)
In Aquarius 1996 – 2003
In the UK, an equal age of consent was finally enacted in 2001, while Uranus was in Aquarius, the sign it rules.
“With Uranus in his own sign, in many respects gays and lesbians have come home. There has been a remarkable spread of acceptance – and it’s still far from universal, I’m not suggesting that it’s all done and over, but gay people and gay issues have moved from invisibility to common awareness.” (Fertig)
Writing in 2003, this is as far as Jack Sister Boom Boom got, but he did see the signs of what was to come visible during this Aquarian transit: “I see more and more transsexuals coming out openly. Not just male to female, but especially now female-to-males. The literature and experiences of transsexual men is going to challenge a lot of ideas about sex and gender.” (Fertig)
Croatian astrologer Branko Zivotin wrote: “The entry of Uranus in the sign of Aquarius led to an increase in the same sex love and bisexuality among young people. Uranus impact gave full force with a strong radical changes because Uranus is the ruling planet of Aquarius. In 1996 Uranus entered Aquarius and than started an active story about gay population, as something completely normal. Uranus cycle of seven years brought turnarounds among young people to find sexual partners more freely and easily through electronics, the Internet, at parties, to organize gay parties.” He also pointed out that Neptune’s presence in Aquarius from 1998-2011 brought a powerful escapist energy into the picture, indicating likelihood of vast expansion of alcohol and drug use, which certainly happened for the gay scene at that time. In fact for gay men, during that period sex became more thoroughly associated with heavy drug use, with associated casualties lost to addiction or overdose. Neptune moved into its home sign Pisces, which energy is related to both intoxication and spirituality, and has only recently moved on into Aries. Drug use among gay men has spread widely, despite the horror stories of dependency, delirium and death we’ve been hearing for some years now. The message of Neptune in Pisces for gay men was that spirituality is the solution to addiction, and that in fact spirituality can lead us to all the heights and blissful experiences we seek through drug use. Spirituality is about opening the doors to bliss, and keeping them open – while drugs just give us a temporary, ultimately destructive, experience. The transit of Neptune in Aries may be when this message comes home as more and more of us individually learn it.
In Pisces 2003 – 11
The moves to recognise same sex relationships, through civil partnerships and marriage, spread around the world while Uranus was in the emotional energy of Pisces 2003-2010.
In Aries 2011 – 18
The planet of revolution in the sign of the individual brought a huge shake up in how some people identify. Explosion in trans and non-binary visibility and expression.
In Taurus 2018 – 25
Uranus in its detriment – queer people under attack, rights lost, safety reduced. Anti-gay laws in Uganda and other African countries, political and legal attacks in USA and UK. As Uranus comes to the end of this transit, due to recent legal developments, UK has fallen six places to 22nd place on ILGA-Europe’s Rainbow Map, which ranks European countries for their levels of LGBTQ-friendliness. Rainbow Map
Uranus in Gemini 2025 – 32
During the Uranian progress through Taurus the onslaught against queer people has been nasty, but not as deadly as that of the 1930s, so we might hope that our recovery in the Gemini era may be fast and striking. There is hope that a significant proportion of the population do not agree with the transphobic and homophobic voices currently so loud and celebratory of their triumphs. The signs are that most people see the decision of the UK Supreme Court to be way out of line, out of touch with reality, both social and scientific. Gemini loves to talk so I don’t think queer people will be leaving the headlines any time soon, but the conversation about who we are in the world will evolve and expand.
Trump used the twisted line “Kamala is for They/Them, We are for You” in the American election, but how many of his supporters still believe that, just a few months into his presidency? Pendulums swing – and any reasonable, intelligent person can see that the conservative forces trying to uphold ‘traditional’ ways and values are surely fighting a losing battle. Those forces rail against trans people, as once they did against gays, to deflect from their own hypocrisy and malpractice. They pick on minorities in order to benefit from the fear their ranting rouses in the masses.
But Uranus in Gemini gives an opportunity for conversation about queerness to open up to new territories – and I believe that involves an embrace of the spiritual aspects of who we are, including better understanding of the history of our kind – and the spiritual associations between queerness and the sacred throughout the world’s pre-monotheistic cultures. Homosexual as a label was forced upon us, this coming period could be when we talk more to each other about our history, our roles in the world – and then redefine ourselves- taking this opportunity to tell the world who we really are, from our own perspective, not theirs.
DAEDALUS & ICARUS – by Jack Fertig.
Daedalus and Icarus show two sides of a Uranian coin. They are generally described as father and son, but mythological relationships are often vague, convoluted, even incestuous. They are instructive as well as the classical Greek pair of mentor and protégé, or in today’s parlance, “Daddy and Boy”.
Daedalus was a brilliant inventor, a truly Uranian figure who designed the labyrinth to trap the Minotaur, but he and his boy were trapped by King Minos inside that maze. Most modern gays, having had to spend at least part of life in a closet of subterfuge, can easily identify with being hidden away in a maze. To escape this trap Daedalus devised wings for the two of them to fly out, free of earth’s entrapments, through Uranus’ realm to safety.
Wise, old Daedalus warned his boy of the dangers of flying too high, but the lad was impetuous, and once aloft forgot the warning. I skydive and can assure you that there is nothing more exhilarating than soaring in the open air! But caution is of utmost importance, and poor Icarus was dazzled by the brilliance of the sun, and the glory of flight. Elevated above Saturnian constraints he became entranced with the Sun – his ego – and sought to rise higher and higher until his wing melted and he crashed to Earth. Daedalus flew on to Cumae where he landed safely, but grieved for the rest of his life.
Those of us who have survived the AIDS crisis can identify with Daedalus’ grief. We’ve seen our loved ones through a glorious arc of indulgent flight, the unrestrained passions of the 1970’s and ‘80’s, when we were just coming out and building a new sense of freedom. We’ve somehow survived and on some safe shore will ever be haunted by the death of our beloved ones, knowing how we participated constructing the wings that led them to death. But the Uranian impulse reminds us that without taking that risk we would have remained trapped in the labyrinth, a living death with its own dangers.
We should all have learned form the experience, but Uranus has no memory. There are still many bright and beautiful young boys, young men we may yet love, but they are seduced by Apollonian dazzle, by appeals to ego and vanity. Too many boys struggle to “perfect” themselves in gyms and fly off to circuit parties, indulging in drugs and unsafe sex, soaring into the shining Sun.
rainbow messenger 