Proto-GL fans in 20th century in Thailand's history.
The play depicted in the image, Rosita, portrayed a traditional heterosexual romance. However, because early Lakhon Rong (Thai musical theater) featured an all-female cast, the male hero was played by a woman. On stage, audiences watched two women performing an intense, passionate romance together.
Mae Muan (Mae Luean) was renowned as a Phra Ek Sao Lo (the most celebrated handsome female leading man of her generation). She dressed in masculine military or formal attire, possessed a naturally deep voice, and deliberately exuded masculine charm. She functioned as an early 20th-century queer icon, capturing the hearts of female theatergoers across Bangkok. Women packed the theaters, bought her photos, and swooned over her, treating her much like modern-day romantic idols.
Mae Luean's frequent on-stage romantic co-star from the Chaloem Nakhon theater troupe was another woman named Sudjai. She is best remembered in Thai theatrical history as the eternal on-stage romantic partner to Mae Luean. In the era's booming entertainment scene, their pairing was the equivalent of a modern superstar "ship" (Koojin), and audiences passionately flocked to see them interact.
While historical records from the King Rama VII era rarely used modern labels like "lesbian" or "sapphic," historical accounts note that these gender-bending performers formed deep, lifelong partnerships off-stage. Mae Muan's stage pairings often referred to as early examples of a Koojin (romantic pairing/ship) heavily blurred the lines between performance and real-life queer affinity.