St Sebastian, who was an early saint and martyr killed during the Roman emperor Diocletian's persecution of Christians, is commonly referred to as a gay male icon.
Wikipedia reads:
British director Derek Jarman made a film, Sebastiane, which caused controversy in its treatment of the martyr as a homosexual icon. However, as several critics have noted, this has been a subtext of the imagery since the Renaissance.
After reading the referenced newspaper article, I'm still unsatisfied and I want to demand a fuller explanation indicating, possibly, specific and academic references.
Can anybody help me?