History of same-sex unions
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- For more details on this topic, see History of human sexuality.
- For more details on this topic, see Timeline of same-sex marriage.
Although state-recognized same-sex marriage is a relatively new phenomenon in Western society, there is a long history of same-sex unions around the world. Various types of same-sex unions have existed, ranging from informal, unsanctioned relationships to highly ritualized unions.
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[edit] Asia
- See also: Homosexuality in China and Homosexuality in Japan
Same-gender romantic love or sexual desire has been recorded since ancient times in the entirety of the continent of Asia, right from the Middle East to South Asia to East Asia. Such desire often took the form of same-sex unions, usually between men, and often included some difference in age. There is far less information available on relationships among women in ancient times.
In China, in the southern province of Fujian where male love was especially cultivated, men would marry youths in elaborate ceremonies.[1] The marriages would last a number of years, at the end of which the elder partner would help the younger find a (female) wife and settle down to raise a family. Generally, this practice - though unusual even in China - was reflective of the value Chinese culture placed on the reciprocal relationship between benevolent elders teaching and guiding the obedient younger members of society.
In Japan, Shudo (衆道 shudō or shūdō), the Japanese tradition of age-structured homosexuality was prevalent in samurai society from the medieval period until the end of the 19th century. Shudo, in its pedagogic, martial, and aristocratic aspects, is closely analogous to the ancient Greek tradition of pederasty.
[edit] Classical Europe
- See also: Historical pederastic couples
Some early Western societies integrated, and even celebrated, same-sex relationships, though it should be noted those these relationships were generally substantially different from and in some cases co-existed with traditional marriage. The practice of same-sex love in antiquity often took the form of formal pairings of men with youths, which had many of the attributes of marriage but were limited in duration. The practice was outlawed in 342 AD, though it is believed to have continued until the late Middle Ages.[2][3][4]
In Hellenic Greece, the pederastic relationships between Greek men (erastes) and youths (eromenos) who had come of age were, it has been argued, analogous to marriage in several aspects. The age of the youth was similar to the age at which women married (the mid-teens, though in some city states, as young as age seven), and the relationship could only be undertaken with the consent of the father. This consent, just as in the case of a daughter's marriage, was contingent on the suitor's social standing. The relationship, just like a marriage, consisted of very specific social and religious responsibilities and also had a sexual component.
At the same time, many of these relationships might be more clearly understood as mentoring relationships between adult men and young boys rather than an analog of marriage. This is particularly true in the case of Sparta, where the relationship was intended to further a young boy's military training. While the relationship was generally life long and of profound emotional significance to the participants, it was not considered marriage by contemporary culture and the relationship continued even after participants entered into traditional marriage to women as was expected in the culture when men reached age 30.
In ancient Rome, the Emperor Nero is reported to have married two other men on different occasions.[5] Other Roman Emperors, including Diocletian, are reported to have done the same. The marriage however did not fall under the scope of Roman law and are considered as camp. In their time they provoked amazement and contempt.[6]
Increasingly influential Christianity promoted marriage for procreative purposes and to align society with Judeo-Christian perspectives on heterosexual relationships. The teachings of the Talmud and Torah, and the Bible, specifically prohibited the practices as contrary to nature and the will of the Creator, and a moral shortcoming.
The Roman use of sexuality as a form of dominance, as well as a means to conquer a male enemy through rape, have been linked with the increasing intolerance of same-sex relations in Rome.
[edit] Christian Europe
After the Middle Ages in Europe, same-sex relationships were increasingly frowned upon and banned in many countries by the Church or the state. However, Historian John Boswell argued that Adelphopoiesis, or brother-making, represented an early form of religious same-sex marriage in the Orthodox church, and Alan Bray saw the rite of Ordo ad fratres faciendum ("Order for the making of brothers") as serving the same purpose in the medieval Roman Catholic Church. In the Balkans, same-sex marriage survived until modern days, in the form of the Albanian rite of vellameria, "brother bond."[7]
[edit] Modern Europe
Increased in Europe in the 20th and 21st Centuries has led to the legalization of same-sex unions in the majority of European countries.
[edit] North America
Same-sex marriage has been documented in many societies that were not subject to Christian influence. In North America, among the Native Americans societies, it has taken the form of Two-Spirit-type relationships, in which some male members of the tribe, from an early age, heed a calling to take on female gender with all its responsibilities. They are prized as wives by the other men in the tribe, who enter into formal marriages with these Two-Spirit men. They are also respected as being especially powerful shamans.
In the United States during the 19th century, there was recognition of the relationship of two women making a long-term commitment to each other and cohabitating, referred to at the time as a Boston marriage; however, the general public at the time likely assumed that sexual activities were not part of the relationship.
Rev. Troy Perry performed the first public gay wedding in the United States in 1969, but it was not legally recognized, and in 1970, Metropolitan Community Church filed the first-ever lawsuit seeking legal recognition of same-sex marriages. The lawsuit was not successful.
As a substitute to the conventional, heterosexual term "marriage," on November 5, 1994, James D. Woods and Paul D. Young coined the alternative "commitment ceremony" when they had one of their own in New York City. This has become a more accepted term in recent years, especially where no legal same-sex marriage alternative exists.
[edit] Africa
In Africa, among the Azande of the Congo, men would marry youths for whom they had to pay a bride-price to the father. These marriages likewise were understood to be of a temporary nature. In Ancient Egypt, Khnumhotep and Niankhkhnum are considered by many to be the first male couple in history. They shared the title of Overseer of the Manicurists in the Palace of King Niussere during the Fifth Dynasty of Egyptian pharaohs, and are listed as "royal confidantes" in their joint tomb.[8]
[edit] See also
[edit] References
- ^ T., L.. Same sex marriage in the non-European world. Color Q World. Retrieved on January 21, 2007.
- ^ Bullough. Sexual Variance, 325-329.
- ^ Brown, P.. Body and Society, 23.
- ^ Boswell. Concepts, 156-157.
- ^ Time traveller's guide to the Roman Empire. Channel 4. Retrieved on January 21, 2007.
- ^ Homosexuality in the Middle Ages N47. Retrieved on January 21, 2007. “Roman same-sex marriages were not only extra-legal, but usually camp. For example, Nero, who was married to a woman, simultaneously became the bride of a freedman and the husband of a eunuch. Such unions are reported with astonishment and contempt by the Latin sources.”
- ^ http://www.geocities.com/pharsea/Axios.html
- ^ The Tomb of Niankhkhnum. Retrieved on January 21, 2007.
