10l| Out in the Mountains |November 2000
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STONEHENGE TO STONEWALL

by charlie emond

The Kids Are All Right

At the Northfield Labor Day
parade in September, I over-
heard a beefy motorcyclist in a
leather jacket say, as he fas-
tened a “Take Back Vermont”
sign to his Harley-Davidson,
“We are doing this for the chil-
dren.”

I do not know what children
he referred to (certainly not the
gay kind!), but perhaps he

. thought civil unions somehow

involve child marriage, or that
two men might conceive and
bear a child, or possibly that
the sight of two women hold-
ing hands might scare the kids.
I will bet that, not so deep
down, he was buying into the
age-old misconception that gay
men prey on children.

He might be interested to
know this is not the first time
in history that a particular
group of people has been
accused of being “after our
children.” It has long been a
useful rallying cry against an
enemy. To quote John Boswell,
“No charge against a minority
seems to be more damaging
than the claim that they pose a
threat of some sort to the chil-
dren of the majority.”

This nefarious sin

Hundreds of years ago, Jews
were accused of ritual murder
of Christian children. One of
these children, William of

. Norwich, was made a saint

after supposedly being killed

by Jews in some sort of ritual.
This kind of rampant misinfor-
mation resulted in horrible suf-
fering for Jews throughout
Europe in the late 12th century

and beyond.

Muslims also accused
Christians of this kind of thing,
and Christians accused

Muslims. In the 1330s, Jacob
of Verona claimed that, for
Muslims, “no sexual act was
sinful.” This kind of wild accu-
sation fired up the noble
Crusaders (for whom EVERY
sexual act was sinfull).

Suchideas about Muslims
were common into the 15th
century. A letter purported to
have been written by the
Emperor Alexius asked the
French for help: “They have
degraded by sodomizing them
men of every age and rank:
boys, adolescents, young men,
old men, and what is worse and
more wicked, clerics and
monks and even—alas for
shame! something which from
the beginning of time has never
been spoken of or heard of—
bishops! They have already
killed one bishop with this
nefarious sin.”

Another Christian writer of
this period proclaimed, “When
the Saracens—-corruptors of
human‘ nature, see the boys,
they immediately burn with
lust for them and, like mad
dogs, race to buy the boys for
themselves... so that they can

 

have their evil ways with
them.”

The “Take Back Vermont”
crowd would LOVE to have
this quote for their flyers! They
might even identify it as com-
ing directly from that infamous
“Saracen Agenda.”

Gypsies got the worst of it.
“Europeans and some
Americans, well into the 20th
century, believed that gypsies
would steal children.” We love
to threaten our children with
witches, goblins, ghosts, and
bogeymen. The last actually
comes from the French
“bougre,” the active partner in
a homoerotic coupling. From
this word, we get “bugger,” as
well as “bogeyman,” with
which I was threatened as a
child. Talk about the collective
subconscious at work!

Teach your children well

“They are teaching our chil-
dren to be homosexuals!” runs
the accusation against embat-
tled Outright Vermont. The rest
of the charge aside, use of the
word “children” always con-
jures up a vision of innocent
second graders. But in reality,
Outright is talking largely to a
constituency of 16- to 18-year-
olds, who, whether we like it or
not, are probably sexually
active and in dire need of infor-
mation to stay safe, as well as
support to deal with sexuality
issues.

 

Many ancient cultures relied
upon the body’s own biological
clock to indicate when a young
person was ready for sex
(when that puberty alarm goes
off, watch out!), but Americans
are remarkably inconsistent
about the age issue. We don’t
want our own kids to have sex
until their thirties, yet some
states allow marriage at 14 or
16. I have met any number of
16- and 17-year-old mothers
and fathers right here in
Vermont. People can join the
military at 18, after all, and you
never hear it said that we have
child soldiers.

As for sexual abuse of chil-
dren, the statistics overwhelm-
ingly document straight men
abusing their own daughters,
yet you don’t see I-Iarley dudes
parading against this appalling
social ill.

Walk a mile in their moc-
casins )

For a refreshing contrast,
consider the native Americans.
In most tribes, the berdache, an
androgynous spiritual shaman,
took care of children and
helped in their education. They
“are recognized as having a
special talent in educating chil-
dren.” These “gay men” were
considered excellent teachers
and « caregivers. Walter

Williams writes, “It was quite
common for berdaches to
adopt older children and ado-
lescents. Even today berdaches
are known to be very good

with children.”

Indian children were also
allowed to develop this “alter-
native lifestyle” unhindered,
and the whole tribe rejoiced
when a berdache was found.
They believed that this is what
the Great Spirit intended for
the child, and that it would be
an insult to doubt the wisdom
of the creator.

After all, the Indians had so
many things right. Consider
their ability to live in their
environment without destroy-
ing it; consider their respect for
nature; and consider their total
acceptance of “two-spirited”
people—those between male
and female as they saw it.

Maybe we really ought to
Take Back Vermont... to the
days before Europeans came in
and made such a mess of it.

Next time: All the World’s
a Stage!

For more information on the
subject of the native American
berdache, read Walter L.
Williams’ superb The Spirit
and the Flesh.

Charlie Emond has a bach-
el0r’s degree from Queens
College and masters degrees
from both Dartmouth and
Keene State. He teaches col-
lege history courses in
Springfield and White River
Junction. V

 
  
  
 

Photo: Barb Dozetos

    

Alverta Perkins spoke on the Generations panel that start-
ed the VCLGR's annual conference on Oct. 21.

  
 

Events
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Networking
Buyer's Co-Op

Vermont
People With AIDS
Coalition 2
P.O. Box 11
Montpelier, VT 05601-0011
in Vermont 800-698-8792
or 802-229-5754

   
   
      
     

  
   
 
   
  

  

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