STIINEIIENIIE 14 Out in the Mountains |May 2000 ll] 8Tl|lllEWllll Irv charlie emnnrl Do You, Adam, Take eve... had planned to write on I eunuchs and celibacy this month, but in view of the gay marriage debate swirling around me, I decided to hold off. This seemed a much more pressing topic, especially given the idiotic historical statements from our opponents. One par- ticularly inane example, that marriage as we know it was instituted by God six thousand years ago, even ignores Biblical evidence! So if you were anxiously anticipating stories about cas- trati in the papal choir or Erasmus misbehaving in Paris, you will just have to wait. You can dress them up... To begin with, check out Genesis 2:18-25, often touted as God’s institution of mar- riage. God clearly makes us male and female, but there is not a ring, a bouquet, or a fancy cake in sight. If you have forgotten the story here, God takes out one of Adam’s ribs and creates Eve, who immedi- ately wrecks everything with that apple business. God is unhappy about this turn of events so he dresses them up and tosses them out of Eden. (Some fundamentalists would have you believe that they were wearing a tuxedo and a white bridal gown at the time!) In the Christian Bible, since Christ will come again soon, you are encouraged not to bother with marriage. The best response to Christianity has always been celibacy (like Christ), with monks and nuns winning the heavenly sweep- stakes. Heterosexual marriage was a compromise with the material world, and" the less physical contact, the better. In the Middle Ages, St. Etheldreda made her continued virginity a condition of her two marriages, and the Third Council of Constantinople stat- ed that “the spirit of unity is superior to the joining of bod- 1es.” Hugh of St. Victor argued that the ideals of Christian marriage were “most fully real- ized when the marriage was ‘ never physically consummat- ed: only then did-it properly symbolize the spiritual union between God andthe soul.” So much for being fruitful and multiplying! Those quirky rituals In many European cultures, marriage was much more informal than today. To quote Boswell, “No marriages in ancient societies closely match their modern equivalents.” Marriage ceremonies in the Christian church were not authorized, nor did marriage become a sacrament until the Fourth Lateran Council in 1215! Even then the focus of the marriage ceremony was the priest’s blessing of the bride on her change in status, much like you have your dog blessed on the feast of St. Francis. So for the first 1200 years of Christianity, marriage didn’t have much going for it ~ despite the wild claims of the fundamentalists. Also, marriage back then was. a private arrangement made by the families of the bride and groom. The emotion- al ties or personal ‘preferences of the “happy couple” were decidedly secondary. So were religious issues. Love might develop once two people were married, but this was not nec- essary. Sex beyond the per- functory production of heirs, often involved slaves, prosti- tutes, or concubines. (Remember that Roman who said to his wife on their wed- ding day, “My sex li.fe is none of your business!”) Incidentally, the Fourth Lateran Council also autho- rized the tossing of the bridal bouquet, that business with the garter, and the tapping on the wine glasses as a signal for the couple to kiss. (Just kidding!) l’H(.)€NlX RISINC, it spirited jewelry 1 gifts * gallery When a Woman loves a Woman her wing span breaks through the tight chrysalis of society's opinion. owopenycjaysaweekl * 34 state street montpelier, vi 05602 802.229.0522 — Victoria Santiago More than,Br0thers John Boswell’s book on same-sex unions was responsi- ble for quite a stir (and a series of Doonesbury cartoons) when it came out. He discovered that for hundreds of years, Catholic and Orthodox churches had performed gay marriages. His detractors figure he had just come across some sort of fra- Christ’s beloved disciple, St. John the Divine, the two men were called “young Johns.” Another manuscript, found in a small monastery near Rome, describes a ceremony between two men and uses the Greek word “gamos,” meaning mar- riage. This seems like pretty clear stuff to me. His book includes a number of same-sex marriage cere- monies, complete with bible readings and prayers. He also reports that these marriages were considered holier than marriages between men and women, which were actually legal affairs dealing with prop- erty and inheritance. These took place outside the church, Nlorrioges between some- sex couples were considered holier thon morrioges between men and women, which were actually legol offoirs dealing with property and inheritance. temity rite, but Boswell is con- vinced these were actual mar- riages. He spent 12 years look- ing for ev_idence and found plenty of it. For example, he found prayers in 16th- and 17th-cen- tury missals for a “Wahlbruder” ceremony, in which the priest asked of two men in turn, “Do you take x to be your brother?” They each replied, “I do.” Then they were asked if they truly wished to be joined together, and if they believed in the Trinity and the gospel. The priest then read from the gospel and declared that they were henceforth “more than Brothers.” Since the ceremony usually took place on the feast of ‘run Imagine a school IIIIIIIOIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIII while gay ceremonies took place in the church because they were about love. Be My Liie’s Companion In 1578, the French writer Montaigne writes of a ceremo- ny at “...the Church of St John of the Latin Gate, in which some Portuguese some years before had entered into a strange ‘brotherhood.’ Two males married each other at Mass, with the same cere- monies we use for our mar- riages, taking Communion together, using the same nup- tial Scripture, after which they slept and ate together.” Unfortunately, not everyone thought this wedding was a good idea, and many of the Red Cedar School Inunnaun-1, I - Where students are free to do what is most interesting and important to them - Where being treated with respect is an absolute right Ages 5 — 19 Hardscrabble Road, Bristol 05443 453-5213 redcedar@wcvt.com I ' I n - u A u I n n | A I » n u n IIIIIIIIIIIIIII \ u u » - u - - n u n - nuan----nun--uumna--‘ participants were later burned at the stake. In 1620, Alberto Fortis wit- nessed two women getting married in a church in Dalmatia. “The happiness that shone in their eyes after sealing this sacred bond demonstrated to the onlookers [a] tenderness of feeling.” Boswell concludes, after presenting many other careful- ly researched examples of same-sex marriages, “Recognizing that many —. probably most — earlier Western societies institutional- ized some form of romantic same-sex union gives us a much more accurate View of the immense variety of human romantic relationships and social responses to them than does the prudish pretense that such “unmentionable” things never happened.” I happen to agree with Boswell. There is certainly enough historical evidence to convince me that this current struggle is not a struggle to gain something new but rather to regain something that was once ours. Next time: You either got it or you ain’t! For More Information: This gay history column is the l7th in a series that began in prehis- tory. Much of my researchlfor this column comes from John Boswell’s Same—Sex Marriage in Pre—Modern Europe, which you really must read if you are interested in Christianity and/or gay marriage! Charlie Emond has a bache- lorb" degree from Queen ’s College and masters degrees from both Dartmouth agd Keene State. He teaches col- lege courses in Springfield and White River Junction. V For confidenfial HIV/AIDS Information Call 800-882-AIDS K J