Same-sex marriage

Same-sex marriage is marriage between individuals who are of the same legal or biological sex. It is also called same-gender marriage, gay marriage, marriage equality (favored by proponents, along with just marriage), and homosexual marriage (sometimes favored by opponents). These terms are considered variously ambiguous, confusing, inappropriate, controversial, offensive, or loaded, depending on the audience.

History of same-sex unions

For detailed information, see History of homosexuality and Same-sex marriage timeline.

Related Topics:
History of homosexuality - Same-sex marriage timeline

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Asia

Same-gender romantic love or sexual desire has been recorded since ancient times in the east. 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. There are a number of possible reasons for this: an attitude that women were not important enough to write about; or that same-sex attraction between women was not valued as it was between men; or that women were not afforded equal status with men, so that, while men were free to pursue sexual and romantic pleasure both within and without marriage, women often were not).

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In China, especially in the southern province of Fujian where male love was especially cultivated, men would marry youths in elaborate ceremonies. 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.

Related Topics:
China - Fujian

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See also:

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• Homosexuality in China
• Homosexuality in Japan

Classical Europe

There has been a long history of same-sex unions in the western world. That many early western societies tolerated, and even celebrated, same-sex relationships is well-established, though not necessarily well-known. Evidence of same-sex marriage, however, is less clear, but there exists some evidence, often controversial, of same-sex marriages in ancient Rome and Greece.

Related Topics:
Ancient - Rome - Greece

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In Hellenic Greece, the common 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), 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.

Related Topics:
Hellenic - Pederastic - Greek - Erastes - Eromenos

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In ancient Rome, the Emperor Nero is reported to have married, at different times, two other men in wedding ceremonies. Other Roman Emperors, including Diocletian, are reported to have done the same thing.

Related Topics:
Nero - Emperor - Diocletian

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Increasingly influential Christianity promoted marriage for procreative purposes, combined with 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 homosexuality in Rome.

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Christian Europe

In medieval Europe, homosexual relations were much less open or accepted than in the classical world. However, much like the courtly love a knight might bear for his lady, deep, passionate friendship between people of the same sex was not only possible but celebrated. The "love" in such relationships has traditionally been assumed to be Platonic; but modern scholars often question this. As part of the remains of a floor of a Dominican church in Istanbul were found two gravestones marking the resting places of two knights of the royal chamber of Richard II — Sir William Neville and Sir John Clanvowe, who died days apart in October 1391. Each of their shields holds an identical coat of arms both knights' familial arms side-by-side: "impaled," that is to say, like a married couple's. Thus the companionship and formal union associated with marriage are present; the only doubt is whether sex itself was. http://www.lrb.co.uk/v27/n11/davi02_.html

Related Topics:
Medieval - Courtly love - Istanbul - Richard II - Coat of arms

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North America

Same-sex marriage has been documented in many societies that were not subject to Christian influence. In North America, among the Native American 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.

Related Topics:
Christian - Native American - Two-spirit

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In the United States during the nineteenth 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.

Related Topics:
United States - Nineteenth century - Boston marriage

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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.

Related Topics:
Africa - Azande - Congo

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