Same-Sex Marriage

The History of Same-Sex Marriage A social union or legal contract between two consenting persons for the purpose of creating children may be referred to as a traditional marriage. A marriage, a societal institution, may refer to an interpersonal relationship whereby intimate and sexual engagements are acknowledged in a variety of ways, depending on where the bond originated. A traditional marriage usually has a formal induction through a wedding ceremony, otherwise known as matrimony. A marriage occurs for one of a number of reasons, including legal, social, libidinal, emotional, economic, religious, and spiritual in essence.Marriages are often recognized by the state, religious authority, or both institutions. Civil marriage is a legally recognized union recognized by the governmental institution unattached to a religious organization. Marital contracts can also be broken or dissolved through a separative process known as a divorce or annulment. Both definitions carry different connotations from culture to culture with each imposing varying penalties based on the wavering of the legal and/or religious affiliation.Marriage has been practiced throughout all of recorded history; however the practices, rules, and ceremonies in which the marriage is conducted have changed greatly over the course of human history. 1. University of Florida: The History of Marriage 2. Ohio State University: Marriage in Ancient Mesopotamia and Babylon 3. University of Dayton: Interracial Marriages and the Effects on Children 4. Way Back Machine: Gay Marriage in Montaigne, Rome 5. International Museum of Women: A Brief History of Marriage 6. Solidarity: A Selective History of Marriage in the United States 7. North Carolina History Project: A History of Marriage 8. New Advent Catholic Encyclopedia: History of MarriageHomosexualityHomosexuality, a romantic or purely sexual attraction or behavior between members of the same sex or gender, has been scrutinized by various cultures throughout history. Homosexuality is just one of the main three definitions of sexual orientation, alongside with heterosexuality and bisexuality. Homosexuality has been established as a normal and positive variation of sexual interaction by the scientific community; however, some religious sects and “ex-gay” organizations have characterized the behavior as a “choice.” Homosexual women identify with the term “lesbian,” while their male counterparts identify with the term “gay” to describe their sexual orientation in concordance with society. 1. The City University of New York: The Homosexual Tradition in China Selections from Chinese Homosexual Literature 2. University of Missouri-Columbia: Understanding Gay Culture (PDF) 3. The World History of Male Love: Homosexual Traditions Around the World 4. Africa Journal: The Politics of Homosexuality in Africa (PDF) 5. Avert: Homophobia, Prejudice and Attitudes to Gay Men and Lesbians: Homophobia Around the World 6. Public Broadcasting System: The Invention of Heterosexuality: Who's Gay? Who's Straight? 7. Jonah Web: Why Homosexuality Nor Heterosexuality Exist in Judaism 8. Homosexuality in Christianity and the Bible (PDF)History of Same-Sex Marriages, Civil Unions, and Domestic PartnershipsSame-sex marriage, a legally or socially recognizable union between two consenting adults of the same biological sex or social gender, has been under fire for many years. Since 2001, ten countries and other nation-states have begun to legally formalize same-sex marriages, including Argentina, Canada, Iceland, the Netherlands, Belgium, Sweden, Portugal, Mexico City, Spain, South Africa, and some regions within the United States. Same-sex marriages have varied from jurisdiction to jurisdiction, which has resulted in legislative changes of marriage laws in order to meet the constitutional demands of equality established by the Founding Fathers. Other opposing nations recognize same-sex marriages as a civil rights, political, social, moral, or religious taboo.Same-sex marriage has existed throughout all of history. In ancient times the unions were not sanctioned by any governing body but ceremonies were held in various parts of the world where individuals of the same sex would have arrangements or contracts, binding them to each other. In some cultures, these marriages were culturally acceptable, however in ancient Rome a law was put in place by Constantius II and Constans that condemned marriages between partners of the same sex. The punishment for breaking this law was death.The same-sex marriage debate in the United States has been going on for decades. In 1971 two students from the University of Minnesota filled out an application for a marriage license and were denied by the clerk because the couple consisted of two members of the same sex. James Michael McConnell and Richard Baker argued that the U.S. Constitution does not state that individuals must be in a heterosexual relationship in order to be legally married. The claim made it to the Supreme Court, where it was dismissed and no license was issued. 1. Yale University: The History of Same-Sex Marriages (PDF) 2. Santa Clara University: Gay Marriage: Theological and Moral Arguments 3. Fordham University: People with a History: An Online Guide to Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual and Transsexual History 4. Princeton University: CQ Researcher: Should Same-Sex Unions be Legally Recognized? (PDF) 5. Virginia Tech University: Marriage and Identity: Interracial or Same-Sex: A Historical Perspective (PDF) 6. Gay History and Literature: A History of Gay Marriage 7. TIME World: A Brief History of International Gay Marriage 8. Timeline of LGBT History in the United States (DOC)Legislation Related to Same-Sex Marriages, Civil Unions, and Domestic PartnershipsThe Defense of Marriage Act that was passed and signed into Public Law 106-199 by U.S. President Bill Clinton in 1996. The Defense of Marriage Act redefined “marriage” and “spouse” for purposes serving federal law. States are allowed to regulate the marital status of each citizen; however, a narrow interpretation codified the same-sex policy. A total of 43 U.S. States have fully recognized same-sex marriages, domestic partnerships, and civil unions as a legal bond. 1. Boston College: Statutes Related to Same-Sex Marriages, Civil Unions, and Domestic Partnerships (PDF) 2. University of Rutgers: Civil Union Act/Domestic Partnership Act in New Jersey FAQ 3. National Conference of State Legislatures: Civil Unions and Domestic Partnership Statutes 4. Fact Check: What is a Civil Union? 5. Lambda Legal: Legal Recognition of Same-Sex Couples’ Marriages, Civil Unions & Domestic Partnerships (PDF) 6. Empire State Pride Agenda: Same-Sex Marriage in New York Myth Busters 7. Traditional Values Special Report: Same-Sex Marriages, Civil Unions, and Domestic Partnerships Defined (PDF) 8. Alternatives to Marriage: Same-Sex Marriage FAQ 9. AM New York: Same-Sex Marriage Legalized in New York 10. Suffolk University: Same-Sex Marriage State Legal RecognitionPro and Anti-Gay Rights OrganizationsThere are different pro-gay rights and anti-gay rights organizations in existence that consistently fight for or against the homosexual lifestyle as a legal contract recognizable by the state and federal governments. Some of these organizations function to simply push through legislation for benefits, while others have owned a completely radical viewpoint against homosexual unions. Despite the opposition, homosexuals have garnered enough attention in Washington, D.C. to overturn many discriminatory policies established by the U.S. Government. 1. Gay and Lesbian Victory Fund (Pro) 2. Parents, Families, and Friends of Lesbians and Gays (Pro) 3. National Black Justice Coalition (Pro) 4. American Family Association (Anti-) 5. Repent America (Anti-) 6. Parents and Friends of Ex-Gays and Gays (Anti-) |

The History of Same Sex Marriage

By: Lisa Bower
The history of same sex marriage in the US is fairly short. However, civil unions have existed in some form or another since medieval Europe-for roughly 600 years. Of course, there's a major difference between a civil union and a marriage, and this is where the territory gets sticky. The following is a brief overview of the history of same sex marriage in the United States.
Same sex marriage vaulted to the country's attention during 1993 Hawaii court case Baehr v. Lewin, in which judges ruled that the state would need to give a concrete or compelling argument or reason for why gays should not have the same legal right to marry as heterosexual couples. It was this event that sparked the creation and passage of the 1996 Defense of Marriage Act, the first act to directly mention same sex marriage and law. The Act said that for the purposes of federal law, marriage was only possible for one man and one woman.
Though the Defense of Marriage Act stalled the fight for same sex marriage, the issue reared its head again a few years later. In 1999, the Vermont Supreme Court ruled that the state needed to give the legal benefits of marriage so same sex couples. A year later, Vermont legislature created civil unions in an attempt to give same sex couples equal rights to heterosexual couples.
In 2003, a Massachusetts Supreme Court ruling said that gays had the same marriage rights as heterosexuals. A year later, the Court ruled that civil unions would not fulfill this earlier decision. It was on May 17, 2004 that Massachusetts became the first state in the union to approve same sex marriage. Connecticut soon approved gay marriage, and in 2008, California followed suit. However, in November of 2008, this was reversed with the passage of Proposition 8: the issue is still playing out in the courts.
Though ten other states have given homosexual couples equal rights, whether through civil unions or same sex marriages, 27 states have passed laws or acts to ban gay marriage.

Same-Sex Marriage in History

Whatever effect these liturgical ceremonials were intended to achieve, it is clear that they used ecclesiastical formalities to make two men "brothers," and employed various rituals and symbolic claims to confirm this relationship within the confines of the church. All of Boswell's documents relate to practices rooted in the societies of Greece, the Balkans and the eastern Mediterranean between the twelfth and sixteenth centuries though, as he rightly argues, they surely reflect practices that were current from periods dating back to the end of the Roman empire, and probably earlier. The original documents that he cites are therefore in Greek, the ecclesiastical lingua franca of the eastern Mediterranean. The only Western versions of them are translations made into Latin from the original Greek prayer and liturgical books-wherein, notably, it seems that the Latin translators did not understand the purpose of the originals very well.
The ecclesiastical rituals that bless adelphopoiesis, or the making of a brother, include prayers and invocations of Christian virtues, particularly agape, or the Christian concept of love. They note that conditions of peace, not conditions of hate or vituperation, should exist between the two parties. Appeal is also made to pairs of men in the Christian tradition who were thought to exemplify these virtues: Philip and Bartholomew, among the disciples of Christ, and Serge and Bacchus, among the martyrs of the early church. Other elements of the ceremonial include, most significantly, the shaking or "juncture" of right hands; the exchanging of tokens; the mutual bestowing of a ritualistic kiss; and the holding of a celebratory feast or banquet to mark the occasion.
Such agreements and rituals are "same-sex" in the sense that it is two men who are involved; and they are "unions" in the sense that the two men involved are cojoined as "brothers." But that is it. There is no indication in the texts themselves that these are marriages in any sense that the word would mean to readers now, not in any sense that the word would have meant to persons then: the formation of a common household, the sharing of everything in a permanent co-residential unit, the formation of a family unit wherein the two partners were committed, ideally, to each other, with the intent to raise children, and so on.
Although it is difficult to state precisely what these ritualized relationships were, most historians who have studied them are fairly certain that they deal with a species of "ritualized kinship" that is covered by the term "brotherhood." (This type of "brotherhood" is similar to the ritualized agreements struck between members of the Mafia or other "men of honor" in our own society.) That explains why the texts on adelphopoiesis in the prayer-books are embedded within sections dealing with other kinship-forming rituals, such as marriage and adoption. Giovanni Tomassia in the 1880s and Paul Koschaker in the 1930s, whose works Boswell knows and cites, had already reached this conclusion.
This likely interpretation is made more likely by an extensive modern study of which Boswell appears to be unaware. In 1987 Gabriel Herman, a professor of history at the Hebrew University in Jerusalem, published Ritualized Friendship and the Greek City. In that book, and in several papers and articles on the subject published in leading journals of history and literature, Herman has analyzed the phenomenon of fictive "brotherhood" and "friendship" in the context of the world of the Greek city-state, and also in the cultures of the ancient Near East and in the regions that would later become parts of Slavonic Europe. In Herman's studies one finds all the phenomena regarded as indicative of "same-sex marriage" by Boswell: the ritual of the handshake, the exchange of tokens and right hands (dexiai), the declaration of love and friendship and of "no hostility or animosity" between the two parties, the exchange of a ritualistic kiss and the celebration of a common feast or banquet at the time of the formation of the compact.
Such ceremonials created ritualized friends who often spoke of each other as "brothers" and forged a close bond of brotherhood between themselves. They were "made brothers" rather than "brothers by nature." Hence the terminology, in Boswell's documents, of adelphopoiesis, or the ritual connected with "the making of a brother," and the phrases in his liturgical documents that specify that the two men "are not joined by the bond of nature, but rather by means of faith / trust and spirit," or similar words. This is why the documents contain references to the right of "protective asylum" (asylon anepereastos) and "safe conduct" (asphaleia) as divine attributes.
The kinds of words used to express the new relationship of "brothers" (words that are also found in Boswell's ecclesiastical rituals) were employed precisely because the men often entered into these relationships not out of love, but out of fear and suspicion. Hence the effusive emphasis on safety and trust.