Advent 4: Some Basil for the New Year

Of around a hundred Christmas gift-bringers I have researched over the past four years one of the more well-known is St. Basil (c.330-379). He is the gift-bringer to the Greek nation and the millions of people of Greek heritage around the world. Basil delivers his gifts on New Year’s Night, because his feast day is January 1st. Those of Greek heritage will know more about the traditions associated with him than I do.

Recently, historians has looked at Basil’s close relationship with St. Gregory Nazianzen (c.329-390). An increasing number suggest their relationship was homosexual but platonic. I’m very wary about adding people to my files just because someone said he or she was lgbt+. But, as with St. Francis of Assisi, there might be a grain of truth in this case.

A lot of people in the lgbt+ community, and elsewhere, don’t really understand the concept of Christian love and its written expression. Its not sex. With Saints Basil and Gregory it is pure Christian love – soul-mates without all the baggage of sex. Basil and Gregory may be the perfect patron saints of same-sex couples.

Both were born into wealthy families in what is now Turkey. St. Basil is variously named as Basil of Caesarea or Basil the Great. Many members of his family also became saints – his parents and all of his siblings. St. Gregory Nazianzen, Gregory of Nazianzus, or Gregory the Theologian, was about the same age and, like Basil, both of his parents became saints.

Both were among the first generation of Christians to be born after the Roman Emperor Constantine’s conversion to Christianity in 312 and his decree of religious tolerance of all faiths. This meant that they grew up without the threat of persecution and murder.

Part of their privileged education took place in Caesarea in Cappadocia, now Kayseri in Turkey. It is there that the two saints are thought to have first met just about the time they were approaching 20 years old. They then continued their education in Constantinople, named by and after the emperor. After that they then went to Athens.

In 356 they went their separate ways for a while. Basil travelled around before returning to Caesarea to practice law. Gregory remained in Athens before returning to Nazianzen, the town near his birthplace, after which future historians named him.

Gregory’s father was Bishop of Nazianzen and he ordained his son. Gregory was rather reluctant to accept. It wasn’t because he wasn’t a Christian. Legend says that on the ship sailing to Athens a few years earlier a huge storm threatened to sink the vessel. Gregory prayed that if the ship reached Athens intact he would dedicate his whole life to God. What he had in mind was life as a solitary monk, not an ordained minister in the community. But now that he had accepted ordination his father was now his boss. Years later Gregory wrote that his father’s actions were an “act of tyranny”. Anyway, Gregory did what he thought was best. He ran away.

Meanwhile, Basil gave up the law and, like Gregory, decided on an ascetic, monastic life. However, he soon discovered that solitary living wasn’t for him. He gave away his inheritance and returned to his family estates at Annesi and gathered a few like-minded followers in a monastic commune, which included several members of his family. There Basil wrote extensively on monastic life which became the blueprint for monastic rules in the Greek Orthodox Church. It was to Annesi that Gregory retreated to after he ran away.

Basil attended the Council of Constantinople in 360. This is a significant event in Christian history because it was called to settle a dispute among theologians. Some said that Christ was similar to God the Father but was not God the Son (putting it oversimply). Basil agreed, but by the end of the council he had changed his mind. From this council the current Christian doctrine which developed into the Holy Trinity was formulated. St. Patrick famously illustrated the concept of the Holy Trinity (God the Father, God the Son, God the Holy Spirit) by pointing out that a single shamrock leaf has three separate parts but is still one leaf.

The main supporters of the “losing” side at the council were called the Arians (nothing to do with Aryans and the Nazis) and they were declared heretics. The debate, however, didn’t go away. Both Basil and Gregory were to spend years opposing the Arian supporters. They even agreed to take part in a public debating contest against Arian theologians. They absolutely trashed the Aryans with their arguments and eloquence and were declared victors of the contest.

By 373 Basil had become Bishop of Caesarea and he consecrated Gregory as Bishop of Sasima. Gregory was, again, reluctant to accept and it led to some tension in their friendship. Gregory later told Basil that he was not to be used as a pawn in Basil’s own power play. Despite this, their close relationship remained intact. They had their separate lives, but they lived together on and off, collaborating on various theological treatises or living in communes.

St. Basil died in 329 or 330, on either 1st or 2nd January. No-one knows for certain. This is why both of these dates were chosen as his feast days. He also has several others throughout the year depending on the Christian denomination. In Greek culture his gift-giving day is January 1st.

St. Gregory preached at St. Basil’s funeral, in which he said: “We became everything to each other; we shared the same lodging, the same table, the same desires, the same goal. Our love for each other grew daily and deeper… We seemed to be two bodies with one spirit”.

I’ve read expressions of Christian love, but St. Gregory expressed it far deeper than many of them. Surely, there was more than just Christian love and a bromance between them.

St. Gregory died in January 390. Like Basil he has several feast days throughout the year. The first of these is on January 2nd, on which he is commemorated with St. Basil. Because of their important writings on Christian doctrine and monastic life, as well as their defence against the Aryans, Basil and Gregory were declared Doctors of the Church.

For all his importance as a Christmas-time gift-bringer I cannot find any image of anyone dressing up as St. Basil in the same way that people dress up as Santa Claus in shopping malls or waving at crowds in Christmas parades. I can’t find out why. Perhaps someone else knows and can tell us.

Above is a video which goes into Basil in more detail. I includes stories I haven’t had room to cover, like his influence on your own health – Basil invented hospitals (his hospital is one of the “7 Gay Wonders of the World”, an article I’m preparing for next year).

I’m taking a break in January and will be back on 1st February, so a Joyful Holiday, Merry Christmas, and Happy New Year to you all.

Advent 3: Christmas is a Bit of a Drag

Modern drag has advanced little since the start of this century (if at all). Much of it is lingering in the style of the 1980s, desperately trying to appear relevant and significant in today’s world, and failing, due to drag’s outdated gay stereotypes. However, it is far advanced from the drag and female impersonations of a hundred years ago.

If we go back further to look at what influenced modern drag we find the British pantomime dame and, even earlier, the character of the Italian commedia dell’arte. And even further back than that, we have comic female characters played by men in medieval mystery plays based on stories in the Bible.

It has to be admitted that these very early drag-like performances were purely for entertainment purposes and no gender identity was assigned to the performer. It is well-known that at one time women were not allowed, or discouraged, to be actors. That meant that any female character, including the Virgin Mary in Christmas nativity plays, were played by men or boys.

One development of the medieval mystery play is one I wrote about in 2019, the French Société Mattachine. In that article I explained how the early gay rights organisation in the USA, the Mattachine Society, was named after these medieval performers.

The Mattachines were not confined to France. The name seems to derive from the Italian “mattaccino”, which comes from “matto” meaning “mad”. From this we understand how the comic characters found in various mattachine groups throughout medieval Europe act in over-the-top performances, as if mad.

If we skip across to Spain we find the matachines who were popular in the 17th century, quite some time after other European variations had begun to die away. Because of this, the Spanish matachines is the form which has survived today – but not in Spain.

The Spanish matachines had developed into a more musical and dance form rather than drama. It still had the stock characters familiar in all its forms in Europe – a hero, a young woman, an old man, a villain, and more pertinent for our purposes today, an old woman played in drag. A particularly Spanish addition to the cast was a bull.

But what have the matachines got to do with Christmas? Bear with me while I digress. We have to look at how the matachines dances evolved after the Spanish colonised Central America. There’s a debate which is pertinent to the matachines, and Christmas in general. It concerns what I believe is a common misconception constantly repeated at this time of year that Christmas traditions are actually pagan. No matter how much research in many academic papers and books I can find no actual proof of this, only a lot of unsupported opinion based on coincidence from the 18th century onwards (not to mention modern crap about Santa and Coca Cola). Thankfully, an increasing number of qualified historians have debunked many of these pagan lies. Just because two things sound or behave the same it doesn’t prove they’re connected.

Usually, the Christian Church is presented as adopting pagan practices to encourage indigenous communities to convert to Christianity. I believe the opposite. I’m not alone in this. This 2021 article on the history of matachines in Mexico from the Universad Nacional Autómona de México comes to the same conclusion. It is becoming clear through modern research that it was newly converted indigenous communities who looked at what Christian practices were similar to their own and then adapted them without losing their own cultural identity. The Christian Church authorities, in their turn, saw no reason to object and, as long as Christian doctrine was followed, accepted the new ethnic take on their practices (except a handful of puritan extremists, like those today who want to ban “Harry Potter” because it “promotes witchcraft”).

The Spanish Conquistadors spread their matachine dances across Central America. In Mexico the Aztecs in particular merged it with their own dance rituals and produced a variation which they still use today, a variation that actually includes a king character based on Moctezuma (Montezuma). This is performed on special occasions, though not often at Christmas as with their US Pueblo counterparts. It also has a slightly different name – matlachine.

The two female characters of the Pueblo matachine are called Malinche and Perejundia (or Abuela). The Perejundia is always played by a man in drag, and the Malinche is now usually played by a girl. They represent opposites. Malinche is a beautiful, young, innocent girl, while Perejundia is an ugly, bawdy and coarse old woman. The video above shows one of the few clear visual representations on YouTube of the bawdy Perejundia.

Usually, matachine dances are performed during Advent, most often on December 12th, the Feast of the Immaculate Conception celebrating the conception of the Virgin Mary (often referred to as Our Lady of Guadelupe). This is also the date which is generally considered as the start of Christmas in the Pueblo communities. In fact, several matachine performances have taken place this week. Because the celebration is religious and often performed inside churches, the Perejundia character is sometimes omitted. The video below is the matachine from two days ago in Laredo, Texas. You can see the Malinche played by a very young girl, and the old man character, but no Perejundia.

Prof. Brenda Romero of the University of Colorado, an expert on hispano-indigenous music, has noted that matachines among Pueblo communities have become quite inclusive. She says that gay men (and women, as can be seen in the video below) are actively involved. I may be assuming too much, and this is only my theory, but are some Pueblo gay men specifically drawn to playing the Perjundia in the same way that some gay men in the USA become drag performers? I have absolutely no evidence or proof of this, but it’s an interesting thought.

Whatever the gender identity of the person playing the Perejundia in the Christmas matachines, it is clear that there is a direct line of descent from medieval mystery plays to the commedia dell’arte, the Perejundia, the British pantomime dame and modern drag queens.

Next week we look at a Hellenic Christmas gift-giver and his association with a reluctant priest.

Advent 2: Christmas Werewolves Among Us

Werewolves at Christmas? What have werewolves got to do with Christmas?

Well, forget most of what you think you know, because the werewolf of popular culture has been influenced more by modern film than traditional folklore. Werewolves are part of almost every culture in Europe, and the majority of these tell of how werewolves are only created during the Christmas season.

Perhaps the most widespread belief our European ancestors had was that anyone born on Christmas night, between the hours of sunset on Christmas Eve to dawn on Christmas Day, was automatically inclined to become a werewolf when they reached adulthood. There are variations of this idea, including substituting conception on Christmas night instead of birth, making anyone born on the following September 24th likely to be a future werewolf. While it was known who was born or conceived on those dates there is no evidence that their communities tried to kill them before they reached adulthood in order to prevent them from becoming werewolves.

In medieval Normandy, France, it was believed that anyone who was excommunicated from the Catholic Church during Advent would turn into a werewolf every night until received back into the church by a priest. While in Germany it was believed that anyone born on any of the 12 Days of Christmas would become a werewolf.

The date on which people turned into werewolves also differs from place to place. In Poland they would only transform on Midsummers’ Day or on their birthday, Christmas Day. In Italy they transformed on December 13th, which was the date of the winter solstice before the current calendar was introduced in 1582. There is little indication that the moon had anything to do with any transformation, except from a small region of southern France, and transformation was not restricted to a wolf, it can be any were-animal. The moon effect was introduced by Universal Studios for the 1943 film “Frankenstein Meets the Wolf Man”.

Belief in a lot of countries say that all werewolves would transform every night after their first transformation until they were either blessed by a priest while in were-form, repented of their sins in church during the day while in human form, or were killed or died.

So, were you born or conceived on any of those dates mentioned? Are you a closeted werewolf and you didn’t know? You’re in good company, because there are many in the lgbt+ community who could be, according to traditional European belief, and here’s a selection of some of them. I haven’t included all the birth dates in Advent or 12 Days of Christmas as mentioned above because there are too many names to include if I do.

Born on December 13th

Anne-Marie Alonzo (1951-2005) – Canadian playwright, novelist, poet and publisher.

Linda Bellos (b. 1950) – British political activist; Leader of Lambeth Council, 1986-8.

Anthony Callea (b. 1982) – Australian singer and actor ("Australian Idol" 2004 runner-up).

Rev. Mari Castellanos (b. 1947) – President, Dignity US Miami chapter.

Jackie Clune (b. 1965) – British singer and actor; former Karen Carpenter tribute singer.

Michelle Duff (b. 1939) – Canadian transgender Grand Prix motorbike racer.

Peter Gajdics (b. 1964) – Canadian writer on surviving conversion therapy.

Anton Hysén (b. 1990) – Swedish footballer (soccer).

Richard Isay (1934-2012) – American writer, broadcaster and psychiatrist.

Hon. Desmond Parsons (1910-1937) – British linguist and aesthete.

Jim Quixley (1931-1991) – Australian children's author; librarian at York University, Toronto.

José Sarria (1923-2013) – American drag performer; 1st known out lgbt person to run for US public office.

Allen Schindler (1969-1992) – Radioman Petty Officer, US Navy (murdered).

Most Rev. Mark Shirilau (1955-2014) – American founding Archbishop of the Ecumenical Catholic Church.

Laís Souza (b. 1988) – Brazilian Olympic gymnast.

Theodora Versteegh (1888-1970) – Dutch classical singer.

Tom Wakefield (1935-1996) – British novelist and short story writer.

Born on December 24th/25th – I’ve included both of these dates because it is difficult to determine who was born between sunset on Christmas Eve and dawn on Christmas Day, the night during which werewolves were born.

Born on December 24th

Bethany Black (b. 1978) – British transgender comedian and actor.

Mauro Bordovsky (b. 1956) - founder member of West Hollywood Aquatics.

Eliza Cook (1818-1889) – British author and Chartist poet.

Dean Corll (1939-1973) – US serial killer (the Houston Mass Murders).

Lee Daniels (b. 1959) – Oscar-winning American film producer ("Monsters Ball").

Maik de Boer (b. 1960) – Dutch fashion stylist and social commentator.

Nathan Fain (1942-1987) – American journalist and co-founder of Gay Men's Health Crisis.

Deborah Glick (b. 1950) – member of the New York State Assembly since 1991.

Adam Haslett (b. 1970) – American fiction writer; Pulitzer Prize finalist.

Brenda Howard (1946-2005) – pioneering American bisexual activist.

Howard Hughes (1905-1976) – American tycoon, aviator and philanthropist.

Robert Joffrey (1930-1988) – American dancer and choreographer.

Kevin Killian (1952-2019) – American writer and poet.

Dominic Koll (b. 1984) – Austrian Olympic swimmer.

Adam Lippes (b. 1972) – American fashion designer.

Ricky Martin (b. 1971) – Puerto Rican pop singer.

Joep Mesman (b. 1981) – Mr. Gay Netherlands 2006.

Nestor Perlongher   (1949-1992) - Argentinian writer and anthropology professor.

Jim Roth (b. 1968) – Chief Deputy and Attorney, Oklahoma County Commission.

Bob Smith (1958-2018) – American comedian and writer.

Ans van Dijk (1905-1948) – Dutch Nazi collaborator (executed).

Born on December 25th

Ramona Bachmann (b. 1990) – Swiss footballer (Women's World Cup 2015).

MIanne Bagger (b. 1966) – Danish transgender golfer.

Brad Benton (b. 1974) – American gay porn actor (and “Dante’s Cove” gay soap opera)

Albert Cashier (1843-1951) – Irish cross-dressing Union soldier in the American Civil War.

Staceyann Chin (b. 1972) – Jamaican spoken-word poet and activist.

Kenny Everett (1944-1995) – British DJ and entertainer.

Noël Greig (1944-2000) – British actor, director and playwright of the early gay theatre movement.

Christine Johnson (b. 1968) – member of Utah House of Representatives 2007-10.

Christine Kaufmann (b. 1951) – Montana State Senator 2007-17.

Ismael Merchant (1936-2005) – Anglo-Indian film producer.

Jessica Origliasso (b. 1984) – Australian singer-songwriter and actor.

Conny Perrin (b. 1990) – Swiss tennis player.

Alexander Scriabin (1871-1915) – Russian classical composer.

Noel Tovey (b. 1934) – Australian dancer, choreographer and actor.

Tonie Walsh (b. 1960) – founder of Irish Queer Archive.

Joey Yale (1949-1986) – American gay porn actor.

Born on January 6th

Jeff Bennett (b. 1965) – American activist; co-founder of Gay.com.

Herman Emmink (1927-2013) – Dutch singer, radio and TV broadcaster.

Juan Goytisolo (1931-2017) – Spanish novelist, poet and essayist.

Bjørn Lomborg (b. 1965) – Danish environmental economist.

Kate McKinnon (b. 1984) – American comedian, impressionist and actor.

Hon. Nancy Ruth (b. 1942) – Ontario Senator, Canada, 2005-17.

Danny Pintauro, (b. 1976) – American actor ("Who's the Boss" child star).

Charlotte Endymion Porter (1857-1942) – American editor and writer.

Walter Sedlemayr (1926-1990) – German actor (murdered).

Hugues Sinclair de Rochemont (1901-1942) – Dutch journalist; member of the Nazi Party.

Hugh Skinner (b. 1985) – British actor (plays Prince William in the UK series “The Windsors”).

Gábor Szeley (b. 1968) – Secretary of State 2006-9; 1st open lgbt member of Hungarian government.

Peter Whittle (b. 1961) – British parliamentary candidate 2015 and 2017.

John Wieners (1934-2002) – American Beat poet.

Born on September 24th

Rt. Hon. Sir Conor Burns (b. 1972) – British MP 2010-24; Minister of State 2019-22.

Luke Clippinger (b. 1972) – member of Maryland House of Delegates since 2011.

Louis Edmonds (1923-2001) – American actor (237 episodes of “All My Children”).

Michelle Ferris (b. 1976) – Australian Olympic cyclist.

Richard Groenendijk (b. 1972) – Dutch comedian, actor and writer.

Simon Hobart (1964-2005) – British club founder (Popstarz), and DJ (Heaven).

Casey Johnson (1979-2010) – American Johnson & Johnson pharmaceutical heiress.

Patrick Kelly (1954-1990) – American fashion designer.

Mark Leno (b. 1951) – California State Senator 2008-16.

John Logan (b. 1961) – American playwright and screenwriter (“Gladiator”, “Skyfall”).

Paul Mills (1924-2004) – American Director of Santa Barbara Museum of Art, 1970-82.

Ross Mathews (b. 1979) – American tv host and personality.

Yves Navarre (1940-1994) – French novelist.

Jack Pierson (b. 1960) – American photographer and artist.

Amy Scholder (b. 1963) – American writer and literary editor.

Horace Walpole (1717-1797) – 4th Earl of Orford; British writer and gothic novel pioneer.

Next Sunday I hope I’ll give what I had originally planned for today, and explain the links between an early American gay rights organisation, British pantomime dames, and Pueblo dances in New Mexico.

Advent 1: Sinterklaas is Coming To Town

This year’s pre-Christmas Advent series will look as four Christmas characters and some of their lgbt connections. I’ll describe them in the chronological order in which the character appears during the Christmas season.

Today we’ll look at one of the more well-known gift-bringers of the Christmas season, Sinterklaas from the Netherlands. The name Sinterklaas is a variation of the name of St. Nicholas, the same person whose most famous name variation is Santa Claus. Generally, people think they are the same character, but I consider them three different incarnations of the same person, with different origins, characteristics, activities and places of operation. One lgbt actor who has made a career out of playing Sinterklaas, Fred Butter (b.1957).

There are many professional Santa Clauses, Father Christmases, Saints Nicholas, and Sinterklaases around the world who don their famous costumes. There are many countries who have actor appointed as official state Christmas gift-bringers. Even though he isn’t the Netherlands’ official state Sinterklaas (currently Stefan de Walle), Fred Butter is about as near as you can get. Playing Sinterklaas on Dutch television for many years means that for many Dutch children Fred is the person they see most often as Sinterklaas.

Fred is an actor and singer. He has appeared in many television and theatre productions, including the stage musicals “La Cage Aux Folles” (1985), “Cats” (1986-8), “Mama Mia!” (2003-6) and Disney’s “Tarzan” (2007-9). Fred played a recurring character in the Dutch soap opera “Goede Tijden, Slechte Tijden” (Good Times, Bad Times).

The first time Fred Butter played Sinterklaas was in 1999 in the tv series “Het Grote Sinterklaasverhaal” (The Great Sinterklaas Story), produced by the Dutch children’s channel Kindernet. The 15 episodes were edited down into a tv movie in 2000 which is still broadcast at Christmas.

In 2008 Fred put on the bishop’s robes to play Sinterklaa again in “The Sinterklaas Club: The Great Unknown” broadcast on the Jelix channel. This 26-episode series was broadcast every day up to St. Nicholas’s Eve, December 5th.

Since then Fred Butter has been appearing on television and a public events as a professional Sinterklaas. The video above shows Fred as Sinterklaas.

In 2012 Fred was one of the judges in the second national competition which gave awards to people, events and places who have most embodied the spirit of Sinterklaas. This was organised by the Gouden Pepernoot (Golden Gingerbread) foundation and the awards were presented at a gala on St. Nicholas’s Eve, 5 December 2012.

Sadly, the Christmas spirit and the charity exemplified by gift-bringers like Sinterklaas and Santa Claus didn’t mean much to the organisers of the gala. By September 2013 they had run off with all the proceeds and the whole Gouden Pepernoot initiative disappeared with it.

But let’s not end on a sad note. The week after the 2012 Gouden Pepernoot Gala Fred Butter married his partner of 20 years Rud Burgman. It’s good to know there’s a happy note to end with. As a bonus, there’s a short video of Fred Butter as Sinterklaas in 2016 at the top of this article.

UPDATE 6 December 2024: For the next Advent Sunday I intended to look at the links between a prominent gay rights movement, pantomime dames, and Pueblo dancers. However, a bit of last minute research uncovered material I need to check. So instead, next Sunday I’ll write about something a little more intriguing – the links between Christmas and werewolves, and we’ll see if we can reveal any queer werewolves living among us today.