Around the world there are
many memorials and permanent archive collections recording the persecution of
the millions of Jews during the Holocaust and World War II. In contrast there are
few archives or museums dedicated to other parts of Jewish heritage,
particularly lgbt Jewish heritage.
This was a situation which
one gay Jewish Canadian was determined to change and his work provides the
title of today’s article.
Johnny Howard Abush
(1952-2000) was the son of Max and Gertrude Abush (originally Abusch),
Holocaust survivors who had emigrated from Krakow in Poland to Canada. Many
members of the family were sent to Nazi concentration camps, including
Auschwitz. All through his childhood Johnny felt ashamed of his Jewish roots,
also perhaps afraid to admit to them in an era when there was still a lot of
anti-Semitism around.
In 1975 Johnny began
working in the rapidly expanding IT industry as a computer systems analyst for
a major finance services company in Toronto. Throughout his career he was very
much in the closet – as a Jew. As a gay man, however, he was less never afraid
to declare his sexuality.
During the late 1980s
Johnny Abush enjoyed being part of the lgbt community in Toronto. He was proud
of his sexuality, and then, in 1989, everything changed. He was diagnosed with
HIV. Within months his illness forced him to leave his job and it opened up a
whole new life for him.
It was only after being
diagnosed with HIV that Johnny began to think again about being Jewish. He
began to think about who and what he was. He had no problem with being gay, but
wouldn’t be able to feel just as comfortable being Jewish overnight so he began
to look around for references to the lives of other lgbt Jews that didn’t just
centre round the Holocaust.
Johnny’s quest began
frustratingly. Visits to the Canadian Lesbian and Gay Archives and the Toronto
Jewish Public Library yielded nothing. It was only through the published
biographies of lgbt Jews that he began to feel that he wasn’t as “invisible” as
his archive searches had indicated.
The first book Johnny
bought in his search for self re-evaluation was the 1986 book edited by
Christie Balka and Andy Rose called “Twice Blessed: On Being Lesbian or Gay and
Jewish”. This book made Johnny realise that not only was he blessed by being
gay but “Twice Blessed” by being Jewish as well. “Twice Blessed” was to become
the name of the website which Johnny created a couple of yeas later to make his
by-then massive archive of material available to everyone.
Over the new few years
Johnny collected anything connected with the lgbt Jewish community that he
could lay his hands on, spending tens of thousands of dollars of his own money
in the process. He subscribed to journals and newsletters from around the world
and acquired a network of fellow enthusiasts who sent his items and artefacts
to add to his collection, which rapidly expanded to take over his Toronto home.
Realising that his illness
would likely to be the cause of an early death Johnny made provision for his
“Jewish GLBT Archive” and “Twice Blessed” website to remain intact after he had
gone. He hoped that the archive would go to the Diaspora Museum in Tel Aviv,
and was somewhat reluctant to see it dispersed or swallowed up in a larger
archive such as the Canadian Lesbian and Gay Archive in Toronto.
In the end both the
archive and the website became the core of a brand new archive created by the
ONE National Gay and Lesbian Archive named the Judaica Collection. In 1999
Johnny Abush saw all his archive boxed up and sent down to the ONE Archive at
the University of Southern California campus in West Hollywood.
During his time
rediscovering his Jewish Pride Johnny became involved in the Jewish lgbt community
in Toronto, being a leading member of several social and religious groups. In
1995 the Toronto Centre for Lesbian and Gay Studies gave Johnny an Achievement
Award, and many non-lgbt organisations felt the benefit of his experiences. In
particular the Thyroid Foundation of Canada, of which his mother was at one
time a board member, and for whom he set up their website.
Today Johnny Abush’s
archive, the Twice Blessed Collection, is still housed with the ONE Archive,
and you can get an idea of just how dedicated and determined Johnny was to have
the world’s lgbt Jewish heritage assembled and celebrated by visiting the ONE
Archive listing of Johnny’s vast collection here.
I was ironing some shirts
for work earlier this week and glanced out of my window. The view isn’t that
inspiring – a clock tower, a multi-storey car park and some construction work. But
I can see one bit of road 100m away and the front of the city police station. I
noticed immediately that they weren’t flying the Union Jack as usual, and
realised with surprise that it was the Rainbow Pride flag.
I shouldn’t have been that
surprised, I suppose, since I knew that a couple of days beforehand
Nottinghamshire Police had held a little ceremony to raise the Rainbow flag
outside Nottinghamshire County Hall a couple of miles away. Rainbow flags are
going up all over Nottingham’s public buildings this week in anticipation of
tomorrow’s International Day Against Homo-, Trans- and Biphobia (IDAHOT).
The police get a lot of
criticism, (rightly so in a lot of cases, but not all). So I feel I should put
on record the significant contribution Nottinghamshire Police has made to the
fight against homophobic crime (there was no distinction given at the time for
biphobia or transphobia).
In the 1990s there were
many police initiatives which aimed at tackling hate crimes around the UK. Many
of these crimes were racially motivated but the initiatives dealt with hate
crimes of all types, as far as society in the 1990s recognised what constituted
a hate crime. Verbal abuse, for instance, was not a hate crime. There were no
specific attempts to deal with homophobia or attacks against members of the
lgbt community.
The relationship between
the police and the lgbt community was very fragile. There was a lot of
suspicion of the police after the somewhat insensitive handling of various
serial murders of gay men and the bombing of a Soho gay pub. Several police
forces around the country had already recognised that there was a lot to learn
about the lgbt community and the crimes directed against it, but they were slow
to develop their initiatives into actual police procedure.
Liaison groups between
police and lgbt groups in various big cities were formed and guidelines were
drawn up to address how lgbt victims were treated. But, as Anne Summers, the
Assistant Chief Constable of West Midlands, said in 1997, “It’s down to each
and every chief officer to say ‘how does this relate to my area and what
priority am I able to give it?’”
In Nottingham plans were
being made in early 1997 for the city’s first lgbt Pride event which was called
Pink Lace. Nottinghamshire Police took this as the impetus to go beyond
initiatives and create an active policy towards homophobic crime, the first in
the country.
First of all they
conducted an up-to-date survey to determine the main areas of concern and where
to concentrate their resources. As with national surveys of the same period it
was found that most crimes weren’t being reported because victims were worried
about how the police would respond.
The Nottingham City
Lesbian and Gay Police Initiative (NCGLPI) helped to create Operation Shield, a
campaign that was put in place just in time for Pink Lace in September 1997.
The campaign covered all hate crimes, but it included a specific campaign aimed
at tackling homophobic hate crimes and was called “Blow The Whistle” (official campaign poster below). Now
Nottingham’s victims of homophobic crime had a specific team who would handle
their cases. It received a lot of publicity and media coverage. No other
homophobic crime campaign had been covered so extensively.
The NCGLPI also devised a
training programme for its police officers in what today would be called
diversity training. A leading officer in the NCGLPI was an openly gay Detective
Inspector called Adrian Hanstock. Before I end I think it might be interesting
to cover his career. He was the youngest police officer in the county to reach
this rank at the age of 33. The following year he joined the London
Metropolitan Police and helped to set up a similar campaign down there. He was
responsible for anti-terrorism policing in London when it was awarded the 2012
Olympic Games, and was in command of the police who dealt with the aftermath of
the London bombings the day afterwards. Then he was appointed as Commander of
the London 2012 Transport Policy, responsible for the whole of the “Olympic
routes”. Adrian is currently Deputy Chief Constable of the British Transport
Police, the only national police force in the UK (and, as far as I can tell,
this makes Adrian the highest ranking openly gay police officer ever in the UK).
It wouldn’t be accurate to
claim that the Nottinghamshire police were solely responsible for creating the
current position whereby all police authorities in the UK have proudly flown
the Rainbow Pride flag at various times of the year or now actively participate
in Pride parades (I spent a pleasant 30 minutes chatting with Nottinghamshire’s
Chief Constable on the 2013 Nottinghamshire Pride march). But they can be
claimed as the police force which led the move from initiative to active
policy.
I wonder if the current
officers at the police station I can see from my window realise their place in
this country’s lgbt heritage and fight against homophobic crime.
LAST TIME : 23) Johanna
Sigurdardottir became
the first openly lesbian Head of Government after the 2008/9 Icelandic
revolution led by 24) Hordur Torfason
who had previously campaigned for African refugees, many of whom are lgbt
asylum seekers fleeing from countries where homosexuality is regarded as
“un-African”, a claim proved wrong by ethnologists like 25) Lydia Cabrera.
Just like the lgbt
refugees from Africa 25) Lydia Cabrera
(1899-1991) found herself fleeing from the political ideologies of her home
country, in her case Cuba in the 1960s. She was born into a prominent and
wealthy family who employed several Cuban servants and nannies descended from
the slaves brought from West Africa. It was from them that Lydia first heard
the folklore and traditions of the old African cultures, in particular the
Yoruba of the Nigeria region. These fascinated Lydia and as she grew older she
thought about this African influence on the Caribbean and South American
beliefs such as Voodoo in Haiti, Candomblé in Brazil and Santeria in her native
Cuba.
All of these beliefs have
their origin in the religions brought by the slaves from the Yoruba culture in
the 18th century. They soon developed their own traditions due to
their enslaved lives being dominated by the (mainly Catholic) owners. Their
deities evolved into new ones as the new Yoruba-Caribbean culture developed.
Lydia Cabrera studied in
Paris where African art was a popular subject at the time (the late 1920s), and
she saw how this also influenced Cuban art. This, with her childhood memories
of Yoruba-Caribbean folklore, led her into the deeper study of the influence
Yoruba culture had on Cuba. In particular she studied the Santeria faith.
Many of the Santeria
deities, all evolving from the traditional Yoruba gods, developed lgbt traits
leading Lydia to look at the sexual diversity which existed in West Africa long
before the Europeans arrived, and she argued against the claim that
homosexuality is a “white man’s disease”. Lydia’s many books on Santeria and
its folklore have been instrumental in helping to understand the place of the
lgbt community in Cuban culture.
One example of the
evolving deities is the Santeria god of archers and the hunt, 26) Ochossi. Santeria, Candomblé and
Voodoo all have their own variations of his legends, and one common element is
Ochossi’s homosexual encounter with Ossain (or Osanyin), the god of plants.
Ochossi is always portrayed as a masculine
macho deity of extraordinary beauty, while Ossain is portrayed as an
androgynous young man. Quite simply, Ochossi falls in love with Ossain and they
have sex. A variation of this story tells how Ochossi thought Ossain was a
woman and raped him.
The Santeria and related
beliefs were influenced by the Christian culture spread by the European
empires. All throughout history cultures have absorbed some of the beliefs of
the cultures they conquer. The Roman Empire assimilated Greek gods into their own
beliefs, and the Christian church assimilated elements of earlier faith. So too
did Santeria. In Brazil 26) Ochossi’s counterpart, Oxossi, is often
associated with St. Sebastian because both are patrons of archers. Modern lgbt
culture has often adopted St. Sebastian as a gay icon and Medieval art often
portrayed him in sensual, homoerotic poses while being impaled by arrows.
Through this association the Brazilian Oxossi is often seen as a patron of gay
men or male sex workers.
St. Sebastian is an
example of the earlier cross-cultural assimilation dating back to the early
Christian church in Greece who saw him as the equivalent of their old god 27) Apollo. All three deities –
Ochossi, St. Sebastian and Apollo are patron of the hunt and archers. Apollo
was also patron of medicine and plague victims, as is St. Sebastian, and this
patronage has not gone unnoticed in parts of the lgbt community in connection
with HIV/AIDS.
27)
Apollo has also had his
share of gay patronage throughout history. Going back to the first years of this
blog in 2012 I told how his love for the Greek prince Hyakinthos was important
to the ancient Spartans, sport and gay sex. Of the other patronages of Apollo
is that of music. Which brings us quite neatly onto a celebration of an event
which is taking place next week – the 60th anniversary of the
Eurovision Song Contest.
You could say that the
first song contest of this type took place back in mythological times when 27) Apollo was challenged by 28) Pan. Pan is another of those Greek
gods who had a famous gay relationship, this time with Daphnis. This
relationship is told in one of my Stargayzing articles.
28)
Pan believed his pipes
could make more melodious music than Apollo’s lyre. So convinced, in fact, that
a contest was arranged between the two gods, complete with judges and audience.
Pan performed first and his tune was favourably received, but once Apollo had
struck up on his lyre the judges unanimously voted him the winner.
As with the Eurovision
Song Contest where some of the jurys’ decisions are questioned Apollo’s victory
was challenged. King Midas (sometimes named as one of the judges) favoured
Pan’s music. Apollo responded by saying that Midas’s ears are no more musically
atuned than those of a donkey, whereupon Midas’s ears turned into exactly that
– donkey’s ears.
This is just one of
several song contests in which Apollo competed – and won. They make good
stories for another time.
With these two gods with
same-sex partners competing in a music contest it seems there’s nothing new in
having lgbt contestants in something like the Eurovision Song Contest. It seems
appropriate, therefore, to celebrate the contest’s 60th anniversary
by looking at its many lgbt entrants. This I’ll do next week, but to continue
our journey Around the World in 80 Gays we’ll move on to the first known gay
Eurovision contestant in 1959 who represented Belgium, 29) Bob Benny (1926-2011).
The pink triangle is an
established symbol for a gay man. There can be no more appropriate symbol for
the subject of today’s article, because the triangle was also fundamental to
this man’s place in the history of science and mathematics. But most
significantly, this man was responsible for letting the world know that the
Earth was not the centre of the solar system. No, I’m not referring to Nicolas
Copernicus, but the only man who thought Copernicus’s work was important enough
to be published – Georg Joachim Rheticus (1514-1574).
A heliocentric solar
system wasn’t a new idea when Copernicus came up with his theory, and parts of
his theory didn’t go as far as others (he believed that the Sun was the centre
of the universe and that the stars and planets were fixed onto invisible
crystal spheres). He didn’t publish his findings, however, but distributed
outlines of his theories to some friends. The earliest reference to one of
these manuscripts comes in 1514, ironically the year Rheticus was born, and he
was to be so instrumental in getting Copernicus’s theory published, again
ironically, in the year Copernicus died.
Georg Joachim Rheticus was
born into a wealthy family in what is now Austria. He was legally stripped of
his real family name after the execution (for fraud and sorcery) of his father.
Georg used his mother’s maiden name for a while, and when he began studying at
Wittgenburg University he adopted a surname which referred to the region of his
birth, the old Roman province of Rhaetia.
In 1536 Rheticus was
appointed professor of lower mathematics, arithmetic and geometry at
Wittenburg. Two years later he took a couple of years leave to travel around
Europe studying and networking with other mathematicians and astronomers. This
is what brought Copernicus to his attention and he went to study under him in
1539.
It was 25 years since
Copernicus let a few select people know about his heliocentric theory. He was
still working on it and was writing a full treatise, but he wasn’t that eager
to publish it. Rheticus, however, immediately recognised the scientific value
of his work and published a summary in 1540, a kind of “Beginner’s Guide”. This
was well-received and fired Rheticus’s enthusiasm to see Copernicus complete
his work and have it published in full. First, however, Copernicus agreed only
to publish one section, that on the subject of trigonometry.
Trigonometry was one of
Rheticus’s specialist areas. I’ve never been good with numbers, and at school
hated trigonometry and all its sines and cosines, etc. All of this was due to
Rheticus (the sines and cosines, that is, not my hatred of trigonometry). He
produced innovative tables which he published in this one section of
Copernicus’s treatise, in 1542. The tables were instrumental in the development
of trigonometric maths and were still in use well into the 20th
century.
But it wasn’t enough for
Rheticus, because he wanted to publish the whole of Copernicus’s treatise.
Finally, in 1543, Copernicus relented and passed the whole manuscript to
Rheticus for printing. There’s some underhand tactics shortly afterwards when
Rheticus had to take up a professorship in Leipzig. He handed the supervision
of publication to a creep called Andreas Osiander, who wrote an introduction
declaring Copernicus’s theory was just that – theory, not fact. Unfortunately
it was too late for Copernicus, who received a copy of the newly published book
just before he died.
The later controversies
surrounding Copernicus’s book and heliocentric theory don’t concern us here,
but the later controversy surrounding Rheticus does.
After travelling around
Europe again Rheticus returned to teach in Leipzig. In 1551 one of his students
was the son of a local merchant. In April this merchant accused Rheticus of
getting his son drunk and having sex with him. Since there are no records of
Rheticus having any romantic involvement with women, or that he married, we
suppose that his sexual interests were homosexual.
Rheticus left Leipzig
hurriedly to avoid arrest and trial and finally settled in Krakow. He was tried
in his absence in Leipzig and found guilty and sentenced to 101 years exile
from the city.
In Krakow he also
continued his trigonometric studies and published more tables. The Emperor
Maximilian II paid him to teach 6 research assistants, so that he did not
eventually die in poverty like so many contemporaries accused and convicted of
sodomy.
We have no better
authority than Edward Rosen (1906-1985), the world’s leading expert on
Copernicus, who once stated, “Is it going too far to claim that without
Rheticus, no Copernicus…?” Rosen, never one to mince his words, gained a
reputation as someone who would point out (quite often with strong criticism)
errors published by fellow scientists, who then corrected them in later
publications. So it must have been with a degree of certainty that Rosen, and
therefore us, should recognise Rheticus’s significant contribution to the way
we see the universe. Copernicus could easily have died without having his
heliocentric theory published, and it is Rheticus we have to thank for
persuading him do so. This, together with his trigonometric work, truly makes
Georg Joachim Rheticus the “Pink Triangle who Pointed to the Centre of the
Solar System”.
I’ve never been one to approve
of gay stereotypes, but it has to be said that the old 20th-century
euphemism “he likes musical theatre” when implying a man’s sexuality is too
strong to ignore. It’s no secret that there were a lot of gay men in the
entertainment world – singers, dancers and chorus boys on stages all over the
world. In one of my “Coded Lives” articles in March I explained how a gay
subculture developed in the UK theatre that made use of its own variation of a
type of slang called polari.
It has been said that many
gay men found musical theatre (and later the film versions) appealing because
they found some affinity with some of the themes and leading characters in
major musicals, whether it was Dorothy wanting to go “Over the Rainbow”, or
Calamity Jane singing about her “Secret Love”.
As America celebrates its
Jewish heritage this month it seems appropriate to look at the American Jewish
lgbt songwriters and their musicals, and come to realise just how major their
contribution has been to musical theatre and to lgbt culture alike.
Many of the iconic gay
anthems have come from the pens of Jewish composers and lyricists. For the
purpose of today’s article I’ll just concentrate on what may be described as
the “classic” musical era of the 20th century. Among the most famous
American lgbt Jewish musical writers have been :
Leonard Bernstein
Fred Ebb
Lorenz Hart
Jerry Herman, and
Stephen Sondheim.
Between them these men
have been responsible for some of the biggest musicals and subsequent film
versions there has ever been. Here are just a few :
“Babes in Arms” (Hart)
“Cabaret” (Ebb)
“Chicago” (Ebb)
“Follies” (Sondheim)
“Gypsy” (Sondheim)
“Hello Dolly” (Herman)
“La Cage Aux Folles”
(Herman)
“Mame” (Herman)
“On the Town” (Bernstein)
“Pal Joey” (Hart)
“West Side Story”
(Bernstein, Sondheim)
Most of these musicals
have provided one or more anthem or iconic song for the gay community. I’m sure
you have your own favourite from among this list, or even one that I haven’t
space to include. Speaking of which : one of my own personal favourite
musicals, and one which is underrated in the lgbt community, is one by Stephen
Sondheim (it’s also the only stage musical I’ve ever dreamt of being in) – “A
Funny Thing Happened On The Way To The Forum”.
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I fell in love with this
musical when I was a teenager and saw it on television for the first time.
Until then I thought musicals were all the same, the typical American song and
dance musical, not that I thought there was anything wrong with that but that
it would have been nice to see something different, and "Forum" was different. Subsequently I’ve seen live
productions of the musical. I wish it was popular enough for a “Sing-along-a-”
format like “The Sound of Music” and “Rocky Horror Picture Show”. (Advance
warning: “Forum” will return later in the year in my “Around the World in 80
Gays” series where it provides the middle link between an art-loving Cardinal
and the space shuttle.)
I’d also like to add
another name to the list of Jewish lgbt musical writers – Howard Ashman. He is
best remembered for his lyrics for the Disney classic cartoons “The Little
Mermaid”, “Beauty and the Beast” and “Aladdin”. But he is also responsible for
the lyrics to the classic, almost cult, stage musical “Little Shop of Horrors”.
There are many more Jewish
lgbt musical theatre writers who have contributed more recent anthems and
iconic show tunes to lgbt culture. For now, let’s celebrate all the Jewish
composers, librettists, lyricists and writers from the lgbt community who have
encouraged us all to declare fearlessly to the world “I Am What I Am” (from “La
Cage Aux Folles”, words and music by Jerry Herman).
The USA is celebrating
American-Jewish Heritage month throughout May. Many people of Jewish heritage have been instrumental in the development
of the lgbt community and fight for gay rights. Among them are Harvey Milk and
Magnus Hirschfield. I’ll write several articles throughout May to celebrate the
varied contributions to the world made by lgbt people of Jewish heritage.
One cannot mention Jewish
heritage without thinking about the Holocaust, the darkest hour in Jewish
history. Gay Jews were doubly persecuted, and their sacrifices left a legacy to
the lgbt community in the symbol of their persecution, the pink triangle.
Going back into early
Jewish history there’s a story of the love between two men which has divided
opinion for centuries and is often put forward as Biblical support for same-sex
relationships. These two men was David and Jonathan.
The names of David and
Jonathan have been used euphemistically to indicate various states of same-sex
relationship – homosocial (a strong bromance), homoerotic (physical, platonic
attraction), and homosexual (full physical, sexual relationship). It should be
remembered, however, that most of the opinions about David and Jonathan’s
relationship have been interpreted through 2000 years of Christian doctrine.
Few Jewish scholars left any opinion at all until the last hundred years.
I’m sure everyone has
their own opinion about the exact nature of the relationship. This opinion may
well be based on nothing more than the word of others or a fleeting reference
in an lgbt publication. It’s a complicated matter to resolve, as all historians
and theologians have discovered.
If you’d like to get a
better idea for yourself and form a clearer opinion (or perhaps confuse you
even more) may I make a suggestion? How many of you have actually read the
Biblical account of the story of David and Jonathan? Have a look at it. It
doesn’t matter of you’re an atheist of non-Christian/Jewish. You’re not reading
it for spiritual guidance or for any religious reason. You’re reading it to get
to know what is actually written. After all, how many adults have read the
Harry Potter children’s book series? So, grab a Bible. Turn to the Old Testament and
read the book of Samuel. Find a good modern version, as it is more likely to be
based on original ancient texts than on Medieval translations of earlier
Medieval translations of even earlier translations.
Historians, theologians
and academics have a difficult time interpreting the story within its
historical and cultural context because so little information has survived. I’m
not surprised if the average lgbt person is confused. However, several
prominent academics have come out if favour of a gay relationship between David
and Jonathan, whether it’s homosocial, homoerotic or homosexual. Even Oscar
Wilde referred to them in support of “the love that dare not speak its name”.
A major supporter in
favour of a physical, sexual relationship was the gay historian John Boswell
(1947-1994). In both of his major works (“Christianity, Social Tolerance, and
Homosexuality: Gay People in Western Europe from the Beginning of the Christian
Era to the Fourteenth Century”, 1980, and “The Marriage of Likeness: Same-Sex
Unions in Pre-Modern Europe”, 1995) Boswell discusses some of the ancient texts
that are used to support the Biblical relationship.
For the most comprehensive
study of the evidence and texts there is probably no better place to go than
the “Epistle” website. This site contains several dozen articles by one of the
unsung pioneers in the specific study of the David and Jonathan relationship.
The articles were written by Bruce Linden Gerig (1936-2012), another gay
historian and a practicing Christian. He spent many decades researching the
subject. His articles can be found here. Gerig is never clear about his own
opinion but he sets out a vast amount of material which supports several
different viewpoints.
Whether they’re religious
or atheist, many lgbt activists have used the example of the relationship
between David and Jonathan to support legislation of same-sex unions. Just as
many have suggested evidence to support the opposite. The debate will continue
for many centuries yet, I imagine, but it shows just how important Jewish
heritage is, not only in modern discussions on same-sex marriage but also in
discussions on the religious acceptance (or otherwise) of homosexuality, and of
modern interpretations of ancient texts and cultures.
There’s so many
interconnected links with same-sex romance and the May blossom that a whole
thesis could be written about it. I’ll do my best to condense it all into one
article.
Let’s begin by defining
“May blossom”. The ancient hedgerows of England are in full bloom at this time
of year. This is May blossom, the flowers of the hawthorn. The hawthorn is a
sacred tree in many European legends and mythologies and much folklore has built
up around it.
In medieval England May
was also the most popular traditional month for weddings, the month in which
the original celebration of romance on St. Valentine’s Day on May 2nd
was held. This has its own gay origin, of course, in the writings of Geoffrey
Chaucer and his friend Sir John Clanvowe, the partner of Sir William Neville,
Constable of Nottingham Castle.
The hawthorn was sacred to
the Greek goddess Maia, after whom this month is named. She was the origin of
the Roman goddess Flora and her sacred festival of Florana which was celebrated
during this week in the Roman Empire. The false belief that St. Valentine’s Day
in February is based on the Roman festival of Lupercalia at that time of year
still has believers.
In Greek mythology the hawthorn
was also sacred to Hymenaois, the god of the wedding ceremony. At every wedding
in Greek mythology, whether it was of Zeus to Hera, or Orpheus to Eurydice,
Hymenaios was always present with his lyre, singing songs to accompany the
bride. He must have been a very dextrous god, because as well as his lyre
Hymenaios was always supposed to carry a flaming torch made of hawthorn
branches.
Hymenaios was one of a
group of deities which the Ancient Greeks associated with love. The most famous
of these is Eros, and together the deities are called the Erotes. The
association of Eros with the athletic gym and male same-sex is discussed in
several previous articles. In fact all of the Erotes, Hymenaios included, had
very gay lifestyles. I’ll return to the Erotes as a group next year. For now
let’s concentrate on Hymenaios with his lyre and hawthorn torch.
The origins of Hymenaios
come from the bridal song of the same name. He became its patron deity and was
given its name. The hawthorn became associated with him because Greek brides
wore garlands of hawthorn around their heads. His name is often shortened to
Hymen. The earliest written reference to Hymenaios is in a poem by Sappho, the
lesbian poet of Lesbos, in the 6th century BC.
Across the ancient Greek
states various legends developed which gave him a personal and family history.
They give many different names for his parents, but most often his father is
named as Apollo and his mother was one of the Muses of art and science. This
was the reason for Hymenaios’s prowess in music and song. Other legends
relating to his membership of the Erotes state that he and his fellow love gods
were all hatched from eggs.
This latter legend seems
more appealing considering others tell of a sexual relationship between Hymenaios
and his supposed father Apollo. In these other legends Hymenaios is not a
winged god but a mortal youth. He was of such exquisite beauty that Apollo
wouldn’t leave Hymenaios’s home and lived there for some time, drooling over
the boy. The mortal Hymenaios also caught the eye of several other male gods.
Dionysus fancied him as well. So did Zeus, king of the gods, who was so jealous
that he killed the young man. Dionysus brewed up a tonic which brought
Hymenaios back to life.
Among the other myths of this
mortal Hymenaios is one in which he played on his androgynous beauty. He fell
in love with a local young maiden who refused all his amorous advances.
Undaunted, Hymenaois disguised himself as a girl and followed the maiden to an
all-female religious festival. Because of his beauty no-one suspected he wasn’t
a real girl.
At the festival they were
attacked and kidnapped by pirates. On the pirate’s island Hymenaios organised a
revolt among the maidens and they killed their captors as they slept. Hymenaios
then promised to get them all back home again if he could marry the girl he had
fallen in love with. They agreed, and he revealed his true identity. On their
successful return home he was made patron of marriage.
This is one of the later
myths which were attempts to humanise some of their gods and give earthly
reasons for their patronage and for Hymenaios being associated with marriage.
This marriage of the
mortal Hymenaios to a maiden is the only heterosexual romance associated with
him. As one of the immortal Erotes he had no female love interest at all. In
fact, all his partners were male, including the god of the Evening Star,
Hesperus.
So, if you’re planning to
marry your same-sex partner this month, or in any future May, why not celebrate
Hymenaios, the god of weddings and marriage ceremonies, what could be more
appropriate than to decorate the venue with sprays of May blossom.
.bmp)
