Official Let's Talk Studio: https://scratch.mit.edu/studios/51652289 Let's Talk: Why I Believe My God Thinks Gay Is Okay: https://scratch.mit.edu/projects/1320421848/ Hello everyone, and welcome to episode 2 of my hyperfixation-fueled random research- "Let's Talk: History Was Super Queer." Table of contents: {Intro} {Greek} {Roman} {Egypt} {Mesopotamia} {Native American} {Aztec} {The Mughal Empire} {Japan} {Buddhism and Shinto} {Hawaiian and Pacific Islands} {Africa} {India} {Conclusion} {INTRO} So, recently, I got to thinking. I have noticed that a LOT of homophobic people used the argument "It wasn't a thing before; people pretending to be queer now are just following a trend." And I thought, there's no way that's true?? So... ✨hyperfixation begins✨ Just so you guys know, there is NO way this is a full compilation; it is just a couple summary facts ^^ {GREEK} In Sparta, it was more accepted for soldiers to take male lovers to fight beside, because being cowardly in front of a lover was the ultimate shame, so this would make braver warriors. There was one army composed entirely of gay lovers, until it was destroyed in a battle in 338 BCE. Sappho, a woman from Lesbos in ancient Greece, wrote poetry celebrating love between women and about her own desire for other women. (Yes, this is where the words sapphic and lesbian came from :P) Many ancient Greek deities had same-sex lovers, but were not seen as wrong for doing so, and these gods were equally worshipped. Socrates fully believed Patroclus and Achilles were lovers, and wrote an analysis about whether Achilles or Patroclus was the ---not exactly appropriate for Scratch :/--- However, this sort of thing is highly debated as to whether it should seem comparable to modern LGBTQIAPN+ because Greek civilizations viewed sexuality much differently than we do today, and we cannot fully understand their values. {ROMAN} When Antinous died, his lover, Emperor Hadrian, had cities, coins, and temples built in his name (shut up I just thought this was sweet ToT). The Roman poet Sulpicia wrote love poetry to other women. {ROMAN} Khnumhotep and Niankhkhnum, Egyptians who served in the royal palace around 2400 BCE, were very likely a couple, sharing a tomb, and often depicted in ancient works embracing closely, with noses touching in an Egyptian gesture of intimacy. The Egyptian Westcar Papyrus, dating to the 2nd Intermediate Period, references same-sex relationships, containing a story about a male Pharaoh falling in love with a male supernatural being. Various Middle Kingdom texts contain MLM relationships without negative judgment. {MESOPOTAMIA} Mesopotamia has one of the oldest known records of a 3rd gender, and this was woven into their religion, called urs. These individuals held sacred roles in temples. By the Akkadian period, the term subetu referred to a category of people who were neither male nor female in the conventional sense; they were associated with the goddess Inanna-Ishtar. One gender non-conforming individual, Ur-Nammu, achieved the highest honor in the land, becoming King of Ur. Non-binary individuals were often believed to be powerful due to their existence outside of the binary. There was also a word for individuals in Mesopotamia, sabum, for individuals who dressed and acted as the gender opposite of their sex. Although the Assyrian laws sometimes recommended punishment for these people, other evidence suggests these people were important to other parts of social and religious life. Mesopotamian "gala priests" were the non-binary people who served as priests. The Mesopotamian view of gender is much different than ours. They saw it as something that could be used for a sacred purpose; it was considered holy. This is actually something that appears again and again in different cultures. {NATIVE AMERICAN} In Native American culture, one of the most widely known gender non-conforming terms is "two-spirit," a modern term created in 1990 to describe gender diverse roles across Native American tribes. In the Navajo, the term "nadleeh" describes individuals who combine male and female spiritual elements. These people were recognized as a separate gender and held important ceremonial roles. They were not seen as cursed, but as blessed with the ability to move between worlds. The Lakota had the term "winkte," referring to men who adopted women's roles and were seen as a distinct category. The Mojave had terms "alyha" and "hwame," assigned words for people who were born as female or male, but lived as the opposite gender. The Chumash had the term "joya," and the Paiute had the word "hualapai"; these people held special roles in healing ceremonies. The Zuni has one of the most well-known examples, the "lhamana" or We'wha, an individual who was born a man but performed what were women's roles, and was a highly respected artist, weaver, and spiritual leader. (cont in notes and credits)
One We'wha met with President Grover Cleveland in 1886 as a Zuni representative, and he had no idea he was meeting with someone his own culture considered another gender. The main pattern among these older cultures was not one of disdain or grudging tolerance, but of celebration and religious integration; they were essential to the functioning of their society. Two-spirit people were often healers, mediators, artists, and spiritual leaders. The Inca had the "quariwarmi", people who dressed and served as women, but were born as men. {AZTECS} The Aztecs accepted individuals who combined male and female characteristics, and some served as specific priests. Christian missionaries deliberately destroyed records of 3rd genders or same-sex relationships. Government policies and boarding schools were made to erase and ban two-spirit identity. {THE MUGHAL EMPIRE} The Mughal Empire celebrated and normalized homosexual love as equal to, or greater than, heterosexual love. Many emperors wrote poetry about their attraction to men and kept beautiful lovers in their court. The builder of the Taj Mahal also had documented male lovers and wrote MLM and WLW poetry. Both attraction to men and women in all genders were considered valid expressions of the soul's desire for beauty. The Mughal zenana or "woman's quarters" provided space for women to form close emotional and physical bonds with each other. Although many Mughal laws prohibited same-sex relationships, it was still considered normal and continued for centuries. {JAPAN} The Japanese "wakashu" were male apprentices who were desired by male emperors. They were not seen as less than or feminine, but were respected. The Japanese "onnagata" were men who performed and acted as women in theater, and this role was taken on and off stage. Onnagata actors were considered experts in feminine beauty and grace and were often sought out as companions. In Japanese culture, "nyonyo" or "onnabe" referred to women who took on male social roles, including the freedom to have female lovers. These onnabe were not hidden or shameful in traditional art and writing. Due to Western colonization, in 1872, Japan criminalized same-sex acts. This was the beginning of the suppression of Japan's indigenous traditions. However, in traditional Japanese culture, there were no moral or religious cultural values against these relationships. {BUDDHISM AND SHINTO} Buddhism and Shinto did not consider MLM love to be inherently sinful or problematic; social acceptance was genuine and lasted for centuries. {HAWAIIN AND PACIFIC ISLANDS} In Hawaii, the "mahu" were people who lived as a 3rd gender. These individuals were an accepted part of traditional Hawaiian society, holding roles in religion, healing, and crafts. Hawaiian society recognized that gender was a spectrum, and mahu were not seen as deficient or wrong. In Samoa, the "fa'afafine" were a category of individuals who were born as men but lived as women. They were associated with women's work and crafts and were not seen as a problem or abnormal; they were simply part of how Samoan society understood gender diversity. In Tonga, the "fakaleiti" were similar to the fa'afafine and held similar roles, assisting in traditional ceremonies and rituals. When Christian missionaries came to the Hawaiian islands, they immediately started destroying this part of the culture, quickly turning the term mahu into a slur. The roles gender diverse people had held were quickly suppressed. Traditional understanding was largely lost, and modern Hawaiian activists have had to reconstruct using historical documents. {CONCLUSION} This pattern was largely consistent in many cultures. Gender diversity and same-sex relationships were normal or held respect; Christian missionaries arrived, they declared these actions to be sinful, and used their power to ban it, often violently. In various African societies, same-sex relationships were documented before colonialism and colonial powers criminalized them. In India, the British outlawed same-sex physical acts. These laws remained in place until 2018. Main Christian beliefs at the time of this huge wave of suppression was this: same-sex relationships were sinful, and it was a Christian duty to end them. This also caused historical people, when documenting traditions, to not include the gender non-conforming, trans, or same-sex traditions. Students now learn about ancient culture without knowing of two-spirit people or celebrated same-sex relationships because of how erased they are. Today, this is one of the main arguments for homophobia: "It didn't exist before, why all of a sudden now?" It's because it did exist before. It was erased.
