Is Gay marriage a Christian tradition?

[intaglio]

I found this site Gay Christian 101 which seems to show evidence that until the 16th Century gay marriages were carried out by both the Catholic and Orthodox churches. Interesting elements of the web page follow.

St. Serge and St. Bacchus, two Roman soldiers who became Christian martyrs.
While the pairing of saints, particularly in the early church, was not unusual, the association of these two men was regarded as particularly close. Severus of Antioch in the sixth century explained that "we should not separate in speech [Serge and Bacchus] who were joined in life." More bluntly, in the definitive 10th century Greek account of their lives, St. Serge is openly described as the "sweet companion and lover" of St. Bacchus.

/snip

The ceremonies Boswell describes had all the contemporary symbols of a marriage.

A community gathered in a church
A blessing of the couple before the altar
Their right hands joined as at heterosexual marriages
The participation of a priest
The taking of the Eucharist
A wedding banquet afterwards

All of these are shown in contemporary drawings of the same sex union of Byzantine Emperor Basil I (867-886) and his companion John. Such homosexual unions also took place in Ireland in the late 12th to early 13th century, as the chronicler Gerald of Wales (Geraldus Cambrensis) has recorded.

/snip

At St. John Lateran in Rome (traditionally the Pope's parish church) in 1578, as many as 13 couples were "married" at Mass with the apparent cooperation of the local clergy, "taking communion together, using the same nuptial Scripture, after which they slept and ate together," according to a contemporary report.

I will cross post this to the religion forum.

[rurallib]

1. I remember hearing stories of this back in my Catholic school days

(which was pretty close to the 15th century)

I asked a priest about it in religion class and was answered with total denial.

[BillStein]

2. John Boswell wrote the book

Same-Sex Unions in Premodern Europe 1995

As with his other work, well researched and fully documented

it's available on Amazon, and highly recommended, as long as you're patient!

[HillWilliam]

3. I have this one

on my desk, ready at hand.