I knew about the Greeks and the Romans, but I was looking for a prehistorical accounting (a same sex couple clasped in an embrace found eons later by archeologist's?) But here is what I have come up with so far:
Quote:
The samurai often called it bi-do, “the beautiful way”, and guarded the tradition jealously. Ijiri Chusuke, in 1482 argued:
“In our empire of Japan this way flourished from the time of the great master Kobo. In the abbeys of Kyoto and Kamakura, and in the world of the nobles and the warriors, lovers would swear perfect and eternal love relying on no more than their mutual good will. Whether their partners were noble or common, rich or poor, was absolutely of no importance… In all these case they were greatly moved by the spirit of this way. This way must be truly respected, and it must never be permitted to disappear.” Gay love in Japan - World History of Male Love
|
As an adjunct to the following poem, here is a link to a paper on the subject written by M. Jimmie Killingsworth, Texas A&M University, and presented at the Modern Language Association Convention, San Francisco:
Whitman's "Calamus": A Rhetorical Prehistory of the First Gay American--J. Killingsworth
Quote:
In paths untrodden,
In the growth by margins of pond waters,
Escaped from the life that exhibits itself,
From all the standards hitherto published -- from the pleasures, profits, conformities,
Which too long I was offering to feed my Soul;
Clear to me now, standards not yet published -- clear to me that my Soul,
That the Soul of the man I speak for, feeds, rejoices only in comrades;
Here, by myself, away from the clank of the world,
Tallying and talked to here by tongues aromatic,
No longer abashed -- for in this secluded spot I can respond as I would not dare elsewhere,
Strong upon me the life that does not exhibit itself, yet contains all the rest,
Resolved to sing no songs to-day but those of manly attachment,
Projecting them along that substantial life,
Bequeathing, hence, types of athletic love
****
Afternoon, this delicious Ninth Month, in my forty-first year,
I proceed, for all who are, or have been, young men,
To tell the secret of my nights and days,
To celebrate the need of comrades.
Calamus poems : from Leaves of Grass (1860)
|
Then there is the ritual of some Native American tribes to determine if a boy is two-spirited. If so he is educated in womens work and men's tasks and is often a highly respected healer or medicine man, being mentored by a medicine man who is often also a two-spirit.
The two-spirit tradition in Native American experience
There is much in the world of visual art to support the fact homosexual relationships have been around forever:
Male Love and Gay Sex in Art - World History of Male Love
I apologize to those interested in more historical accounts of Lesbian love. I did a lot of reading and googling to get this much. I'm tired.
Here's something just for fun:
Channel 4's Gay-O-Meter 