From: ailsa%ailanth.uucp@wang.com (Ailsa N.T. Murphy)
Newsgroups: rec.org.sca
Subject: Re: Same-sex consorts, homophobia, fun mavins, etc.
Date: 11 Sep 92 14:22:54 GMT
Organization: Ailanthus Project

whheydt@pbhya.PacBell.COM (Wilson Heydt) writes:

> In article <1992Sep9.181418.13612@news.cs.brandeis.edu> tabron@binah.cc.brand
> >To the readers of the Rialto, greetings.
> >
> >In reply to many of the (copious) postings following up the thread of
> >conversation concerning same-sex consorts.
>
> I bow to the Lady's courteous comments and her erudition--both in
> general and on the subject at hand.
>
yes, i was quite impressed too...

> Two points:
>
> It has been pointed out that life isn't fair--indeed, the Society is
> *fairer* in many ways than the society.  (I think that's an excuse in
> this case--though a valid one.  Not correct--just valid.)

people always say, "life isn't fair" when they're about to screw you over.
>
> There is what I consider a reasonable precedent for changing SCA
> policy on the subject under discussion.  To wit--for some years, women
> were not allowed to fight in the Society on the grounds that women did
> not fight in period.  This was changed (over the strenuous objections
> of the then Society Marshall) when documentation was presented that
> women *did* fight (fairly regularly) in period.  That documentation
> should be in the Lord Laurel's files.  Should analogous documentation
> be presented that same-sex couples ruled in period, I think many more
> SCA folk would support a change in policy and that the policy would
> almost certainly change.
>
find me an example of a crown being awarded by tourney in period.  i can get
you examples of same-sex inspiration of a chivalric manner, and same-sex
coupling among women warriors.  but i've never seen any historical evidence of
a crown bweing awarded by tourney.  have you?  perhaps the crown should be
awarded at whatever great battle all the kingdom gets together for.  the
warriors of all the baronies fight it out, and whatever army comes out of it
the winner, that baron becomes king, or baroness becomes queen.  then the
baron/ess takes a consort of whoever will be the most advantageous to keep
rival baronies from staging insurrections.  then we have a fairly period
kingship, and adding period strictures would make sense.  but awarding the
crown by tourney and then barring certain types of chvalric love because they
were not allowed in a completely different venue...
>
> It is not my wish to dash hopes, but I would point out that in a world
> where SCA folk have had to scrape SCA stickers off their cars out of
> fear (sorry about the plurals--I *have* been told of a specific
> incident), there are topics on which SCA official policy is wise to be
> cowardly about.
>
SO????????  fear is part of life if you're different.  if you don't want people
to think you're a dangerous wierdo, don't display obvious wierdness.  why
should SCAdians be magically exempt from this stricture?  i know people who
have had to scrape off feminist bumper stickers too, and i have taken my gay
rights buttons off my jacket at times for fear of teh reactions of my fellow
subway riders.  as i have said before, the fact that someone somewhere might
not like the fact that i am odd does not instill me with a desire to become
normal.

> I have generally refrained from entering this specific discussion
> because I am not sure in my own mind what a right course is (let alone
> *the* right course).  No matter *what* is decided, some people are
> going to feel hurt--or worse.  We may strive to have winners and
> losers or we may have losers only.
>
if some people are going to decide that treating people decently hurts their
feelings, then they deserve to have their feelings hurt.

                                                -ailsa

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                    ailsa%ailanth.uucp@wang.com
 I wish her insight to battle love's blindness            ________
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