[Ansteorra] Royalty - Same Sex Consorts?

Mike C. Baker kihebard at hotmail.com
Sun Oct 30 12:26:16 PDT 2011


Robin raises - indirectly - a point which will need to be addressed in any 
putative transition.  (My friends, if I mistate here it is in no way 
intended to attempt to speak for Robin personally:  I am merely positing an 
extension of what *I* see as Robin of Gilwell, and other good and honorable 
folk who have at least similar bases for their belief and being...)

I'm not being particularly coherent today - still sorting through some of 
the ramifications, and fear that I may be rambling more than intended.  My 
apologies in advance.

>>If 2 men (lovers or not) or 2 women (lovers or not) want to fight in a 
>>Crown tourney...why not!
> Consider two situations:
> Situation A - A person wants to carry the favor of the person who inspires 
> him.
> Should he be allowed to do so? I think virtually all reasonable people 
> would say "Yes."
> Situation B: A married couple have spent the last year as the seneschal 
> and herald of a barony.
> They have found it convenient having these two high-paperwork offices in 
> the same house, and so
> they are both stepping down together. Another couple want to do the same 
> thing, and have applied
> to be replacement officers, which they want to do together. However, they 
> are both heralds, and they
> are asking the barony to have two heralds and no seneschal for the next 
> two years. Should they be
> allowed to do so? I think everyone who understands the SCA structure will 
> say "No".
>
> So the question is this - is a same-sex consort in Crown tourney more like 
> situation A or Situation B?
> And the unhelpful answer is that it is 100% like Situation A to some 
> people, and 100% like situation B to other people.
> Specifically, there are many SCA members whose personas and entire 
> approach to the
> SCA is based on their relationship to their king, or their queen.
>
> The persona, goals,ideals, and activities of Robin of Gilwell, Elizabethan 
> noble and Ansteorran Don,
> are focused on my relationship to the Queen. If there is no queen, then 
> there can be no Robin.

The fulcrum upon which I base the lever(s) which follow(s):  it would be a 
sad day indeed for this Kingdom, and the Society, if there were no Robin of 
Gilwell -  or any others who base their participation similarly.  (Yes, 
we've faced a somewhat similar situation before, with a Queen by right of 
arms where many were opposed to the simple concept of women fighting in the 
heavy style to start with.  We got past that very well, in my opinion, and 
Robin provided a summary of how portions of that were determined.  THIS IS 
NOT A DIRECTLY COMPARABLE SITUATION, in my opinion.)

Can we live without such folk for the space of a reign, or more?  Perhaps. 
But we would be a far poorer association for the experience...

> I don't want to deny people the chance to fight for their lovers, but the 
> fact remains -
> Robin of Gilwell, as he has been established for over thirty years, cannot 
> exist without a Queen.
> Robin of Gilwell / Jay Rudin

A moral quandary might then arise, should the proposal be accepted - posit a 
Champion or other individual with special status or function reaching the 
normal end of their tenure, and the incoming Personage (whether Royal or 
Baronial) does not "fit" their existing and traditional understandings. 
Would such a Champion be justified in continuing to hold the regalia of 
their office in abeyance until a "proper" / "traditional" successor for 
their office (and functions) were selected in a later reign?  Just how many 
traditions, Kingdom Laws, and other elements of the SCA-as-played will have 
to address / deal with such questions?  Consider in this process especially 
those Kingdoms where some portion of the Royal Family has been given certain 
rights-of-refusal in accepting candidates for one honor, title, or other 
...

Would they be thought the less of for holding strong opinions and refusing 
participation in any normal, formal ceremony of passing down the regalia, if 
they did give up their custody?

Will/would they be allowed to hold their fealty in abeyance for the passage 
of a reign, or more?  What about in those lands where continuance in an 
Order or Company is tied upon renewal of fealty to the Crown / Circlet?  The 
*person* of same?

The Society for Creative Anachronism, Incorporated, has the unfortunate 
necessity of existing in a modern world where the law of the land is not in 
keeping with the precepts of the vast majority of the cultures we attempt to 
recreate under that aegis, or have developed to-date.  The same-sex consort 
proposal is of necessity driven by existence in that modern world and the 
requirements of laws as they exist in the state and nation where 
incorporated.  That will never mean that every individual who chooses to 
participate will automatically toe the corporate line.  (Ansteorrans have a 
particular history in that respect...)  At the same time, yes, there are 
forces here above and beyond the modern legal system.  We have participants 
who have all manner of personal relationships mundanely as well as within 
the SCA context.  "Freedom of association"  and all that entails, after all. 
We can dream of even more inclusivity, as well as supporting limitations for 
whatever reasons of safety, security, morality, or other factors.

We can also support our friends and acquaintances without always agreeing 
with 100% of their goals.  Robin, you and I have lived and participated 
extensively in a Barony with a lone Personage upon the Seat.  We know 
directly how that worked at the baronial level.  The SCA has been structured 
across all of the Kingdoms (that I am aware of) to require both Crown and 
Consort at the level of the Thrones.

It would seem that we once more face a situation where the legal structure 
is going to interfere with the "medieval" / branch structure whether or not 
the "membership" is given a choice.  There options going forward.  Some of 
them are less than palatable, some are only uncomfortable, and some of them 
are dictated by personal choices and precepts.

Choose, and stand by your choices.  I'll stand by mine.

Amr ibn Majid al-Bakri al-Amra / Kihe Blackeagle (the DreamSinger Bard) / 
Mike C. Baker
 




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