[Ansteorra] Same-Sex Consorts

[Jeffrey Clark]

"All giggling and jest aside, I really don't see that this matters.  As
long as there are two rulers (ok, I AM biased against having a single ruler
even if it IS period) who cares which one (if either) wears pants and which
one (if either) wears skirts?"

Soooo... disallowing a king/king or queen/queen is unfair to one group of
people, and that's not okay; but forcing a royal pair is unfair to another,
but that's fine?

What about the many enterants to crown tourny who don't have a significant
other, or who's SO doesn't want to be consort (or who -- heaven forbid --
doesn't play), and are forced to pick a potential queen?

The way I see it, the main difference between the modern person and the
period is the significance of tradition. The modern person tends to be more
than happy to throw out tradition when tradition proves inconvenient. The
period mindset was less "progressive" or "pragmatic" and much more
conservative when it came to changing things. Really, the dream we try to
create isn't that historical but really a romanticized ideal, the idea of
"fighting for the one you love" was mostly a 19th century conception of our
period. A king and queen who loved each other? How many monarchs married
for political reasons?

Of course, how many heavy fighters -- who will actually enter crown, are
being offended or frustrated by the requirement to have an opposite
gender/sex consort sponsoring them?What about the number of people who
offended or frustrated by the requirement to have a consort? What about
those who would make good royals, but currently don't qualify simply by
virtue that they are not heavy fighters: how many of them are
offended/frustrated that they can't sit on the throne unless a heavy
fighter wins crown and chooses them as the consort?

The king and queen, first and foremost, are symbols -- and very complex and
important ones. The image of the king and queen is entrenched in the
traditions of the SCA, and the things that they stand for (as a couple and
as individuals) have their own traditions built on them... and we are going
to throw it away because? A marginal number of people might be offended
that they have to have an opposite-gender consort?

Is it really worth it?

-- Alessandro Zorzi