While it is a relatively new practice that same-sex couples are being granted the same form of legal marital recognition as commonly used by opposite-sexed couples, there is some history of recorded same-sex unions around the world
- same-sex marital practices and rituals were more recognized in Mesopotamia than in ancient Egypt. The Almanac of Incantations contained prayers favoring on an equal basis the love of a man for a woman and of a man for man.
- in the southern Chinese, throughout the Ming dynasty period, females would bind themselves in contracts to younger females in elaborate ceremonies. Males also entered similar arrangements. This type of arrangement was also similar in ancient European history
- in Hellenic Greece, the pederastic relationships between Greek men (erastes) and youths (eromenos) were similar to marriage in that the age of the youth was similar to the age at which women married and the relationship could only be undertaken with the consent of the father.
- examples of same sex unions among peers, not age-structured, are found in Ancient Greek writings. Famous Greek couples in same sex relationships include Harmodius and Aristogiton, Pelopidas and Epaminondas and Alexander and Bogoas.
- a debate between homosexual and heterosexual love was included in Plutarch's Moralia
- among the Romans, there were instances of same-sex marriages being performed. At least two of the Roman Emperors were in same-sex unions; and in fact, thirteen out of the first fourteen Roman Emperors were thought to be bisexual or exclusively homosexual
- same-sex marriage was outlawed on December 16, 342 AD by the Christian emperors Constantius II and Constans
- 390 AD - the Christian emperors Valentinian II, Theodoisus and Arcadius declared homosexual sex to be illegal and those who were guilty of it were condemned to be burned alive in front of the public
- teachings of the Talmud and Torah, and the Bible, were seen as specifically prohibiting the practices as contrary to nature and the will of the Creator, and a moral shortcoming. Even after the passing of the Theodosian code, the Christian emperors continued to collect taxes on male prostitutes until the reign of Anastasius (491–518)
- Augustine of Hippo presented marriage as an important sacrament of the Christian Church in the 5th century CE, it wasn't until the "Sentences" of Peter Lombard, in the middle of the 12th century, that marriage became a part of the seven sacraments of the Catholic Christian Church
- Christian emperor Justinian (527–565) made homosexuals a scapegoat for problems such as "famines, earthquakes, and pestilences."
- historian John Boswell claimed the 4th century Christian martyrs Saint Sergius and Saint Bacchus were united in the ritual of adelphopoiesis, which he calls an early form of religious same-sex marriage
- Adelphopoiesis, or brother-making, represented an early form of religious same-sex marriage in the Orthodox church. Alan Bray saw the rite of Ordo ad fratres faciendum ("Order for the making of brothers") as serving the same purpose in the medieval Roman Catholic Church
- same-sex marriage between the two men Pedro Díaz and Muño Vandilaz in the Galician municipality of Rairiz de Veiga in Spain occurred on 16 April 1061. They were married by a priest at a small chapel. The historic documents about the church wedding were found at Monastery of San Salvador de Celanova
- late medieval France, it is possible the practice of entering a legal contract of "enbrotherment" (affrèrement) provided a vehicle for civil unions between unrelated male adults who pledged to live together sharing ‘un pain, un vin, et une bourse’ – one bread, one wine, and one purse. This legal category may represent one of the earliest forms of sanctioned same-sex unions.-
- in North America among the Native Americans societies, same-sex unions have taken place with persons known as Two-Spirit types. These are individuals who fulfill one of many mixed gender roles in First Nations and Native American tribes. "In many tribes, individuals who entered into same-sex relationships were considered holy and treated with utmost respect and acceptance," according to anthropologist Brian Gilley.
- on July 20, 2005, Canada became the fourth country in the world and the first country in the Americas to legalize same-sex marriage nationwide with the enactment of the Civil Marriage Act which provided a gender-neutral marriage definition
- as of March 2014 Same-sex marriage is currently legal in eleven European countries: Belgium, Denmark, Iceland, the Netherlands, Norway, Portugal, Spain, France, the United Kingdom (England, Wales and Scotland), [Sweden] and Luxembourg , Finland is currently in the process of legislation
- other types of recognition for same-sex unions (civil unions or registered partnerships) are as of 2014 legal in twelve European countries: Andorra, Austria, Czech Republic, Finland, Germany, Hungary, Ireland, (Isle of Man), (Jersey), Liechtenstein, Slovenia, Switzerland, the United Kingdom (Northern Ireland), Malta and Croatia.
- a referendum to change the Constitution of the Republic of Ireland to allow same sex marriage took place on 22 May 2015 and approved the proposal to add the following declaration to the Constitution: "marriage may be contracted in accordance with law by two persons without distinction as to their sex".
- on June 26, 2015, the Supreme Court of the United States ruled in Obergefell v. Hodges that marriage is a fundamental right and must be extended to same-sex couples.
Christian denominations that accept same-sex relationships include
- the United Church of Canada
- the United Church of Christ
- all German Lutheran, reformed and united churches in EKD
- all Swiss reformed churches
- the Protestant Church in the Netherlands
- the United Protestant Church in Belgium
- the United Protestant Church of France
- the Church of Denmark
- the Church of Sweden,
- the Church of Iceland
- the Church of Norway
- The Evangelical Lutheran Church of Finland
- The Metropolitan Community Church
- The Global Alliance of Affirming Apostolic Pentecostals (GAAAP)
- the Affirming Pentecostal Church International
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/History_of_same-sex_unions
Gays will give up this fight, just as they gave up the fight to get in the Boy Scouts, to have same sex marriage legal in 50 states, etc............. :wave2: