So much for the "historical" arguments against gay marriage (from LiveScience):
Historical evidence, including legal documents and gravesites, can be
interpreted as supporting the prevalence of homosexual
relationships hundreds of years ago, said Allan Tulchin of Shippensburg
University in Pennsylvania.
Of course, the absence of this research still wouldn't legitimate homosexual-union discrimination, but it does add to the (mounting) pile of arguments which negate the hate coming from social conservatives on this issue.
For example, he found legal contracts from late medievalThis does , of course, come from the same period of time that many on the conservative, Christianist, Right would like to raise from the dead.
France that referred to the term "affrèrement," roughly translated as
brotherment. Similar contracts existed elsewhere in Mediterranean Europe,
Tulchin said.
In the contract, the "brothers" pledged to live together sharing "un pain,
un vin, et une bourse," (that's French for one bread, one wine and one purse).
The "one purse" referred to the idea that all of the couple's goods became joint
property. Like marriage contracts, the "brotherments" had to be sworn before a
notary and witnesses, Tulchin explained.
(Hat Tip: Tzepish)
