The Essential Guide to Gay and Lesbian Weddings (16 page)

1368–1644:
A form of male marriage develops in China's Fujian province during the Ming dynasty. A younger man moves into the household of an older “adoptive brother,” whose parents treat him as a son-in-law. Many such marriages last twenty years or more.

The nineteenth century:
The exclusively female Golden Orchid Associations are common in the Guangzhou province of China. Within these groups, lesbian couples can marry. After exchanging ritual gifts, the couple hold a wedding feast; later they are allowed to adopt young girls.

1855:
Edwin Denig publishes a paper documenting a Crow “woman chief” who has taken four wives.

1863:
Englishwoman Mary East, disappointed by the opposite sex, and an American woman who feels likewise, agree to pass for the rest of their days as husband and wife. Which one should be the “husband” is determined by lot. They remain together for thirty-four years.

The late nineteenth century:
In New England, “Boston marriages” are common. Women choose other women as life partners and together work toward a feminist vision of social justice.

The 1920s:
In Harlem, black lesbians in butch/femme couples marry each other in large wedding ceremonies that include bridesmaids and attendants. Couples obtain real marriage licenses by masculinizing a first name or having a gay male surrogate apply for the license. The licenses are placed on file in the New York City Marriage Bureau, and the marriages are often common knowledge among Harlem heterosexuals.

1930:
The autobiography of the pseudonymous “Mary Casal” is published in Chicago, presenting an extraordinarily frank sexual and affectional life history of a lesbian. Concerning her future wife, she writes, “We decided that a union such as ours was to be could be made as holy and complete as the most conventional marriages, if not more so. I suggested that we read the marriage ceremony together as a sort of benediction to our union.”

1957:
The Daughters of Bilitis sponsor a public discussion entitled “Is a Homophile Marriage Possible?” The keynote speaker, a psychotherapist, answers yes: “Any marriage is possible between any two people if they want to grow up.”

The 1960s:
“Covenant” services are conducted for some gay and lesbian couples by clergy involved in the Council on Religion and the Homosexual.

June 1963:
One
magazine (The
Homosexual Viewpoint
) has a cover story entitled “Let's Push Homophile Marriage.”

June 12, 1970:
In what is described by the
Advocate
as “the first marriage in the nation designed to legally bind two persons of the same sex,” Neva Heckman and Judith Belew are married by the Reverend Troy Perry of the Universal Fellowship of Metropolitan Community Churches (MCC) in Los Angeles. It also notes that the Reverend Perry “said he had no immediate candidates for a second wedding, but his lover, Steve Jordan, caught the bride's bouquet.” The marriage is later ruled to be not legally binding.

1971:
Donna Burkett and Manonia Evans, two lesbians in Wisconsin, file a class action suit against the Milwaukee county clerk for refusing to issue them a marriage license.