Homosexuality & Fertility

With the celebration of the Spring Equinox having just passed, it only seems appropriate to talk about the role of homosexuality in the natural cycles of fertility.

Many opponents of homosexuality (most notably the Christian Right) believe that it is unnatural, and, being unnatural, it should not be tolerated.  It is rare to find a magic(k)al organization or individual who feels as staunchly as the Christians in question do on this subject, but the outcropping of this prejudice does appear within the stratum of many modern magic(k)al communities.

Traditional Wiccan covens, specifically British Traditional Wiccan (BTW) Covens, (and I speak of this, because it's what I know best, certainly not because this is the only place in Wicca or witchcraft that it happens) have a long history of denying gay men and lesbians entry into their ranks due to concerns regarding polarity and what it takes to light that magic spark.  Over time, many covens loosened their restrictions, allowing Gay men and Lesbians into their circles, but only if the initiate agreed to practice within the coven as part of a heterosexual pairing, only if they agreed to be initiated by a person of the opposite gender/sex.  Even today, there is a great debate going on within the British Traditional Witchcraft community about polarity, cross-gender initiations, and how to handle Gay male, Lesbian, and Transgender initiates.

While it is tempting to shake our fists and rail against the system on this subject, one really cannot fault the BTW community.  At the very heart of their argument and, consequently, at the heart of their resistance to the concept of homosexuality within the coven dynamic is a reverence for their traditions and a desire to preserve what they know for a fact works.  When their covens were originally formed, they simply did not have access to the level of information that we have at our fingertips today, in the Internet Age.  Furthermore, even today, with all the information that we have at our disposal, nobody can agree on the correct procedures for a great deal of information that is fundamentally central to the practice of Witchcraft.  On the most basic level, you have eclectic, self-taught Wiccans/witches arguing that their self-initiations are valid, while a great deal of the coven or tradition-based witches argue that it is essential to be part of an initiatory Coven to truly learn the Craft.  Even within the initiatory lines of Wicca/witchcraft, you have a great deal of disagreement.  The Gardnerians and Alexandrians both believe they are the standard, but back in the day, Robert Cochrane dubbed Gardner's group of witches "those Gardnerians" as an insult to differentiate his group (who was obviously doing it right) from theirs (who were obviously doing it wrong), and, since I mentioned Cochrane, don't even get me started on the Traditional Witchcraft and Wicca divide!

All that said, I would like to go on record, and say that as a gay male witch with BTW training, who went off and started a tradition of witchcraft that explores the male mysteries within covens of Gay and Bisexual men, homosexuality is most certainly a part of fertility, and, now that we have access to more information, it is the perfect time for new methods of working these old systems to crop up and flourish.

In evolutionary biology, there is a principle which says that if a structure, function, or behavior occurs in a number of individuals or species, and if it persists through several generations, then that feature can be presumed to serve some evolutionary function.  Homosexuality can be traced back to well-before the dawn of civilization.  We have written records of homosexuality dating back to Mesopotamia.  The Epic of Gilgamesh (the oldest written myth known to man) is about a loving and sexual relationship between what we, today, would consider a demi-god and his male lover.  If that one fact alone doesn't prove that homosexuality has been persistent through several generations, I don't know what else would!

If this foundational principle within evolutionary biology is sound and credible (and, personally, I believe that it is), then the "naturalness" of homosexuality when considered outside of personal prejudice should not need to be argued.  However, what one person calls prejudice, another calls preference, and since I am not here to talk anyone out of their beliefs (only to offer my own), I will simply present the argument and let you, dear reader, decide for yourself whether it is compelling or not.

Tune in next time for the argument …