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[personal profile] chargirlgenius
I fully realize that I’m going to anger people with this post. I don’t ask you to agree with me, but I do ask that you at least respect me and my opinion.



For those who are non-SCAdian and wondering what on earth I’m talking about, there’s a movement in the SCA so that same-sex couples can enter crown tournament lists. The current rule states that the crown heads of a kingdom must be opposite sex, that is, that there is a king and a queen.

I’ll start out by saying that I am entirely supportive of full and legal same-sex marriage. None of this civil unions business, but outright marriage. I am vehemently supportive that gay couples have all of the rights and responsibilities (and social acceptance) of hetero couples. (And to be honest, it does make me uncomfortable that I'm coming down on the same side as people who are arguing against because of their own personal squick-issues.)

That all said, I am not supportive of changing the rule that requires that there be a king and a queen. First off, and most obviously, the king and queen are not necessarily a romantic couple. There is no rule or even expectation that they be romantically involved, cohabit, or even live in the same state. If a king and queen are not romantically involved, there is no surprise in this.

For better or for worse, many of the rules and laws of this game are set by the people sitting on the throne (within BOD constructs). The current rule guarantees that even with the might-make-right system, there is always some female involvement in the rulemaking of a kingdom, regardless of the actual heavy fighting ability of the women.

If the change were made, two men could be on the thrones, or two women. But let’s be realistic. Women *rarely* win crown. The chance of a female/female crown is very slim. The percentage of men sitting on the throne would realistically only go up.

As the rule stands currently, there is absolutely no reference or expectation to a person’s sexual orientation. It is strictly neutral on that matter. Were Inspirational Equality to be passed, there would be an expectation that only same sex couple in a romantic relationship would fight for each other. However, it’s not a stretch to expect that somebody, somewhere, will fight for his buddy, if nothing else, just to be a jerk about it (I’ve already heard talk of these kinds of plans). Or, considering that many of the historical examples of same-sex rulers are non-romantic in nature, somebody will use history to be their inspiration and fight for his friend (who might, in turn, be fighting for him).

And then you have a quandary. Do you change the rule, to only allow same sex couples when they’re romantically involved? When they’re actually gay? Or do you leave it open, and allow it to be accepted norm for same sex friends to co rule? After all, opposite sex friends co-rule, we already have a strong precedent for the practice. How common could it get?

What’s a kingdom like without a queen? A queen isn’t just somebody that the king happens to (maybe) love and was inspired by. A queen is an inspiration to all in her kingdom. The women of the kingdom have a representative at the top. The queen is an important part of the culture in most kingdoms, as, for example, rapier fighters have an entire courtly love (for lack of a better term) game set up with the queen. The impact of having two men at the top goes beyond just the bounds of their own relationship.

At the very point where the law changes, there is no longer any institutional guarantee of a woman’s voice in the lawmaking of her kingdom. While I would like to believe that everybody would behave and not push the law beyond its intent, I can’t. I’m way too jaded for that. I already think that kingdom culture is tiered in favor of the fighters, where any person can become king without any sort of sense or leadership ability. I would hate to see it tip even further in that direction.
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chargirlgenius

October 2011

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