So Many Ways to Love
LGBT. That's a new term here. Before that it was "gays" and "homosexuales." Long before that it was "desviados." But in this new century Spain has become one of the European countries where the LGBT community is most accepted. It became the third country to allow same-sex marriages in 2005 and the first to allow same-sex couples to adopt children. Discrimination on basis of sexuality is against the law, though the law can be flouted in so many ways. Still, society here has accepted different sexualities, especially in the larger cities.
In our town there are quite a few young people who are openly gay or lesbian. But older people have never really shown their true colors. Except for one man, a local pharmacist who had a long-standing feud with the town hall over a ruinous building at the entrance to the town. He never hid himself once Franco died. At first he was mocked and laughed at. Some idiots openly humiliated him. Now he is living his life with his husband in another town and has generally been accepted as he is.
It hasn't always been easy. In fact, it's been very hard to be different from the mainstream. The rise of Christianity can be blamed for that. If in ancient times homosexuality was considered completely normal, with Christianity it became contra natura. Christianity considered sex as necessary only for reproduction, and all other expressions of love were tainted by the Devil himself precisely because they could not end in a new life. And we are still suffering from that narrow view of sexuality.
In Spain homosexuality stopped being a crime punishable by banishment or imprisonment in galleys in the nineteenth century. But it was still socially unacceptable. It was well-known who had same-sex relationships, but it was not something to brag about and never publicly acknowledged. Which is why the first marriage between two women created such a stir. In 1901 it wasn't against the law for two women to love each other, but marriage was something else.
Marcela and Elisa were from Galicia. Marcela was a schoolteacher and assigned the school in Dumbría, a township which even today has a small population and a large acreage. Elisa went to live with Marcela, ostensibly as a close friend to keep Marcela company. They set the stage, however, by having constant public fights. Elisa left for A Coruña and Marcela announced she was betrothed to Elisa's cousin, Mario, and would shortly be marrying him. Meanwhile, Elisa transformed into Mario in A Coruña. She cut her hair, learned to smoke, and even was baptized as Mario so she could have a birth certificate. Marcela travelled to A Coruña and she and Mario-Elisa were married by the Church.
However, cousins are not supposed to look like twins. Upon returning to Dumbría, Mario-Elisa was found out, and the two women had to escape to Portugal. The newspapers had a field day. And when the two were discovered and arrested in Porto, even more so. But the Portuguese public was more forgiving than the Spanish. After thirteen days the judge released them and they were free to live as they pleased, together. In 1902 Marcela had a baby. Again the paparazzi of the time went ballistic. Unable to live in peace, they left for Buenos Aires. There they lived separately as servants to rich families. To try to find a future for them in which they could be together, Elisa married an old, rich man who wasn't long for this world. The plan was for her to inherit his wealth upon his death so she and Marcela could live together again. Unfortunately, he found out and denounced them. After that nothing more is known of them or their child. No one knows if they fled the city or if they died in prison.
Franco wasn't kind to those who deviated from the norm, either civically or sexually. The poet Federico García Lorca was executed both for being "rojo" (red) and "maricón" (gay). From 1954 onwards homosexuals were included in a vague law that served to round up beggars, pimps, and general wrong-doers. They were subject to concentration camps where they were treated inhumanly. Even after the Constitution was ratified in 1978, homosexuality was still a crime. It wasn't until the specific law in which it was mentioned was changed in 1979 that it was legal to be homosexual.
Since then things have changed. During the movida in the 1980's the Madrid barrio of Chueca became the place to be for LGBT's. It's still considered the gay neighborhood and it's where Gay Pride celebrations are held every year. Society has become accustomed, and though some might feel disgust when they see two men kissing, or older people cross themselves, it's no longer a cause to call upon the heavens. What happened in Orlando yesterday will probably never happen here. We can never say never, but the probabilities are very low to nil. To begin with, you can't buy assault rifles at a gun store. Sometimes idiot skinheads will attack known homosexuals, but society as a whole does not condone that behavior. The majority of people also shake their heads in disbelief whenever one of the mysoginist and conservative bishops refer to homosexuality as an illness or decry its existence. We have always been individualistic and prefer to live and let live.
What does it matter how people love? The important thing is that they love.
In our town there are quite a few young people who are openly gay or lesbian. But older people have never really shown their true colors. Except for one man, a local pharmacist who had a long-standing feud with the town hall over a ruinous building at the entrance to the town. He never hid himself once Franco died. At first he was mocked and laughed at. Some idiots openly humiliated him. Now he is living his life with his husband in another town and has generally been accepted as he is.
It hasn't always been easy. In fact, it's been very hard to be different from the mainstream. The rise of Christianity can be blamed for that. If in ancient times homosexuality was considered completely normal, with Christianity it became contra natura. Christianity considered sex as necessary only for reproduction, and all other expressions of love were tainted by the Devil himself precisely because they could not end in a new life. And we are still suffering from that narrow view of sexuality.
In Spain homosexuality stopped being a crime punishable by banishment or imprisonment in galleys in the nineteenth century. But it was still socially unacceptable. It was well-known who had same-sex relationships, but it was not something to brag about and never publicly acknowledged. Which is why the first marriage between two women created such a stir. In 1901 it wasn't against the law for two women to love each other, but marriage was something else.
Marcela and Elisa were from Galicia. Marcela was a schoolteacher and assigned the school in Dumbría, a township which even today has a small population and a large acreage. Elisa went to live with Marcela, ostensibly as a close friend to keep Marcela company. They set the stage, however, by having constant public fights. Elisa left for A Coruña and Marcela announced she was betrothed to Elisa's cousin, Mario, and would shortly be marrying him. Meanwhile, Elisa transformed into Mario in A Coruña. She cut her hair, learned to smoke, and even was baptized as Mario so she could have a birth certificate. Marcela travelled to A Coruña and she and Mario-Elisa were married by the Church.
However, cousins are not supposed to look like twins. Upon returning to Dumbría, Mario-Elisa was found out, and the two women had to escape to Portugal. The newspapers had a field day. And when the two were discovered and arrested in Porto, even more so. But the Portuguese public was more forgiving than the Spanish. After thirteen days the judge released them and they were free to live as they pleased, together. In 1902 Marcela had a baby. Again the paparazzi of the time went ballistic. Unable to live in peace, they left for Buenos Aires. There they lived separately as servants to rich families. To try to find a future for them in which they could be together, Elisa married an old, rich man who wasn't long for this world. The plan was for her to inherit his wealth upon his death so she and Marcela could live together again. Unfortunately, he found out and denounced them. After that nothing more is known of them or their child. No one knows if they fled the city or if they died in prison.
Franco wasn't kind to those who deviated from the norm, either civically or sexually. The poet Federico García Lorca was executed both for being "rojo" (red) and "maricón" (gay). From 1954 onwards homosexuals were included in a vague law that served to round up beggars, pimps, and general wrong-doers. They were subject to concentration camps where they were treated inhumanly. Even after the Constitution was ratified in 1978, homosexuality was still a crime. It wasn't until the specific law in which it was mentioned was changed in 1979 that it was legal to be homosexual.
Since then things have changed. During the movida in the 1980's the Madrid barrio of Chueca became the place to be for LGBT's. It's still considered the gay neighborhood and it's where Gay Pride celebrations are held every year. Society has become accustomed, and though some might feel disgust when they see two men kissing, or older people cross themselves, it's no longer a cause to call upon the heavens. What happened in Orlando yesterday will probably never happen here. We can never say never, but the probabilities are very low to nil. To begin with, you can't buy assault rifles at a gun store. Sometimes idiot skinheads will attack known homosexuals, but society as a whole does not condone that behavior. The majority of people also shake their heads in disbelief whenever one of the mysoginist and conservative bishops refer to homosexuality as an illness or decry its existence. We have always been individualistic and prefer to live and let live.
What does it matter how people love? The important thing is that they love.
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