But 'sex ain't marriage'. If a clan **does** need more children, there are a number of options available to them, and I suspect pressuring homosexual individuals to marry would be fairly far down the list. I have always held that Ernaldans generally have control over reliable magical, herbal and medicinal contraception and fertility strategies, not just vingans and their henna/camphor. So the options would include:
Plus the aforementioned
Throughout the history of the Terran west, toleration of minority sexual preferences has ebbed and flowed, but there has always been a place of refuge for (homosexual and other) men and women wishing escape from the incessant demands to marry. That place has been the Church. Sartar has no such centralised institution of course, and no great prejudice against sexual minorities. It strikes me, however, that there **is** an institution where groups of unmarried men (or women) living together is not seen as particularly worthy of comment, an institution that can be, in some circumstances, free of close clan scrutiny. That institution is of course, the hero band. We have numerous examples of male warrior bands throughout Terran history adopting homosexual lifestyles, why should Gloranths be any different? In a society largely divided by gender roles (as most Gloranthan societies are) it actually makes a utilitarian kind of sense.
(BTW, this shouldn't be interpreted as an admonition to enforce **any** type of sexuality upon players: some groups explore these issues as a matter of course, others prefer to bracket entirely, for entirely good reasons, notions of sexuality in play. YCMV)
Homosexual unions may well be celebrated in certain clans with formal rites, or simply ignored under a blanket clan discretion policy ( a policy that also extends to informal heterosexual unions that are in violation of tradition or kinship rules). I'm sure also that there **will** be circumstances where a homosexual son or daughter is forced to marry, with the spousal party either knowing or unknowing of the predicament. There are plenty of examples in the real world of forms of 'ghost marriage' where children are **of course** the social offspring of a married couple, no matter who the actual biological father is. From these tensions and possibilities we weave our stories and campaigns.
I don't personally feel that homosexuality is particularly pronounced among vingans, but believe it will be more so amongst Gori and War Woman bands. There's a danger of easy stereotyping here - and for the same reasons I have **never** been particularly comfortable with the official portrayal of the fierce Earth goddesses - but the status of Gori groups is one where same sex unions have the same sort of utility as in the male warrior bands mentioned above.
As to the whole Vingan/Nandan thing, let me observe that, in just about any social situation, its seen as logical and understandable that groups of lower status aspire to the privileges and trappings of the higher status group, while it is seen as laughable, embarrassing or taboo for those of the higher status to affect the trappings and roles of the lower group. Think women wearing trousers/men wearing dresses as an apt parallel.
From this too we weave our stories. :)
YG, YC MV.
Have a great weekend folks.
Cheers
John
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