Queer Themes And Gods: Part 1

 

Hello! It is pride month, which I think is an important time, for many reasons. First off, it is an opportunity to look back at how far we've come, and take some time to commemorate queer history, and observe how much growth the queer civil rights movement has undergone, in the past few decades. It also serves as a chance to celebrate our gender and sexual identities as a community, and in public where large pride gatherings and occasions provide a safe space for all LGBT people to express and admit affection without fear of falling prey to hate-crimes and hateful acts. 

Pride month is also an occasion to celebrate the achievements of the community, and our recognition in media and literature. Lastly, it creates the space to think about the journey that still stretches ahead and how much further there is left to go. 

I have recently begun reading about queer themes in mythology and different folklore, and I have taken quite a liking to this topic, for many reasons, including the fact that the existence of these tales serve as a valid reason to debunk claims that such sexual behavioural patterns never did exist in traditional society or older times (Ha!). I'd like to mention a few favourite pieces of folklore or mythology that I've stumbled across this week. 

                                                                                                                                                                                                                           fig 1. Rabbit God by zzytudou 

The Chinese deity and ‘protector of homosexual affection’, Tu’er Shen, or the Rabbit God, is built on folkore based on a historical figure.¹ The name Tu’er Shen stems from the fact that in late imperial times in China, male homosexuals were called “tuzi” meaning rabbit, as a sort of homophobic slur. The deity has little to do with rabbits, and is instead the manager of gay love and sexual relations, but the depiction of the god came into being from this line of thought in the past.²

The folklore itself originates from the Zibuyu, a cluster of short stories of supernatural nature, penned by Yuan Mei- a poet and Qing dynasty scholar. In the collection, there is a story named the Tale of the Rabbit God, which talks of Hu Tianbao, an official during the Qing dynasty in China. Hu was in love with an imperial inspector in the Fujian province of China, but was terrified of revealing his feelings for the higher official. He was caught peeping at the official from behind a bathroom wall, and was beaten to death for it, after he disclosed his affections. It is said that a month after his death, Tianbao appeared in the dreams of a man and proclaimed that since he committed a crime of love, officials in the underworld set out to remedy the unfairness by entrusting Hu with the role of the Rabbit God- the one who safeguards homosexual love, and goes by the name of Tu Er Shen or Tu’er Shen.

Despite criticism by some Taoist schools, modern-time priest Lu Wei-ming, upon hearing homosexual Taoist believers lament that there was no god to pay heed to their prayers, resurrected the ancient forgotten God so their prayers could be answered.³ He founded a temple in Yonghe City, for the worship of Tu’er Shen. 

fig 2. Inanna/Ishtar by Zinaida Chernyshova

Inanna (Sumerian) is a Mesopotamian god/goddess of love and war who is believed to embody all sexual aspects. Ishtar (Akkadian) is Inanna’s manifestation of sex and eroticism. Ishtar’s sexual identity has been a topic of much controversy. “It is claimed that the androgyny of Inanna/Ishtar provided a powerful symbol of the ambiguities of pure sexuality reflected in her cult, and in the transvestism of her cultic personnel” (Groneberg 1986). In his hymn to Ishtar of Nineveh, Ashurbanipal, the king of Assyria (r. 668–627 bce), describes her as "Like the god Ashur, she wears a beard" (line 7). Some myths say that by day she is the goddess of love and by night she transforms into the god of war, alternating between female and male forms. Lady of Largest Heart is a composition for Ishtar, which says the following about the gender-ambivalent deity: "Turning a male into a female and a female into a male is yours" (Sjöberg, 190).

All this being said, the exercising of modern-day terminology upon identities that prevailed thousands of years ago is definitely a controversial matter and a problematic terrain. Folklore narrates biological males were called upon by the goddess and transformed into females, taking on feminine pronouns and dressing and living as such. It is unclear whether ritual castration was involved and in any case, surgical alterations are not necessary to validate a person’s gender identity. All they knew was, Inanna bestowed this transformation as a sort of gift, upon them, and society accepted their identity.

Primary literature on Inanna/Ishtar contains many references to her androgyny, the way she’s portrayed with a beard and both male and female characteristics, and the fact that “gala” priests from Ishtar’s cult tradition are also genderqueer or androgynous.⁴ Now, Inanna’s gift of transforming genders and changing pronouns is in no way a statement on the gala’s sexual identity, for gender identity and sexual identity are independent of each other. Gender identity represents who you are, while your sexual identity points towards who you may have sexual or romantic affection for. While the gala’s sexual identity cannot simply be assumed, they had beautifully diverse relationships within the cult, with many serving as sacred sex workers within the temples, others were married in heterosexual or queer relationships, and even adopted children. Queer families were common and were considered normal. There was no shame, surprise or unwanted attention directed towards these relationships.

Folklore and mythology talking about queer people forming queer families, falling in love, or simply going about their lives without homophobia and violence is rarely if ever talked about, in history textbooks or even in everyday life. I find these parts of mythology very important and endearing because these tales are what remind me constantly of what the fight is for: to be yourself, and to love who you love. 

1. Szonyi, Michael (June 1998). "The Cult of Hu Tianbao and the Eighteenth-Century Discourse of Homosexuality". Late Imperial China. 19 (1): 1–25.

2. https://deitiesdaily.tumblr.com/post/38108162539/december-16th-2012-tu-er-shen

3. Chinese Taoism Association (1994). 道教大辭典 [The Great Dictionary of Taoism].

4. Brown, W. (2016, September 01). Third Gender Figures in the Ancient Near East. World History Encyclopedia.