Gay Lovers in Church History

SS Sergius & Bacchus: Gay lovers, Roman soldiers, martyrs and saints.

For St Valentine's day, a partial roll call of same sex lovers (not necessarily genital, but sertainly intimate) in the history of the Catholic Church.  There are many others. These are the ones I know:
David & Johnathan
Ruth & Naomi
Jesus &  the Beloved Disciple:  We cannot know precisely the nature of this relationship, but it was clearly a close one.

Martha & Mary - Described in the New Testament as 'sisters', but this may have been a euphemism for lesbian lovers.
Philip and Bartholomew:  Included in the Apostles, frequently named in the early liturgies of same-sex union.
Peter and Paul: Primary apostles, also frequently named in the early liturgies of same-sex union.
The Roman Centurion and his "pais" (= slave/lover).
John Finch and Thomas Baines, buried together in Christ's College Chapel, Cambridge.  17th Century.
Euodia and Syntyche of Phillippi: a missionary couple active in the early church (?), mentioned in St. Paul's letter to the Philippians (4:2-3)
Tryphaena and Tryphosa: a missionary couple active in the early church (?), mentioned in in Rom 16
Perpetua and Felicitas:
Paul and Timothy:
Tychicus and Onesimus:
Zenas and Apollos:
Polyeuct and Nearchos: third-century Roman soldiers who became saints.
Faustinos and Donatos: buried together at Phillippi, in Macedonia.  4th century
Posidonia, and Pancharia: buried together at Phillippi, in Macedonia.  4th to 5th century.
Kyriakos and Nikandros: buried together at Phillippi, in Macedonia.  4th to 5th century.
Ss Sergius & Bacchus: Roman Soldiers, gay lovers,  martyrs - see picture.
Gourasios and Konstantios: buried together at Phillippi, in Macedonia.  4th to 6th century.
Euodiana and Dorothea: buried together at Phillippi, in Macedonia.  5th century.
Martyrios, presbyter, and Demetrios, lector: buried together at Edessa, in Macedonia.  5th to 6th century.
Eudoxios, presbyter, and of the sinner John, deacon: buried together at Edessa, in Macedonia.  5th to 6th century.
Droseria and Eudoxia: buried together at Edessa, in Macedonia.  5th to 6th century.
Athanasios and Chryseros: buried together at Edessa, in Macedonia.  5th to 6th century.
Alexandra and Glukeria: buried together at Phillippi, in Macedonia.  6th century
St Patrick of Ireland:  after his escape from early slavery, Patrick worked for time as a male prostitute. A recent history of Irish homosexualilty suggests that he may have taken a male lover in later life.
Dicul and Maelodran the wright:  buried together in the church at Delgany, County Wicklow.
Ultan and Dubthach: buried together in the church at Termonfechin, County Louth, near Drogheda.
John Bloxham and John Wyndham: buried together in Merton College Chapel, Oxford.  14th Century.
King Edward II and Piers Galveston:  well known as gay lovers, their relationship as 'sworn brothers' was recognised by the church.
William Neville & John Neville:  English knights, buried together in Galata, near Constantinople 14th Century
Nicholas Molyneux and John Winters: made a compact of 'sworn brotherhood, made in the church of St Martin of Harfleur. 15th century.
John Finch and Thomas Baines buried together in Christ's College Chapel, Cambridge.  17th Century.
Fulke Greville & Sir Phillip Sidney: the joint monument Greville planned for himself and Sidney in St Paul's cathedral was never built.  But the simple intention alone indicates the natrure of the relationship, as also its recognition by the church.
Cardinal John Henry Newman and Fr. Ambrose St.John: buried together, 19th C.

Rev Jimmy Creech, Methodist minister and gay activist

A Methodist Churchman who was dismissed from service after conducting a formal blessing for a union of two men in Chapel Hill.

In April of 1999, Creech celebrated the holy union of two men in Chapel Hill. Charges were brought against him and a church trial was held in Grand Island, Nebraska, on November 17, 1999. In August of 1998, the Judicial Council of The United Methodist Church ruled that the statement prohibiting "homosexual unions" was church law in spite of its location in the Social Principles. Consequently, the jury in this second trial declared Creech guilty of "disobedience to the Order and Discipline of The United Methodist Church" and withdrew his credentials of ordination.

Since the summer of 1998, Creech has been travelling around the country to preach in churches and to speak on college and university campuses, as well as to various community and national Gay Rights organizations. Currently, he is writing a book about his experiences of the Church's struggle to welcome and accept lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender persons. ,He is the Chairperson of the Board of Directors of Soulforce, Inc., an interreligious movement using the principles of nonviolent resistance, taught and practiced by Gandhi and Martin Luther King, Jr., to confront the spiritual violence perpetrated against lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender persons by religious institutions.

(Read the full bio at LGBT Religious Archives)

The Global Growth of Marriage Equality

I wish I had thought of doing it this way! I have often reported on the global growth in gay marriage, and looked for ways to present it in a simple graphic. Nate Silver at fivethirtyeight has found the simple key - convert the jurisdictions, whether countries, provinces or cities, to the populations living under them, and treat all of Europe as a single entity.

This is the colourful chart that resulted:

 

That's 250 million people who now live in locations where legal recognition for gay marriage has been agreed. (More are on the way. Finland this week was just the latest to declare an intention to change the law.) Please note the rather prominent band of yellow - South Africa. I have only two quibbles with this. Nate refers to the "slow" growth to equality. But going from roughly one million at the start of 2007 to two and a half million now, I would describe as rapid. I would also stress that this applies to full marriage only: it would be interesting to see a similar chart which included civil unions.