The September issue of the University of Chicago JOURNAL OF MODERN HISTORY , the nation's leading scholarly journal for the study of European Intellectual, political and cultural history, will provide compelling evidence that legal procedures were commonly available throughout 16th Century France and other parts of Mediterranean Europe that formalized same sex civil unions and other forms of family units outside of the man/woman model.

The research author explains that "in cases where the affrèrés (the term used for a civil union between two men) were single unrelated men, these contracts provide "considerable evidence that the affrèrés were using affrèrements to formalize same-sex loving relationships. . . . I suspect that some of these relationships were sexual, while others may not have been. It is impossible to prove either way and probably also somewhat irrelevant to understanding their way of thinking. They loved each other, and the community accepted that. What followed did not produce any documents."

"The very existence of affrèrements shows that there was a radical shift in attitudes between the sixteenth century and the rise of modern antihomosexual legislation in the twentieth."

"Opponents of gay marriage in the United States today have tended to assume that nuclear families have always been the standard household form. However, Western family structures have been much more varied than many people today seem to realize, and Western legal systems have in the past made provisions for a variety of household structures."

Folks, the words here fail to capture the enormity and potential legal, legislative and cultural impact of this publication.

Simply put: mainstream and highly influential scholarship will demonstrate that same sex unions existed and were legally and socially accepted in Medieval Europe and that history has been grotesquely rewritten.

While much more research is needed in this area, it is no secret that rewriting history for propaganda, military, religious and political purpose has been a common practice throughout Europe and the United States for many centuries.

It is well documented that the Catholic Church did this many times throughout its history and it is no secret that American history has been twisted out of shape all too many times to suit political and social goals. One need only look at older versions of our history books as they address African Americans, Native Americans and our foreign relations with France and Spain. So it may very well be that the true history of marriage and civil unions has been very much warped out of shape over the course of recent centuries, presented to us through the very narrow-minded filters of Puritan and Victorian perspectives.

What more can I say? Let the pieces fall where they may.

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