What is the first reference to gay marriage in U.S. history?

March 3, 2019 9:38 AM

I saw this article about a poem Abraham Lincoln wrote. The article claims that it contains the first known reference to gay marriage in American history. Is there any truth to this claim? Does anyone know of any earlier references?
posted by matkline to Society & Culture (1 answer total)

The book is on my to-read list, so I don't know exactly how the relationship was referenced, but Charity and Sylvia talks about two women who were effectivel married from about 1807. I would suspect that the first reference could be earlier than that as well - The Friend is a nuanced study of same sex relationships (some platonic, some maybe not) which were officially blessed by the church in England; it's a while since I read it so I don't know if any of his case studies crossed the Atlantic, but it wouldn't be surprising if some did.
posted by Vortisaur at 11:40 AM on March 3, 2019