Polahi Tribe Enjoys Consanguinamory

At thejakartaglobe.com, this report about a tribe in the Gorontalo Forest was filed under "Odd News." Not that some people insult the customs of others, or anything.

The Polahi nomadic tribe living in isolation in the forest of Indonesia’s Gorontalo province practices incest, permitting relationships between father and daughter or mother and son, a report said in Jakarta on Wednesday.

There's not a people group on the planet in which consensual incest doesn't take place. The difference is, it is usually kept in the closet these days. With this tribe, the relationships are official.

The tribe roams the thick forest of Humohulo in the Boliyohuto mountain range of Boalemo district in Gorontalo on Sulawesi island.

It is considered normal if a father marries his daughter or a son marries his mother.

The former head of the tribe, Baba Manio, who died in April, had two wives, Mama Tanio and Hasimah.

So in addition to consanguinamory, they also have polyamory, even if only a polygynous form. I'm curious to know if any of them practice polyandry and how they treat LGBT members of the tribe.

Babuta, the son of Mama Tanio and Baba Manio, replaced his father. Babuta is married to his sister Lailya, who is the daughter of Baba Manio and Hasimah.

So he's married to his half-sister. This is very much like the leaders of ancient Egypt and much more recently, Hawaii, as well as many nations and people groups.

Marriage rites are also simple, with the couple taken to a river and water thrown on both of them while mantras are read out.

Kompas online quoted photographer Ebbi Vebri Adrian, who often has contact with the tribe, as saying that despite their intermarriage, the tribe did not appear to suffer from the genetic deterioration usually associated with the practice.

“What is strange is that none of their descendents appeared handicapped, as is usual with intermarriages,” he said.

It's a matter of genes, diet, and environment. If those things are all good, the children from these relationships are likely to be healthy. The communal and familial bonds are no doubt quite strong as well. I'd be interested if they know how many generations back they have been doing this, and other sociological results of their relationships. Maybe we can learn something from them, whether from a biological perspective or sociological.

In many US states and some other countries, it would be illegal for the leader of this tribe, if visiting, to have sex with his wife. If his father had visited, one, if not both of his wives would be insulted by a denial of the recognition of their marital status. That's just one of many reasons we need to adopt full marriage equality sooner rather than later.

Taiwan Advances

It's always good to see progress continues in moving towards full marriage equality. This time, it is in Taiwan...

Taiwan's parliament has become the first in Asia to legalise same-sex marriage following a vote on Friday.

More freedom to marry takes us closer.

Lawmakers debated three different bills to legalise same-sex unions and the government's bill, the most progressive of the three, was passed.

Good. There's still much to do, though.

The two other bills, submitted by conservative lawmakers, refer to partnerships as "same-sex family relationships" or "same-sex unions" rather than "marriages". 

But the government's bill, also the only one to offer limited adoption rights, was passed by 66 to 27 votes - backed by lawmakers from the majority Democratic Progressive Party. 

It will take effect after Taiwan's President Tsai Ing-wen passes it into law.

There simply is no reason to deny consenting adults their relationship rights, including full marriage equality. 

Japan Needs Full Marriage Equality

Every nation on the planet needs gender equality, the freedom to live out our gender identities and sexual orientations, and full marriage equality.

There are couples in Japan who are suing to seek progress. From japantoday.com...

The couples argue that the government's position on same-sex marriage flouts equality under the law and freedom of marriage as protected in the Japanese Constitution.

Let's look at what the Constitution says...

Article 24 of the Constitution says, "Marriage shall be based only on the mutual consent of both sexes." 

The government has indicated that it interprets this to apply only to heterosexual couples while the lawyers working for the couples argue that some legal scholars do not see it as prohibiting same-sex marriage. 

The government also argues that the term "husband and wife" used in the civic law and the family registration law indicates a man and a woman, and thus cannot accept marriage applications from gay and lesbian couples.

So change the laws.

There are comments after the article.

Concerned Citizen...

There are many people who cannot marry according to law regardless of whether they love thier partner/s. 

A) People cannot marry if one of the partners is underage.
B) An existing couple cannot expand thier marriage with a third or fourth or more person/s.
C) A person cannot marry someone who is already married to someone else.
D) Polygamy is not allowed.
E) Incestuous marriages are not allowed. 

There are people who fit in the above categories that want to marry because they love each other. Is the law discriminatory towards them for forbidding them? No. Are we hateful to them because we don't think they should be allowed to legally marry? No.
The legal line must be drawn somewhere.

Yes, and it should be drawn at consenting adults. Consenting adults are generally allowed to enter into contracts.

There is no good reason to deny consenting adults their fundamental right to marry. Let's get on
 the right side of history!

Married Couple Confirm They are Half Siblings

Another case of possible Genetic Sexual Attraction has made news. From chinasmack.com...

In Jiangxi Province, a young married couple were always teased for “looking like each other”. Not long ago, the wife’s father suddenly spoke of a secret: it turns out that many years ago, he and the husband’s mother were secret lovers. Later on, the husband’s mother became pregnant, while the wife’s father fell in love and married someone else. On top of that, the husband’s mother has been dead for over 20 years, so this secret was almost buried forever, up until this young married couple decided to have a child.

Affairs, flings, one-night-stands, divorce/death and subsequent remarriage, etc. have always been a reality in making half-siblings. But now, with sperm, egg, and embryo donations, this is going to be happening more.

In early November, the couple chose to go to the Furong Forensic Centre of the No. 2 Provincial People’s Hospital in Hunan in order to do a DNA test. The results dealt them a heavy blow.

If someone is happy with their partner, they shouldn't let prejudice tear them apart. It is one thing to understand that, another to live it out.

Cao Wei and Xiao Qian (aliases) both grew up in the same city in Jiangxi Province. They lived near each other and had known each other since they were youngsters. Cao Wei is 4 years older than Xiao Qian and always looked after her the way a big brother would. Their relationship gradually began to change ever so subtlety, eventually becoming a romantic relationship.

If they were in each other's life from an early age, then some people would say this doesn't meet the "classic" definition of Genetic Sexual Attraction. However, it could still be an attraction that was based, in part, on shared genes.

On November 20th, legal medical expert and head of the material evidence examination room at the Forensic Centre, Dr Huang Jian, said it was currently unknown how Cao Wei and Xiao Qian would deal with their marriage. She believes that Bao Gen’s irresponsibility not only thoroughly discredits him, but has also deeply hurt his children.

It would hurt a lot less if we supported the right of consenting adults to be together. Did the DNA test reveal any serious genetic risks?

Some of the comments left after the article expressed doubt that this is a real story, but there are people going through this sort of thing all over the world.

Chilling Effect as Film Edited to Escape Ban

I reported earlier about Kim Ki-duk's "Moebius" being held up because of "incest" scenes. Despite support for the film from other filmmakers, word is out now that the film will be edited to drop the supposedly offensive material. From globalpost.com...

South Korean filmmakers called on a government ratings' agency to lift an effective ban on the screening in the country of director Kim Ki-duk's latest film about incest.

"Moebius" received a "restricted screening" rating at the Korea Media Ratings Board (KMRB) on June 1 for including content "harmful to youth" as well as "unethical and unsocial" expressions.

The movie tells the story of a man who is raised up in a family destroyed by the father's affair and renounces the world.

Films classified for "restricted screening" can only be seen at theaters dedicated only to such films. Since South Korea does not have a single theater of that kind, the decision means Kim's new film cannot be shown in his home country.

Sounds like things need to change in Korea.

Will Anyone Be Able to View Moebius?

Incest has been a topic for all of human history in the stories we tell each other, because incest has always been a part of life. The word "incest" can apply to the ugly reality of assault and molestation or to the beautiful reality of consensual sex (consanguinamory). These days, consanguineous sex between consenting adults is often portrayed as something only troubled, disturbed people would do. Which of these is going on in Kim Ki-duk's movie "Moebius" I can't be sure, but it might be closest to the latter. According to Pierce Conran at twitchfilm.com, the Korea Media Ratings Board has a problem with the movie.

In a letter sent to the KMRB, Kim stated that the mother-son incest element of the film (which he believes is the cause of the agency's restrictive ruling) is a necessary element to his story. He further explained that when taken in context of the overall narrative, this deviant relationship takes on a different meaning. Kim wrote that the inclusion of the scenes was 'an inevitable choice' for him. If the film fails to secure a more lenient rating, Kim said he will reimburse cast and crew out of his own pocket.

Over at dramafever.com, Rhino reported...

On the reevaluation request, the director summarized the movie as the story in which “The jealousy and anger of the couple who lost faith are passed on to their son, making everyone live in guilt and sorrow, which eventually leads to giving up of pleasure and desire.” I know this summary doesn’t help much, and one would have to watch the movie to get what he’s saying.

The director also added that, “Even though physically, the son’s body is used, if you watch the movie carefully, the meaning is different … it’s an important tool which was inevitable to express the concept.”

Without arguing whether or not a ratings board should be able to effectively censor a movie, I'll just offer that I would be disturbed by assault or child molestation being depicted as positive. It should be depicted, and depicted as negative. It shouldn't be swept under the rug and ignored. Of course, I also support the depiction of consensual sex between adults in a positive light in general, and that includes consanguinamory. Yes, sometimes consensual sex happens for bad reasons or between people who aren't right for each other or it is unsatisfying, but it is dishonest for consanguinamory to never be depicted as a good thing. It shouldn't have to be a bad thing or done by disturbed characters within the context of a story for a depiction to be allowed.

Fraternal Polyandry in the Himalayas in the News Again

Every once in a while, people notice traditional polyandry (a form of polygamy), in which a woman marries multiple men. With fraternal polyandry, the men are brothers. That means that while she has multiple husbands, she only has one mother-in-law.

When Tashi Sangmo was 17 she married a 14-year-old neighbour in a remote Himalayan village in Nepal and, as part of the package, she also agreed to wed his younger brother.

In ancient times, the sons of almost every family in the region of Upper Dolpa would jointly marry one woman but the practice of polyandry is dying out as the region begins to open up to modern life.

"Things are easier this way because everything we have stays in one family. It doesn't get divided among many wives and it is me in charge," said Sangmo, who uses a dialect of Tibetan and was speaking through an interpreter.

"Two brothers bring in the money and it's me who decides what to do with it."

Yet, there are prejudiced anti-equality people who try to tell us that polygamy always oppresses women.

Marriages are typically arranged, with a family picking a wife for their oldest son and giving the younger brothers the chance to wed her later.

In some cases the wives will even help raise their future husbands, entering into sexual relationships with them when they are considered mature enough.

Unlike most men in conservative, predominantly Hindu Nepal, husbands in polyandrous marriages handle domestic duties, helping with cooking and childcare, while women are in charge of the money.

Interesting, no?

Polyandry works well where there is a division of labour between brothers -- one to look after livestock, one to help the wife in the fields and one to join the trade caravan.

Many also see it as a kind of life assurance, highlighting the added security for women of an arrangement which means they will not be left alone if one husband dies.

There are good reasons people have nonmonogamous marriages. Their marriages are no less valid or reason than monogamous marriages. Although customs and conditions are different in places like the US, Canada, Australia, England, or France, why shouldn’t they allow people to have polyandrous marriages if that is what they want?