I posted the Native American Code of Ethics a couple years ago simply because I loved it and apparently, you all did too because it was (and still is) the most popular post you’ll find here by a wildly enormous margin! Why? Because it makes a shitload of good sense, that’s why.

Until very recently, I was oblivious to the Native American term, “Two Spirits,” formerly called, Berdache (bər-ˈdash). These were their gay and/or transgender people who even wore clothing of the opposite sex. Ya know, I always wondered if there were gay people in Native American culture (of course there were) and I often thought how in the world did that sit with the rest of the tribe?

Well, guess what? They were highly regarded, even revered and were usually respected artisans, child rearers, tribal arbiters and had powers on the order of a shaman. Nice gig to have! They often got respect because two-spirit people were considered to be touched by the spirits and were thought to have had two spirits of both the masculine and the feminine. (more…)