Same-Sex Attraction in Vekllei

Part of the culture series of articles

Vekllei can be considered a megadiverse country in the scale of its living cultures and influences. This applies to people attracted to the same sex as well, and the cultural practices, understanding, norms and identity of these people vary dramatically between Vekllei’s island republics.

In parts of the country like Oslola, same-sex relationships have a long cultural history, and gay people can generally expect acceptance and non-judgement. In other parts of the country, particularly parts of the Kalina Commonwealth and Verde Commonwealth, the lived experience of queer people is less accomodating. This

Oslola #

Historically, the Algic (Inuit) peoples of Oslola’s and other parts of the Volcanic Commonwealth did not recognise long-term same-sex relationships or conceptualise homosexual attraction. Nonetheless, sexual activity between the same sex occurred, especially in periods of long social isolation away from the family units that made up the historic basis of Algic culture. Historically, Algic culture

In the Middle Period of Oslolan history, Algic marriages were functionalist and often arranged. This has changed in the modern era, and Algic peoples date and mix freely with those they like. Nonetheless, even though the nomadism protected by the family unit has mostly disappeared in modern cosmopolitan Vekllei, the functionalist and heteronormative assumptions about marriage linger like a ghost.

Rather than distinguishing between hetero- and homo-sexuality, Algic people typically regard heterosexual relationships as a default from which homosexual activity deviates, rather than as a seperate identity that exists independently. To them, “homosexual” is a foreign word reserved for exclusive and long-term same-sex relationships in the Western fashion. As such, it is not unusual for Algic people to experience same-sex attraction or intimacy and still be considered, by themselves and the Algic community, as heterosexual.