Prosecuting Female-Female Sex in Bourbon Quito
Prosecuting Female-Female Sex in Bourbon Quito
This chapter presents two cases of female sodomitical relationships to highlight how the “unnatural” female sodomy—though underreported and frequently dismissed by colonial authorities—was not entirely ignored by colonial society. The defendants in the two cases were denounced, investigated, and tried based on neighborhood and familial suspicions and gossips. Evidence for the allegations was completely circumstantial and broken into two categories: unnatural gender inversions and general moral turpitude. In addition, the two cases presented “penetrational ambiguities.” These factors led the magistrates to prove the defendants’ unnatural acts by examining their gendered behaviors as well as moral depravity.
Keywords: sodomitical relationships, colonial society, female sodomy, magistrates, gendered behaviors, moral depravity
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