Two-Spirit People Reconnect with Old Ways

The viewers of OUTzoneTV.com, Bravo’s broadband Internet channel, recently voted Kevin VanWanseele “sexiest gay man of the year,” much to the New Yorker’s surprise. Visitors to the OUTzoneTV site cast nearly 500,000 votes, and actor Jake Gyllenhaal won the title of Sexiest Gay-Friendly Celebrity.

VanWanseele, 27, had forgotten he even entered the contest. “I have never really won anything, so it was kind of cool,” said the model, community organizer and videographer. VanWanseele is of Kumeyaay descent, and grew up in California. When he found out he won, VanWanseele immediately called his father, who lives on the Barona Reservation near San Diego, in the region where VanWanseele grew up. “He was like, ‘Cool man. Did you have to be naked for that one?’” remembers VanWanseele, who now lives in Chelsea in an apartment overlooking the High Line. “I was like no, just semi-nude” (he appears shirtless in the winning snapshot).

The handsome, fresh-faced VanWanseele has used his 15 minutes of fame to educate the media and public about two-spirit American Indians. Two-spirit is a term alluding to identification with more than one gender. It was coined in the early 1990s to essentially describe gay, lesbian, bisexual and transgender American Indians. It was adopted in favor of the older word "berdache," which was used by European fur-trappers after they discovered native men dressed as women. Berdache has roots in the Arabic word for male prostitute, and is now considered offensive.

Many American Indian societies had a long tradition of acceptance for alternative lifestyles and gender roles. Some nations viewed such people as spiritually gifted, while others believed they were literally sent by the Great Spirit to benefit humanity, through acting as care givers, healers, mediators (especially between men and women), craftspeople, storytellers and other functions.

“We can point to documents that say tribes did have a place for two-spirited people,” explained VanWanseele, who added that such evidence has been identified for more than 150 American Indian societies. “In my own nation, I learned that there’s a term for it called 'jotis,'” he added.

Not surprisingly, given their strong Christian roots, European conquerors and colonizers suppressed the two-spirit tradition, sometimes violently. “There is a lot of homophobia in native communities today because of the onset of Christianity,” said New York-based singer/songwriter Roger Kuhn, who considers himself two-spirit (see Music).

However, riding the wave of the gay rights movement has been a revival of the two-spirit way of life. Two-spirit gatherings are now regularly held in Oklahoma, Montana and elsewhere, and the Cherokee Nation recently approved the marriage of women members Dawn McKinley and Kathy Reynolds.

About three years ago, VanWanseele banded with Harlan Pruden and Melissa Hoskins to found the NorthEast Two-Spirit Society in New York City. The organization offers social gatherings and culturally appropriate programming, such as the “Walking the Red Way” initiative, in which participants learn traditional dance, cooking, beadwork and other skills. VanWanseele, the group’s treasurer, added that he hopes the group will help foster higher self-esteem, and therefore lead to a decrease in risky behaviors.

VanWanseele says LGBT people of all backgrounds can find empowerment by learning about the native two-spirit tradition. “Histories before Stonewall [the NYC club that saw gay rights riots in 1969] and even Greek antiquity accepted alternative genders,” he said.