An original signet ring of the Order of Chaeronea.
The Order of Chaeronea was a secret society founded in the mid-1890s by George Cecil Ives, an English writer and early gay rights activist. It was one of the earliest known organizations in the Western world exclusively dedicated to homosexuals and the promotion of “the Cause”, as Ives called it. Its name is derived from the Battle of Chaeronea, where the Sacred Band of Thebes, an ancient Greek elite fighting unit made up of pairs of male lovers, ultimately fell. This historical reference underscored the Order's emphasis on the valor and nobility of homosexual love and relationships.
The society provided a safe space for homosexuals to socialize, discuss literature, philosophy and politics, and support one another emotionally and intellectually, without fear of persecution. It operated discreetly, given the legal and social constraints of the time, with members using symbols and codes to identify themselves and maintain secrecy. The “prophet” Walt Whitman and his writings about the "high towering love of comrades" deeply influenced the Order’s overall philosophy.
While no membership lists survive, it is speculated that Oscar Wilde, Alfred Douglas, Edward Carpenter, Laurence Housman, S. E. Cottam and Montague Summers were among the perhaps two or three hundred members of the society. Many of them were early campaigners for homosexual law reforms in the United Kingdom.
The Order’s service of initiation:
That you will never vex or persecute lovers. That all real love shall be to you as a sanctuary. That all heart-love, legal and illegal, wise and unwise, happy and disastrous, shall yet be consecrate for that love's Holly Presence dwelt there. Dost thou so promise?
