Homosexuality
Homosexuality refers to two concepts. The first is a sexual orientation characterized by esthetic attraction, romantic love, or sexual desire exclusively for another of the same gender. Secondly it indicates any sexual activity with another of the same biological gender regardless of self-identification regarding sexual orientation or gender. (For an analysis of the difficulties involved in the issue of identification, see homosexuality and transgender and also heterosexuality and bisexuality.)
"Gay" can refer to humans of the homosexuality sexual orientation, or specifically to men. "Lesbian" refers to specifically women of the homosexuality sexual orientation. (see Etymology and usage, below).'
Attic red-figure cup from Tarquinia, circa 480 BCE. Boston Museum of Fine Arts.
Etymology
The word homosexual translates literally as "of the same sex," being a hybrid of the Greek prefix homo- meaning "same" (as distinguished from the Latin root homo meaning human) and the Latin root sex meaning "sex."
- First appearance
The first known appearance of the term homosexual in print is found in an anonymous 1869 German pamphlet 143 des Preussischen Strafgesetzbuchs und seine Aufrechterhaltung als 152 des Entwurfs eines Strafgesetzbuchs für den Norddeutschen Bund ("Paragraph 143 of the Prussian Penal Code and Its Maintenance as Paragraph 152 of the Draft of a Penal Code for the North German Confederation") written by Karl-Maria Kertbeny. This pamphlet advocated the repeal of Prussia's sodomy laws (Bullough et al. ed. (1996)). Kertbeny had previously used the word in a private letter written in 1868 to Karl Heinrich Ulrichs. Kertbeny used Homosexualität in place of Ulrichs's Urningtum; Homosexualisten instead of Urninge, and Homosexualistinnen instead of Urninden.
Poststructuralist theorist Michel Foucault (1976) cites "Westphal's famous article of 1870 on 'contrary sexual sensations'" as the "date of birth" of the categorization of gay men and lesbians. The term's first known use in English is in Charles Gilbert Chaddock's translation of Richard von Krafft-Ebing's Psychopathia Sexualis, a study on sexual practices. The term was popularized by the 1906 Harden-Eulenburg affair.
Earlier the ancient Greek philosopher Plato had described what we now use the term homosexual to signify. In his Symposium he defined three sexual orientations and provided Greco-Roman religious explanations for their existence using myths. [1]
- Usage
Although some early writers used the adjective homosexual to refer to any single-gender context (such as the Roman Catholic clergy or an all-girls' school), today the term implies a sexual aspect. The term homosocial is now used to describe single-sex contexts that are not specifically sexual. Older terms for homosexuality, such as homophilia and inversion (in which a gay individual would be called a 'homophile' or an 'invert') have fallen into disuse.
Derogatory terms include fag or faggot, which generally refer to gay men; poofter, used mostly in the United Kingdom; queer, generally inclusive of anyone who is not exclusively heterosexual, but also reclaimed and validated by many gays and academics; homo; and dyke, which refer to lesbians. Such terms, however, are sometimes used in a positive way among gay persons (particularly "queer" and "dyke"). See Homophobia
Using the term 'gay' as a noun can be considered offensive despite its acceptance as an adjective, i.e., "a gay man" is preferred over "a gay". As an adjective, the term has been commonly used as an all-purpose invective in the U.S. since at least the early 90s, as in "This music is a little bit gay."
- Recommended forms
Main articles: Gay, Lesbian, & Recommended usage to describe homosexuality
The term homosexual can be used as a noun or adjective to describe persons as well as their sexual orientation. However, many recommend that the term homosexual be avoided, for its use can cause offense. In particular the description of individuals as homosexual may be most offensive because of the negative clinical association originally associated with the term before homosexuality was removed from the American Psychiatric Association's list of mental disorders in 1973. The use of the word homosexual in describing individuals may also be inaccurate under some circumstances such as bisexual persons.
When referring to a person as opposed to sexual behavior, gay man or lesbian are preferred. Homosexual places emphasis on sexuality and is to be avoided when not describing such. Gay man and lesbian stress cultural and social matters over sexuality.
The Guardian Style Guide, Newswatch Diversity Style Guide, American Heritage Dictionary, and the Committee on Lesbian and Gay Concern of the American Psychological Association's Avoiding Heterosexual Bias in Language all agree that "gay" is the preferred term.
Biology
Bisexual continuum
Main articles: Sexual Behavior in the Human Male & Sexual Behavior in the Human Female.
Many studies, most notably the Sexual Behavior in the Human Male (1948) and the Sexual Behavior in the Human Female (1953) by Alfred Kinsey have found that the majority of humans have had homosexual experiences and are bisexual. Only a minority of people were found (5-10%) to be exclusively heterosexual or homosexual. Conversely, an even smaller minority of people appear to have had equal sexual experiences with both genders indicating an attraction scale or continuum. Other studies have suggested these reports exaggerated the occurrence of bisexuality and homosexuality in human populations. However, his idea of a sexuality continuum still enjoys wide acceptance today and is supported by findings in the human and animal kingdoms as well as biological studies of structural brain differences between those belonging to different sexual orientations. Many argue that the discrepancies between public and private admissions regarding sexual orientation are due to negative societal attitudes of homosexual intercourse.
Genetics
Scientists have demonstrated that male homosexuality may be inherited through genetics. They have found strong patterns of male homosexuality existing in maternal lineages. Results are indicative that homosexual males are often younger siblings of a number of older male siblings in abnormally fertile families. This would denote that the mothers may have developed resistance to the male Y chromosome. The genetic material has been pinpointed to a region of the female X chromosome that females pass to their offspring. In the United States and Italian studies these factors were linked with at least 20% of homosexual males.
Hormones
Researchers in the McFadden and Breedlove studies have found evidence correlating pre-natal hormones to both female and male homosexuality. They have found that females and males exposed to high levels of the sexual hormone androgen as fetuses are pre-dominantly homosexual. This may provide explanation of gay men having a greater number of lifetime sexual partners as well as their larger penis sizes when contrasted to heterosexual males. Auditory systems and fingerprints, both related to androgen levels have also had such results when distinguishing homosexuals from heterosexuals.
Darwinism
Homosexuality on an evolutionary scale consists chiefly of two theories. Scientists interpreting the possibility of male homosexuality being inherited in abnormally fertile females have theorized this may be a biological response to rapid overpopulation through making younger offspring more likely to be homosexual and thus not reproducing. Georgetown University explaining the widespread homosexuality and attractions in adolescence has theorized this may be an integral part of bonding to reduce inter-species aggression later in life when many become bisexual.
The Animal Kingdom
Male chinstrap penguins, one of several homosexual pairs at the Central Park Zoo in Manhattan.
(Picture:Nicole Bengiveno/The New York Times)
Main article: Homosexuality in animals
Homosexuality is common in the Animal Kingdom, especially in species closer to humans on the evolutionary scale, such as the great apes. Some believe that this behavior has its origin in male social organization and social dominance. However others reject that theory citing homosexuality in species that mate for life and female homosexuality.
- Gay male Penguin couples have been documented to mate for life, build nests together, and use a stone to replace sitting on an egg in the nest. In 2004 the Central Park Zoo in the United States replaced one gay male couple's stone with a fertile egg which they then raised as their own offspring [2].
- Courtship, mounting, and full anal penetration between bulls is common among American bison. The Mandan nation Okipa festival concludes with a ceremonial enactment of this behavior, to "ensure the return of the buffalo in the coming season[3]."
- Homosexuality in male sheep (found in 6% - 10% of rams) is associated with variations in cerebral mass distribution and chemical activity. They concluded that biological factors are at play. This study replicated similar findings in humans that approximately 10% of males are homosexual as well as the brains of homosexual males are different. [4].
Malleability
Main articles: Causes of sexual orientation & Homosexuality & Medical Science
Considerable debate continues over what determines a person's sexual orientation with regard to genetic vs. hormonal factors. A much smaller dialogue remains on whether that orientation is discretionary. Accordingly to the widely accepted views of Kinsey's sexual continuum most agree that only minorities of humans are "truly" homosexual or heterosexual and that the majority are bisexual. The presently held mainstream view is that regardless of your specific sexual orientation it cannot be changed and those who have had "success" are more appropriately bisexual.
"Permanent"
The great majority of workers in medicine and the sciences, as well as gay organizations, claim that sexual orientation is innate, fixed and unchangeable, and that it is impossible to change homosexuality into heterosexuality, or vice-versa. They hold that the innate factors that in the majority of cases direct male sexual arousal to females (and vice-versa), in the case of the gay minority direct arousal toward those of the same gender.
To support this argument, they point to the many reports of both straight and gay-identified individuals who claim having discovered their orientation at an early age (often in pre-adolescence). In the case of queer youth, many report initial distress in response to this realization. Their claims are consistent with statistics showing that gay-identified youth are several times more likely than non-gay youth to attempt suicide .
Some scientific studies suggest gay men's anatomical brain structure is similar to that of heterosexual women and different from their heterosexual male counterparts. Other studies such as the March 2000 Breedlove finger length report [[5]] and the July 2000 University of Texas study of neurological auditory response [6] suggest that while lesbians show characteristics intermediate between heterosexual men and women gay men are "hyper-masculinized". Some researchers have found that if one of a set of identical twins self-identifies as a gay man or lesbian, the chance of the other identifying as gay is increased to 50%, although other researchers' twin studies have found widely differing percentages.
Attempts to modify sexual orientation (known as "conversion therapies" and so far targeted only at queer-identified individuals) have been condemned by numerous professional organizations in the scientific field for causing depression - sometimes leading to suicide - and being of little value. In 2001 Dr. Robert Spitzer, professor of psychiatry at Columbia University announced a study indicating that reparative therapy has a failure rate on the order of 99.98%. The American Psychological Association in 1997 passed a resolution declaring therapists in these groups engaged in such conversion therapies to be following unethical and unhealthy practice.
The American Academy of Pediatrics, American Counseling Association, American Association of School Administrators, American Federation of Teachers, American Psychological Association, American School Health Association, Interfaith Alliance Foundation, National Association of School Psychologists, National Association of Social Workers, and National Education Association developed and endorsed a statement in 1999 reading:
- The most important fact about 'reparative therapy,' also sometimes known as 'conversion therapy,' is that it is based on an understanding of homosexuality that has been rejected by all the major health and mental health professions. The American Academy of Pediatrics, the American Counseling Association, the American Psychiatric Association, the American Psychological Association, the National Association of School Psychologists, and the National Association of Social Workers, together representing more than 477,000 health and mental health professionals, have all taken the position that homosexuality is not a mental disorder and thus there is no need for a 'cure.' ...health and mental health professional organizations do not support efforts to change young people's sexual orientation through 'reparative therapy' and have raised serious concerns about its potential to do harm.
"Changeable"
Conservative religious congregations maintain that being gay is a self-indulgent transgressive choice, like being a fast driver, and state it is learned behavior. Thus it is their position that all homosexuality is of a preferential nature. Some of the organizations that believe homosexuality is a choice and a violation of their religious creeds offer "conversion therapies" for lesbians and gay men in an attempt to change their sexual orientation.
Utilizing a secular approach, the American National Association for Research and Therapy of Homosexuality, and some non-Western organizations, also maintain that "conversion therapy" can change sexual orientation. They claim that sexual orientation is not genetic, that it is changeable, and to regard sexual orientation as permanent is incorrect. The implications of this view on the construction of heterosexuality have not been fully explored.
Apart from the issue of the changeability of one's basic orientation, the manifestation of one's sexual orientation seems to be liable to a great amount of variability. Thus it is common for homosexual individuals in hetero-normative societies to love, marry, and have children with individuals of the opposite sex, a practice done for social reasons in intolerant environments, as a cover for one's orientation (such relationships are known as a "beards.")
The opposite situation seems to obtain in homo-normative societies, where men whose primary attraction may be to the opposite sex nonetheless engage in - and enjoy - the homosexual practices prescribed by their respective culture. Both of these adaptations are forms of situational sexual behavior.
Sociology
Societal attitudes towards same-sex relationships have varied over the centuries, from requiring all males to engage in relationships, to casual integration, through acceptance, to seeing the practice as a minor sin, repressing it through law enforcement and judicial mechanisms, to proscribing it under penalty of death. See Violence against gays, lesbians, bisexuals, and the transgendered
Incidence
Main article: Demographics of sexual orientation.
Estimates of the modern prevalence of homosexuality vary considerably. They are complicated by differing or even ambiguous definitions of homosexuality, and by fluctuations over time and according to location. Recent estimates in Western countries range from 1% to 10%.
Historically, however, in areas where same-sex relationships were integrated in the culture, such as Ancient Greece, parts of Melanesia, Renaissance Florence, and pre-modern Japan, romantic relationships were engaged in by a majority of the male population.
Variants
A number of researchers into the social construction of same-sex love and sexuality have suggested that it is not correct to speak about homosexuality. Instead they point out that same-sex relations have been constructed in various ways by different societies. These classifications are grouped by anthropologist Stephen O. Murray into three different categories:
- Egalitarian, exemplified by modern forms of relationship between partners of similar age and gender. See Sexual minority cultures
- Age structured, exemplified by the erotic apprenticeship enaged in by novice samurai with the more experienced warriors. See shudo
- Gender structured, exemplified by shamanic gender-changing practices seen in native societies. See Two-Spirit
Though in any society one particular homosexuality usually predominates, other forms are likely to co-exist. As historian Rictor Norton points out in his Intergenerational and Egalitarian Models, in Ancient Greece egalitarian relationships co-existed (though to some extent "in the closet") with the institution of pederasty; and a fascination with adolescent youths continues to be a part of modern queer culture, just as a fascination with adolescent girls continues to concentrate the minds of straight men.
See Anthropological classification of homosexuality.
Polemic
Judicial repression of queer sexuality: Drag queen being arrested in New York City, ca. 1939. Photo by Weegee (Arthur Fellig). Gay men are often prejudicially stereotyped as effeminate in modern times.
Main article: Anti-gay slogan
In the west, same-sex love practices have been the subject of a continuing debate dating back at least to Classical Greece. Recent advances in queer studies have brought a measure of scientific rigor to what had been mostly a philosophical debate. This debate has made use of stock arguments, both pro and con. Some historical and modern examples are:
- Con
- "Same-sex love is un-natural."
- "It is condemned in the Bible and other sources of Christian doctrine."
- "It led to Biblical plagues and natural disasters."
- "It is inseparable from child abuse."
- "It is a dissipation of one's vital force."
- "It is associated with effeminacy in men, and masculinity in women."
- Pro
- "It is commonplace in nature."
- "It is the path to 'living in truth' for those called to it."
- "Suppressing it alters the balance of nature."
- "It is an expression of evolved consciousness."
- "It foments close friendships and independent thinking."
- "The male form is superior to the female form."
Religion
Main article: Religion and homosexuality
Religion has had a significant effect on a culture’s attitudes regarding homosexuality. Historically the negative perceptions have been limited to the Abrahamic religions. Groups not influenced by the Abrahamic religions have commonly regarded homosexuality sacred. Although in the wake of colonialism and imperialism undertaken by countries of the Abrahamic faiths some non-Abrahamic religious groups have adopted new attitudes antagonistic towards homosexuality.
Agnostics or Secularists
Those who are Agnostic or secularist have been consistently shown to be tolerant of homosexuality as well as supportive of gay-rights legislation. Countries with significant populations of these groups are often among the most accepting of gay citizens.
Abrahamic
The world's three major Abrahamic religions of Christianity, Islam, and Judaism descended from the patriarch Abraham have historically been the primary sources condemning homosexuality in the world. However in modern times some major denominations within these religions have accepted homosexuality.
Christianity
Main articles: History of Early Christianity and Homosexuality & Christian views of homosexuality
The attitude of Early Christians toward homosexuality has been much debated. One side has cited denunciations of sodomy in the writings of the era, such as in the Didache and in the writings of St. Justin Martyr, Clement of Alexandria, Tertullian, St. Cyprian, Eusebius, St. Basil the Great, St. John Chrysostom, St. Augustine, and in doctrinal sources such as the "Apostolic Constitutions" - for example, Eusebius of Caesarea's statement which condemns "the union of women with women and men with men". Others claim that passages have been mistranslated or they do not refer to homosexuality.
Among the prominent Christian figures known to have had same-sex relationships, Richard I of England had a relationship with King Philip II of France, Ralph Archbishop of Tours had his lover John installed as bishop of Orleans with agreement of both the King of France and Pope Urban II, and a number of popes and cardinals, especially during the Renaissance, also shared the popular tastes for handsome youths, so prevalent at the time in northern Italy.
Other Christians of the time were critical of homosexuality. St. Thomas Aquinas denounced sodomy as second only to bestiality (sex with animals) as the worst of all sexual sins, and St. Hildegard's book "Scivias", which was officially approved by Pope Eugenius III, related visions in which same-sex relations are condemned as "perverted forms".
Islam
Entertainers and sex workers, köçeks were in high demand in the Ottoman empire. They were sought by high and low, up to the the Sultan, who as Caliph was ruler over all Islam.
Photograph, late 19th c.
Main article: Islamic views of homosexuality
Same-sex intercourse is prohibited in Islam, which teaches that such intercourse is a violation of the natural boundaries set by Allah (the Arabic word for God). However, in order for the transgression to be proven, at least four men or eight women must bear witness against the accused, which suggests that it is the public display of sexuality that is intended to be suppressed.
Judaism
Main article: Jewish views of homosexuality
While same-sex intercourse is explicitly forbidden in the Torah, which puts it on the same level as incest and makes it a capital offense, most Jewish movements have accepted homosexuality to some degree in the twentieth century.
Buddhism
Main article: Buddhist views of homosexuality
There is no definitive Buddhist view on homosexuality. Some Buddhists hold that celibacy is ideal, while others teach that neither accepting nor rejecting passion is an effective way of training the mind. Areas where Buddhism was or remains one of the chief religions such as India, Tibet, China, Southeast Asia and Japan have been historically unconcerned with the gender of sexual activity or the object of desire. Prior to mass-interaction with Abrahamic countries homosexuality was sanctified by Buddhist leaders throughout Asia.
Hinduism
Main article: Hindu views of homosexuality
The Indian Kama Sutra written in the third century c. e. contains passages describing hijras performing oral sex to men with tips to maximize pleasure. Prior to British colonization of India hijras were not the only homosexual activity, many engaged in a form of pederasty which was openly practiced by Muslims and Sikhs in the north while being overlooked in the south by Hindus. The terms gand-mara (anus beater) and ganga ("anuser") were coined during this time period. During British control Hinduism became markedly antagonistic to homosexuality.
In Hinduism many divinities are androgynous with some changing sex to participate in homoerotic behavior.
Paganism
Main articles: Pederasty, Mythology of same-sex love
In Greco-Roman religion same-sex love was integrated in sacred texts and rituals, understandable since most followers were open to romantic engagements with either sex. Certain surviving myths depict homosexual bonds (see History), sanctified by divinities modeling such relationships. See Zeus and Ganymede as an example.
The Sumerian religion also held homosexuality sacred. It also was incorporated into various New World religions, such as the Aztec. It is thought to have been common in shamanic practice.
Divinities who engaged in same-sex love
Main article: Mythology of same-sex love
Gilgamesh, Enkidu, Poseidon, Pelops, Zeus, Ganymede, Laius, Chrysippus, Iphis, Ianthe, Heracles, Iolaus, Hylas, Abderus, Apollo, Orpheus, Hyacinthus, Cyparisus, Pan, Daphnis, Achilles, Patroclus, Narcissus, Ameinias, Xochipilli
Law
The knight von Hohenberg and his squire, being burned at the stake for the crime of sodomy, Zurich 1482 (Spiezer Schilling <--! (?)-->)
Main articles: Legal status of homosexual sex & Same-sex Marriage
The relationship between the moral condemnation of the gay community and its legal status is complicated. For instance, in England buggery was a crime under medieval canon law because it was banned by the Church. However, prosecutions for this offence died out. Sexual activity between those of the same sex was formally banned by Parliament in the 19th century as one of a range of sexual offences, alongside sex with under-age girls, as part of an expression of a general moral outrage related to events of that time.
State-sponsored violence against gay men and lesbians occurs largely throughout those cultures under the sway of the Christian, Judaic and (to a lesser extent) Islamic religions. One recent egregious example of genocide by a genetically based (rather than religiously-based) doctrine, was the attempted extermination of gays during the Holocaust, where the Nazis viewed same-sex attraction as a sign of eugenic moral weakness rather than as a sin.
In pre-industrial western societies same-gender sex was generally accepted by the lower classes and the upper class, less so among the bourgeoisie, though most professed to consider it immoral. However, with the rise of urbanisation and the nuclear family, same-gender sex became less tolerated and even outlawed in some cases.
By the 19th Century most areas adopting the Code Napoleon (French-based civil law) had no specific ban on same-gender sex, while many areas with British-based Common Law systems had anti-sodomy statutes and executed gay men and lesbians as late as the end of the 1800's.
Beginning in the 20th century, gay rights movements, as part of the broader civil rights movements, in concert with the development of the academic treatment of sexuality in queer studies, have led to changes in social acceptance and in the media portrayal of the gay community.
The legalization and legal equality of same-gender sex, together with legal status for same-sex marriage and non-gender-specific civil unions are major goals of the gay rights movement to protect families of gay couples.
In recent years a number of jurisdictions have relaxed or eliminated laws criminalizing same-sex sexual activity, including sodomy laws and laws preventing gay citizens from serving in their country's armed forces.
In Bulgaria gay sex between adults (over 18) was legalized in 1951, in Hungary and Czechoslovakia - in 1961. In England and Wales, gay sex was legalized in 1967, for consenting males aged over 21. Scotland followed in 1980, and Northern Ireland in 1982. The age of consent was lowered in 1994 from 21 to 18, and again in 2000 to 16 in mainland Britain and 17 in Northern Ireland. This last change gave it equal treatment with the heterosexual age of consent. However, not until 2003 were the earlier offences of buggery and gross indecency abolished so that gay sex was treated in the same way as heterosexual sex (previously it was illegal for gay sex to involve more than two people, or for anyone to watch).
The European Parliament of the European Union, which must approve applications for membership, stated in 1998 that it would not allow countries that violated the rights of lesbians and gay men to enter.
In the United States, on June 26, 2003 the landmark U.S. Supreme Court verdict Lawrence v. Texas overturned all remaining sodomy laws in the United States. The court exclaimed:
- "A law branding one class of persons as criminal solely based on the State's moral disapproval of that class and the conduct associated with that class runs contrary to the values of the Constitution and the Equal Protection Clause, under any standard of review."
In China no specific law has targeted any gay behavior, but gay men are often convicted of being "rascals," which can lead to a jail sentence or to re-education.
In Japan there are no laws against same-sex sexual activity.
Political
Economics
Military
Paul Cadmus, 1934; First displayed at the Corcoran Gallery of Art only to be withdrawn on orders of the Secretary of the Navy, who drew national attention to the work by calling it "disgraceful." Cadmus later declared "I owe the start of my career, really, to the Admiral who tried to suppress it." Presently at the Navy Art Gallery, Washington Navy Yard
Main article: Homosexuality in the military
Homosexuality since ancient times has been documented to be more common in militaries with their strict gender-separation contrasted to society at large. Official attitudes towards these relationships have varied, reflecting their culture’s views. Ancient Greece among others, as well as pre-modern Japan’s military traditions openly encouraged them as a form of male bonding. The United States and other countries have suppressed them in the understanding that they are a threat.
Art
Main article: Homoeroticism & Same-sex love (visual arts)
One of the primary social manifestations of same-sex love has been through the medium of art. The aspects of that expression range across the gamut of the main artistic disciplines. Homoerotic sensibilities are at the foundation of art in the west, to the extent that those roots can be traced back to the Greeks.
History
Main articles: History of sexuality & History of the Gay Community
Sac and Fox nation ceremonial dance to celebrate the two-spirit person. George Catlin (1796-1872); Smithsonian Institution, Washington, DC
Individual panel from a hand scroll on homosexual themes, paint on silk; China, Qing dynasty (18th–19th c.); Kinsey Institute, Bloomington, Indiana
Tryst between a relaxing samurai and a working kabuki actor; Panel from a painted hand-scroll; Miyagawa Isshô, ca. 1750; Private collection.
Samarkand, (ca 1905 - 1915), photo Sergei Mikhailovich Prokudin-Gorskii. Library of Congress, Washington, DC.
The poem reads “May life grant all that you desire from three lips, those of your lover, the river, and the cup.” Muhammad Qasim, 1627; Louvre, Paris
Sexual customs vary greatly over time, and those shifts, as well as the orientation of particular pre-modern figures are the subject of ongoing study. However, modern Western gay culture as it is currently understood is largely a product of 19th century psychology as well as the years of post-Stonewall gay liberation. It is generally not applicable as a standard when investigating same-gender sex and people's views in past ages.
It may be accepted, for example, that the sex lives of historical figures such as Alexander the Great, Hadrian, Virgil, Leonardo da Vinci, Michelangelo, Plato, Christopher Marlowe (who coined the term 'quean') and William Shakespeare included or were centred upon relationships with people of their own gender. Terms such as "gay" or "bisexual" might be applied to them in that sense. But many regard this as risking the anachronistic introduction of a modern social construction of sexuality sub-culture that is foreign to their times. For example, their societies might have focused upon the sexual role one took in these encounters, namely active, passive, both, or neither, as a key social marker. This particular system of designation is currently the norm in many areas of Latin America.
It could be noted, on the other hand, that when evidence that a particular historical figure's sexuality pointed exclusively toward an attraction to people of an opposite gender describing them as having a heterosexual orientation rarely evokes such controversy. This tendency among Western historians, to view heterosexuality as an acceptable norm while regarding arguments that a particular historical figure may have had been gay controversial or requiring more evidence than a claim of opposite-sex attraction might warrant, is often attributed to homophobia on the part of historians and is referred to within queer studies as heteronormativity.
Africa
Though denied or ignored by early explorers, homosexual expression in native Africa was widespread and common, and took a variety of forms. Representative examples:
Anthropologists Murray and Roscoe report that women in Lesotho traditionally have enaged in socially sanctioned and celebrated "long term, loving and erotic relationships" named motsoalle.
E. E. Evans-Pritchard reported that Azande warriors (in the northern Congo) routinely married youths who functioned as temporary wives. The practice had died out in the early 20th century but was recounted to him by the elders.
Americas
In North American Native society, the most common form of same-sex sexuality seems to center around the figure of the two-spirit individual. Such persons seem to have been recognized by the majority of tribes, each of which had its particular term for the role. Typically the two-spirit individual was recognized early in life, was given a choice by the parents to follow the path, and if the child accepted the role then it was raised in the appropriate manner, learning the customs of the gender it had chosen. Two-spirit individuals were commonly shamans and were revered as having powers beyond those of ordinary shamans. Their sexual life would be with the ordinary tribe members of the opposite gender. Male two-spirit people were prized as wives because of their greater strength and abvility to work. See Two-spirit
East Asia
In Asia same-sex love has been a central feature of everyday life since the dawn of history. Early western travelers were taken aback by its widespread acceptance and open display.
In China, known as the pleasures of the bitten peach, the cut sleeve, or The southern custom, same-sex relations have been recorded since at least 600 BCE. These euphemistis terms were used to describe behaviors, but not identities. The relationships were marked by differences in age and social position. However, the instances of same-sex affection and sexual interactions described in the Hong Lou Meng (Dream of the Red Chamber, or Story of the Stone) seem as familiar to observers in the present as do equivalent stories of romances between heterosexuals during the same period. For more information see Homosexuality in China
In Japan, the practice, variously known as shudo or nanshoku, terms influenced by Chinese literature, has been documented for over one thousand years and was an integral part of Buddhist monastic life and the samurai tradition. This same-sex love culture gave rise to strong traditions of painting and literature documenting and celebrating such relationships. For more information see Homosexuality in Japan
Similarly, Thailand had no concept of homosexuality until the late 20th century. Kathoey or ladyboys have been a feature of Thai society for many centuries. They were men who dressed as women. They were generally accepted by society without much question, although a family was often disappointed if one of their sons became a Kathoey. The teachings of Buddhism, dominant in Thai society was accepting of a third gender designation.
Europe
The earliest western documents (in the form of literary works, art objects, as well as mythographic materials) concerning same-sex relationships are derived from Ancient Greece, where same-sex relationships were a social institution variously constructed over time and from one city to another. (See Pederasty) The practice, a system of relationships between an adult male and an adolescent coming of age, was often valued for its pedagogic benefits and as a means of population control, and occasionally blamed for causing disorder. Plato praised its benefits in his early writings, but in his late works proposed its prohibition, laying out a strategy which uncannily predicts the path by which same-sex love was eventually driven underground. (See Philosophy of pederasty)
During the Renaissance, cities in northern Italy, Florence and Venice in particular, were renowned for their widespread practice of same-sex love, engaged in by a majority of the male population and constructed along the classical pattern of Greece and Rome (Ruggiero, 1985; Rocke, 1996). But even as the majority of the male population was engaging in same-sex relationships, the authorities, under the aegis of the Officers of the Night court, were prosecuting, fining and imprisoning a good portion of that population. The eclipse of this period of relative artistic and erotic freedom was precipitated by the rise to power of the moralizing monk Girolamo Savonarola. Throughout all of Europe, fierce conflicts, dating back to the early Middle Ages, raged between proponents and opponents of same sex love. In northern Europe the artistic discourse on sodomy was turned against its proponents by artists like Rembrandt who in his "Rape of Ganymede" no longer depicted Ganymede as a willing youth, but as a squalling baby attacked by a rapacious bird of prey.
Middle East
Continuing the ancient tradition of male love in which Ganymede, cup-boy to the gods, symbolized the ideal boyfriend, Muslim - primarily Sufi - poets in medieval Arab lands and in Persia wrote odes to the beautiful wine boys who served them in the taverns and shared their beds at night. Among some Muslim cultures the practice of pederasty was widespread, if not universal (as documented by Richard Francis Burton, André Gide and many others), and has survived into modern times. It continues to surface despite efforts to keep it quiet, as it did after the American invasion of Afghanistan, when the same-sex love customs of Kandahar, in which adult men take on adolescent lovers, became widely known.
In Central Asia, on the Silk Route, the two traditions of the east and the west met, and gave rise to a strong local culture of same-sex love. This was centered around the bachá (a Turkik Uzbeki term etymologically realted to the Persian bachcheh, catamite), typically an adolescent male entertainer and sex worker who donned resplendent attire and makeup and sang and danced erotic songs. These Muslim bachás were trained from childhood and carried on their trade until their beard began to grow. Though the tradition eventually succumbed to Stalinist repression and western morality, early Russian explorers were able to document the practice.
South Pacific
In many societies of Melanesia same-sex relationships are an integral part of the culture. In some tribes of Papua New Guinea, for example, it is considered a normal ritual responsibility for a boy to have a relationship as a part of his ascent into manhood. Many Melanesian societies, however, have become antagonistic towards same-sex relationships since the introduction of Christianity by European missionaries.
Modern Developments
In 1973, the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Psychiatric Manual of Psychiatric Disorders (DSM) removed homosexuality as a mental disorder from the manual.
During the last few decades, in part due to their history of shared oppression, gays in the West have developed a shared culture, although not all gays participate in it, and many gay men and women specifically decline to do so. The various approaches to the question of what queer culture should be are exemplified by the gay pride and the gay shame movements. Gay pride aims at equality and social and economic integration. Opposition to this comes from the gay shame movement, which holds that being gay can lead to liberation from restrictive social constructs.
Shortly after World War II the gay community began to make advancements in civil rights throughout much of the Western World. With the advent of the AIDS outbreak; organizational structures of these groups became much more sophisticated. At the start of the 21st Century four countries had granted access to civil-marriages and many more countries; the majority of Europe had established similar legal arrangements. Gay men and women had risen to numerous posts of power within many governments that had only a few decades ago previously imprisoned or even in some cases exterminated them.
The overall trend of greater acceptance of gay men and women in the latter part of the 20th Century was not limited to secular institutions; it was also seen in many religious institutions. Reform Judaism, the largest branch of Judaism outside Israel had begun to facilitate religious weddings for gay adherents in their synagogues. The Anglican Communion, the world’s second largest Christian Church in terms of members had nearly fractured due to the Churches in the Western World ordaining gay clergy and blessing same-sex unions against the wishes of those in the developing world, where a morality first adopted in colonial times still predominates. (See Post-colonialism) Other Churches such as the Methodist Church had experienced trials of gay clergy who some claimed were a violation of religious principles resulting in mixed verdicts dependent on geography.
See also
- List of gay-related topics
- List of famous gay, lesbian or bisexual composers
- List of famous gay, lesbian or bisexual people
- Sexual orientation
- Sexual orientation and science, including determinants and demographics of sexual orientation, other scientific studies, and medical opinions
- Gay-to-straight behavior modification
- Homosexuality and transgender
- LGBT history
- LGBT organizations
- LGBT civil rights
- Mythology of same-sex love
- Same-sex marriage
- Sexual orientation and identity
- Sexual orientation and society, including moral and political debate and social attitudes
- LGBT issues and religion
- Lists of gay, lesbian and bisexual people
- Sexual minority cultures
- Gay and lesbian culture
External links
Background
- The Androphile Project - History, literature and art of other homosexual cultures
- Encyclopedia of gay, lesbian, bisexual, transgender & queer culture
- GLSEN: Gay, Lesbian, Straight Education Network
- Halsall's Gay History Page
- Kinsey and the Sexual Revolution - by Dr. Judith A. Reisman
- OHSU
- Sexual Minorities on Community College Campuses
- Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy - Same-sex Orientation
- The Breedlove Study
- The Sheep Study
Organizations active for gay rights
- Stonewall (UK) - gay lobby group in the UK
- Outrage (UK) - direct action gay political activists
- Human Rights Campaign
- Gay and Lesbian Alliance Against Defamation
- Lambda Legal Defense Fund
- NGLTF (National Gay & Lesbian Task Force) US Lobbying group
- Out In America
Organizations that offer support to gay youth
- CampWEHO.com - The Internets fastest growing gay youth online teen community.
Organizations that offer support to lesbians and gay men
- American Psychological Association
- International Lesbian and Gay Association
- London Lesbian Gay Switchboard - the first in the world, started as East London Gay Switchboard in 1974.
- Soulforce, Inc. - interfaith movement representing GLBT people.
Organizations that offer support to lesbian and gay families
Periodicals
- Advocate Magazine
- White Crane Magazine (gay wisdom & culture)
- Gay news, shopping, topics, local
- Gay news
- Unità (in Italian)
- ScotsGay Magazine From Scotland
References
- Christopher Bagley and Pierre Tremblay, (1998), "On the Prevalence of Homosexuality and Bisexuality, in a Random Community Survey of 750 Men Aged 18 to 27", Journal of Homosexuality, Volume 36, Number 2, pages 1-18.
- Lester G. Brown, Two Spirit People, 1997, Harrington Park Press, ISBN 1-56023-089-4
- Kenneth J. Dover, Greek Homosexuality, 1979, Gerald Duckworth & Co. Ltd., London, ISBN 0674362616 (o.p. hardcover), ISBN 0674362705 (pbk.).
- Bret Hinsch, Passions of the Cut Sleeve: The Male Homosexual Tradition in China, The University of California Press, 1990, ISBN 0-520-06720-7.
- Norman Roth. The care and feeding of gazelles - Medieval Arabic and Hebrew love poetry. IN: Lazar & Lacy. Poetics of Love in the Middle Ages. George Mason University Press, 1989.
- Arno Schmitt & Jehoeda Sofer (eds). Sexuality and Eroticism Among Males in Moslem Societies. Haworth Press, 1992.
- Alfred C. Kinsey, Sexual Behavior in the Human Male, 1948, ISBN 0721654452 (o.p.), ISBN 0253334128 (reprint).
- Alfred C. Kinsey, Sexual Behavior in the Human Female, 1953, ISBN 0721654509 (o.p.), ISBN 0671786156 (o.p. pbk.), ISBN 025333411X (reprint).
- LeVay, S., Science, 1991, 253, 1034?1037.
- Stephen O. Murray and Will Roscoe, Boy Wives and Female Husbands: Studies of African Homosexualities, 1998, ISBN 031221216X.
- Rocke, Michael, (1996), Forbidden Friendships: Homosexuality and male Culture in Renaissance Florence, ISBN 0-91-512292-5
- Ruggiero, Guido, (1985), The Boundaries of Eros, ISBN 0-91-505696-5
- Smith, T.W. (1991). Adult sexual behavior in 1989: Number of partners, frequency of intercourse and risk of AIDS. Family Planning Perspectives 23(3), 102-107.
- Bullough et al. (eds.) (1996). Handbook of Medieval Sexuality. Garland Publishing. ISBN 0815312873.
- Foucault, Michel (1990). The History of Sexuality vol. 1: An Introduction, p.43. Trans. Robert Hurley. New York: Vintage.
- Genetics of homosexuality
- Brain structure in homosexual sheep
- Fingerprints Study
- Androgen Link