Homosexuality is the
romantic or sexual attraction or
behavior among members of the same
sex, situationally or as an enduring
disposition. As a
sexual
orientation, homosexuality is considered to lie within the
heterosexual-homosexual
continuum of human sexuality, and refers to an individual’s
identity based on those attractions
and membership in a
community of
others who share them.
The prevalence of homosexuality is difficult to determine
accurately; studies suggest between two and twenty percent of the
population exhibit some degree of homosexual sensibility, though in
many cultures homosexual relations have been prevalent.
Homosexuality is widely encountered in the
animal kingdom. Throughout history,
individual aspects of homosexuality have been
admired or condemned
according to various societies'
sexual
norms. When praised, those aspects were seen as a way to
improve society; when condemned, particular activities were seen as
a sin or a disease, and some homosexual behavior was prohibited by
law. Since the middle of the 20th century homosexuality has been
gradually delisted as a disease and decriminalized in nearly all
developed countries. However, the legal status of homosexual
relations
varies
widely by country and there remain jurisdictions in which
certain homosexual behaviors are crimes with severe penalties
including
death.
Many homosexual people hide their feelings and activities out of
fear of disapproval or aggression; they are commonly said to be
closeted. Disclosing one's
homosexual or bisexual orientation is known as
coming out (of the closet). Efforts toward
emancipation of homosexuality as it is currently understood began
in the 1860s; since the mid-1950s there has been an accelerating
trend towards increased visibility, acceptance, and civil rights
for lesbian, gay and bisexual people. Nevertheless,
heterosexism and
homophobia persist, and in particular young
people subjected to it are at greater risk of socialization
difficulties including
suicide. Currently
the most common adjectives in use are
lesbian for women and
gay for men, though some prefer other terms or none
at all.
Etymology and usage
The word
homosexual is a
Greek and
Latin hybrid with the first element derived
from Greek
homos, 'same' (not related to the Latin
homo, 'man', such as in
Homo sapiens), thus
connoting sexual acts and affections between members of the same
sex, including lesbianism.
Gay generally refers to male
homosexuality, but may be used in a broader sense to refer to all
LGBT people. In the context of sexuality,
lesbian refers only to female homosexuality.
The word "lesbian" is
derived from the name of the Greek island Lesbos
, where the
poet Sappho wrote largely about her emotional
relationships with young women.
The adjective
homosexual describes behavior,
relationships, people, orientation, etc. The adjectival form
literally means "same sex", being a
hybrid formed from Greek
homo- (a form
of
homos "same"), and "sexual" from
Medieval Latin sexualis (from
Classical Latin sexus).
Many modern
style guides in the U.S.
recommend against using
homosexual as a noun, instead
using
gay man or
lesbian. Similarly, some
recommend completely avoiding usage of
homosexual as it
has a negative, clinical history and because the word only refers
to one's sexual behavior (as opposed to romantic feelings) and thus
it has a negative
connotation.
Gay and
lesbian are the most common alternatives.
The first letters are frequently combined to create the
initialism LGBT (sometimes written as
GLBT), in which
B and
T refer to
bisexual and
transgender people.
The first
known appearance of homosexual in print is found in an
1869 German pamphlet by the Austrian-born novelist Karl-Maria Kertbeny, published
anonymously, arguing against a Prussian
anti-sodomy law. In 1879,
Gustav Jager used Kertbeny's terms in his book,
Discovery of the Soul (1880). In 1886,
Richard von Krafft-Ebing
used the terms
homosexual and
heterosexual in his
book
Psychopathia
Sexualis, probably borrowing them from Jager.
Krafft-Ebing's book was so popular among both layman and doctors
that the terms "heterosexual" and "homosexual" became the most
widely accepted terms for sexual orientation.
As such, the current use of the term has its roots in the broader
19th-century tradition of personality taxonomy. These continue to
influence the development of the modern concept of sexual
orientation, gaining associations with
romantic love and identity in addition to its
original, exclusively sexual, meaning.
Although early writers also used the adjective
homosexual
to refer to any single-sex context (such as an all-girls' school),
today the term is used exclusively in reference to sexual
attraction, activity, and orientation. The term
homosocial is now used to describe
single-sex contexts that are not specifically sexual. There is also
a word referring to same-sex love,
homophilia. Other terms include
men who have sex with men or
MSM (used in the medical community when specifically
discussing sexual activity),
homoerotic (referring to works of art),
heteroflexible (referring to a
person who identifies as heterosexual, but occasionally engages in
same-sex sexual activities), and
metrosexual (referring to a non-gay man
with stereotypically gay tastes in food, fashion, and design).
Pejorative terms in English include
queer,
faggot,
fairy,
poof, and
homo.
Beginning in the 1990s, some of these have been
reclaimed as positive words by gay men and
lesbians, as in the usage of
queer
studies,
queer theory, and even the
popular American television program
Queer Eye for the Straight
Guy. The word occurs in many other languages without the
pejorative connotations it has in English. As with
ethnic slurs and
racial
slurs, however, the misuse of these terms can still be highly
offensive; the range of acceptable use depends on the context and
speaker. Conversely,
gay, a word originally embraced by
homosexual men and women as a positive, affirmative term (as in
gay liberation and
gay rights), has come into widespread
pejorative use among
young people.
Sexuality and gender identity
Sexual orientation, identity, behavior
The American Psychological Association, the
American Psychiatric
Association, and the
National Association of
Social Workers state:
Those with a homosexual orientation who do not identify as gay or
lesbian are often referred to as closeted.
Sexual identity development: "coming-out process"
Many people who feel attracted to members of their own sex have a
so-called "coming out" at some point in their lives. Generally,
coming out is described in three phases. The first phase is the
phase of "knowing oneself," and the realization or decision emerges
that one is open to same-sex relations. This is often described as
an internal coming out. The second phase involves one's decision to
come out to others, e.g. family, friends, and/or colleagues. This
occurs with many people as early as age 11, but others do not
clarify their sexual orientation until age 40 or older. The third
phase more generally involves living openly as an LGBT person. In
the United States today, people often come out during high school
or college age. At this age, they may not trust or ask for help
from others, especially when their orientation is not accepted in
society. Sometimes their own families are not even informed.
According to Rosario, Schrimshaw, Hunter, Braun (2006), "the
development of a lesbian, gay, or bisexual (LGB) sexual identity is
a complex and often difficult process. Unlike members of other
minority groups (e.g., ethnic and racial minorities), most LGB
individuals are not raised in a community of similar others from
whom they learn about their identity and who reinforce and support
that identity. Rather, LGB individuals are often raised in
communities that are either ignorant of or openly hostile toward
homosexuality."
Outing is the practice of publicly revealing
the sexual orientation of a closeted person. Notable politicians,
celebrities, military service people, and clergy members have been
outed, with motives ranging from malice to political or moral
beliefs. Many commentators oppose the practice altogether, while
some encourage outing public figures who use their positions of
influence to harm other gay people.
Choice vs. innate
The American Psychological Association,
American Psychiatric
Association, and
National Association of
Social Workers stated in an
amicus
brief presented to the Supreme Court of the State of
California: "Sexual orientation has proved to be generally
impervious to interventions intended to change it, which are
sometimes referred to as “reparative therapy.” No scientifically
adequate research has shown that such interventions are effective
or safe. Moreover, because homosexuality is a normal variant of
human sexuality, national mental health organizations do not
encourage individuals to try to change their sexual orientation
from homosexual to heterosexual. Therefore, all major national
mental health organizations have adopted policy statements
cautioning the profession and the public about treatments that
purport to change sexual orientation." The
Royal College of
Psychiatrists stated that it "shares the concern of both the
American Psychiatric Association and the American Psychological
Association that positions espoused by bodies like the
National
Association for Research and Therapy of Homosexuality (NARTH)
in the United States are not supported by science. There is no
sound scientific evidence that sexual orientation can be changed.
Furthermore so-called treatments of homosexuality as recommended by
NARTH create a setting in which prejudice and discrimination can
flourish,"Royal College of Psychiatrists:
Statement from the Royal College of Psychiatrists’
Gay and Lesbian Mental Health Special Interest Group and added
that "The best evidence for efficacy of any treatment comes from
randomised clinical
trials and no such trial has been carried out in this
field."
The APA also writes that "most people experience little or no sense
of choice about their sexual orientation". In a joint statement
with other major American medical organizations, the APA says that
"different people realize at different points in their lives that
they are heterosexual, gay, lesbian, or bisexual".
The
American
Psychiatric Association (APA) has stated "some people believe
that sexual orientation is innate and fixed; however, sexual
orientation develops across a person’s lifetime". A report from the
Centre for
Addiction and Mental Health states: "For some people, sexual
orientation is continuous and fixed throughout their lives. For
others, sexual orientation may be fluid and change over
time".
Sexual orientation change efforts
Major US, UK and Australian professional and scientific
organizations regard attempts to change people's sexual orientation
as potentially harmful, while fringe groups, often motivated by
religious beliefs, believe change is possible, or homosexual
attraction diminished, for those who cannot accept their sexual
orientation.
Gender identity
The earliest writers on a homosexual orientation usually understood
it to be intrinsically linked to the subject's own sex. For
example, it was thought that a typical female-bodied person who is
attracted to female-bodied persons would have masculine attributes,
and vice versa.Minton, H. L. (1986).
Femininity in men and
masculinity in women: American psychiatry and psychology portray
homosexuality in the 1930s,
Journal of Homosexuality, 13(1),
1–21.
*Terry, J. (1999).
An American obsession: Science, medicine,
and homosexuality in modern society. Chicago: University of
Chicago Press This understanding was shared by most of the
significant theorists of homosexuality from the mid 19th to early
20th centuries, such as
Karl
Heinrich Ulrichs,
Richard
von Krafft-Ebing,
Magnus
Hirschfeld,
Havelock Ellis,
Carl Jung and
Sigmund Freud, as well as many gender variant
homosexual people themselves. However, this understanding of
homosexuality as sexual inversion was disputed at the time, and
through the second half of the 20th century,
gender identity came to be increasingly seen
as a phenomenon distinct from sexual orientation.
Transgender and
cisgender people may be
attracted to men, women or both, although the prevalence of
different sexual orientations is quite different in these two
populations (see
sexual
orientation of transwomen). An individual homosexual,
heterosexual or bisexual person may be masculine, feminine, or
androgynous, and in addition, many members
and supporters of lesbian and gay communities now see the
"gender-conforming heterosexual" and the "gender-nonconforming
homosexual" as negative
stereotypes.
However, studies by
J. Michael Bailey and K.J. Zucker have found
that a majority of gay men and lesbians report being
gender-nonconforming during their childhood years.
Richard C. Friedman, in
Male Homosexuality
published in 1990, writing from a
psychoanalytic perspective, argues that
sexual desire begins later than the writings of
Sigmund Freud indicate, not in infancy but
between the ages of 5 and 10 and is not focused on a parent figure
but on peers. As a consequence, he reasons, homosexual men are not
abnormal, never having been sexually attracted to their mothers
anyway.
Social construct
Because a homosexual orientation is complex and multi-dimensional,
some academics and researchers, especially in
Queer studies, have argued that it is a
historical and social construction. In 1976 the historian
Michel Foucault argued that homosexuality as
an identity did not exist in the eighteenth century; that people
instead spoke of "sodomy", which referred to sexual acts. Sodomy
was a crime that was often ignored but sometimes punished severely
(see
sodomy law).
The term homosexual is often used in European and American cultures
to encompass a person’s entire social identity, which includes self
and personality. In Western cultures some people speak meaningfully
of gay, lesbian, and bisexual identities and communities. In other
cultures, homosexuality and heterosexual labels don’t emphasize an
entire social identity or indicate community affiliation based on
sexual orientation. Some scholars, such as David Green, state that
homosexuality is a modern Western social construct, and as such
cannot be used in the context of non-Western male-male sexuality,
nor in the pre-modern West.
Same-sex romance and relationships
People with a homosexual orientation can express their sexuality in
a variety of ways, and may or may not express it in their
behaviors. Some have sexual relationships
predominately with people of their own
gender identity, another gender,
bisexual relationships or they can be
celibate. Research indicates that many lesbians and
gay men want, and succeed in having, committed and durable
relationships. For example, survey data indicate that between 40%
and 60% of gay men and between 45% and 80% of lesbians are
currently involved in a romantic relationship. Survey data also
indicates that between 18% and 28% of gay couples and between 8%
and 21% of lesbian couples in the U.S. have lived together ten or
more years. Studies have found same-sex and opposite-sex couples to
be equivalent to each other in measures of satisfaction and
commitment in romantic relationships, that age and gender are more
reliable than sexual orientation as a predictor of satisfaction and
commitment to a romantic relationship, and that people who are
heterosexual or homosexual share comparable expectations and ideals
with regard to romantic relationships.
Demographics
Reliable data as to the size of the gay and lesbian population is
of value in informing public policy. For example, demographics
would help in calculating the costs and benefits of
domestic partnership benefits,
of the impact of legalizing
gay
adoption, and of the impact of the U.S. military's
Don't Ask Don't Tell policy. Further,
knowledge of the size of the "gay and lesbian population holds
promise for helping social scientists understand a wide array of
important questions—questions about the general nature of labor
market choices, accumulation of human capital, specialization
within households, discrimination, and decisions about geographic
location."
Measuring the prevalence of homosexuality may present difficulties.
The research must measure some characteristic that may or may not
be defining of sexual orientation. The class of people with
same-sex desires may be larger than the class of people who act on
those desires, which in turn may be larger than the class of people
who self-identify as gay/lesbian/bisexual. Studies to determine the
proportion of individuals who have had a homosexual experience may
misleadingly overstate the prevalence of homosexuality (as not all
those who have had homosexual experiences necessarily have a
homosexual preference) or understate it (as not all those with a
predominantly homosexual orientation are necessarily sexually
active or have physically acted on it).
In 1948 and 1953,
Alfred Kinsey
reported that nearly 46% of the male subjects had "reacted"
sexually to persons of both sexes in the course of their adult
lives, and 37% had had at least one homosexual experience. Kinsey's
methodology was criticized.A later study tried to eliminate the
sample bias, but still reached similar conclusions.
Estimates of the occurrence of exclusive homosexuality range from
one to twenty percent of the population, usually finding there are
slightly more gay men than lesbians.
Estimates of the frequency of homosexual activity also vary from
one country to another. A 1992 study reported that 6.1% of males in
Britain had had a homosexual experience, while in France the number
was 4.1%. According to a 2003
survey,
12% of
Norwegians have had homosexual
sex. In New Zealand, a 2006 study suggested that 20% of the
population anonymously reported some homosexual feelings, few of
them identifying as homosexual. Percentage of persons identifying
homosexual was 2–3%. According to a 2008 poll, while only 6% of
Britons define their sexual orientation as homosexual or bisexual,
more than twice that number (13%) of Britons have had some form of
sexual contact with someone of the same sex.
In the
United
States
, according to exit polling on 2008 Election Day for
the 2008
Presidential elections, 4% of electorate self-identified as
gay, lesbian, or bisexual, the same percentage as in
2004.”
Psychology
Psychology was one of the first disciplines to study a homosexual
orientation as a discrete phenomenon. The first attempts to
classify homosexuality as a disease were made by the fledgling
European
sexologist movement in the late
19th century. In 1886 noted sexologist
Richard von Krafft-Ebing listed
homosexuality along with 200 other case studies of deviant sexual
practices in his definitive work,
Psychopathia Sexualis.
Krafft-Ebing proposed that homosexuality was caused by either
"congenital [during birth] inversion" or an "acquired inversion".
In the last two decades of the 19th century, a different view began
to predominate in
medical and
psychiatric circles, judging such behavior as
indicative of a type of person with a defined and relatively stable
sexual orientation. In the late 19th and early 20th centuries,
pathological models of homosexuality were standard.
The American Psychological Association, the
American Psychiatric
Association, and the
National Association of
Social Workers state:
The longstanding consensus of the behavioral and social sciences
and the health and mental health professions is that homosexuality
per se is a normal and positive variation of human sexual
orientation. The
World Health
Organization's
ICD-9 (1977) listed
homosexuality as a mental illness; it was removed from the
ICD-10, endorsed by the Forty-third World Health
Assembly on May 17, 1990. Like the DSM-II, the ICD-10 added
ego-dystonic sexual
orientation to the list, which refers to people who want to
change their
gender identities or
sexual orientation because of a psychological or behavioral
disorder ( ). The
Chinese
Society of Psychiatry removed homosexuality from its
Chinese
Classification of Mental Disorders in 2001 after five years of
study by the association. According to the
Royal College of
Psychiatrists "This unfortunate history demonstrates how
marginalisation of a group of people who have a particular
personality feature (in this case homosexuality) can lead to
harmful medical practice and a basis for discrimination in society.
There is now a large body of research evidence that indicates that
being gay, lesbian or bisexual is compatible with normal mental
health and social adjustment. However, the experiences of
discrimination in society and possible rejection by friends,
families and others, such as employers, means that some LGB people
experience a greater than expected prevalence of mental health and
substance misuse problems. Although there have been claims by
conservative political groups in the USA that this higher
prevalence of mental health difficulties is confirmation that
homosexuality is itself a mental disorder, there is no evidence
whatever to substantiate such a claim. "
Most lesbian, gay, and bisexual people who seek psychotherapy do so
for the same reasons as heterosexual people (stress, relationship
difficulties, difficulty adjusting to social or work situations,
etc.); their sexual orientation may be of primary, incidental, or
no importance to their issues and treatment. Whatever the issue,
there is a high risk for anti-gay bias in psychotherapy with
lesbian, gay, and bisexual clients. Psychological research in this
area has been relevant to counteracting prejudicial ("
homophobic") attitudes and actions, and to the
LGBT rights movement generally.
Etiology
There is no consensus among scientists about the exact reasons that
an individual develops a heterosexual, bisexual, gay, or lesbian
orientation. The main reasons cited include
genetic and
environmental factors,
likely in combination. Other factors that may play a role include
prenatal
hormone exposure, where hormones play a role in determining
sexual orientation as they do with sex differentiation; and
prenatal stress on the mother.
The
American Academy of
Pediatrics has stated that "sexual orientation probably is not
determined by any one factor but by a combination of genetic,
hormonal, and environmental influences". The American Psychological
Association has stated that "there are probably many reasons for a
person's sexual orientation and the reasons may be different for
different people". It stated that, for most people, sexual
orientation is determined at an early age. The
American Psychiatric
Association has stated that, "to date there are no replicated
scientific studies supporting any specific biological etiology for
homosexuality. Similarly, no specific psychosocial or family
dynamic cause for homosexuality has been identified, including
histories of childhood sexual abuse". Research into how sexual
orientation may be determined by genetic or other prenatal factors
plays a role in political and social debates about homosexuality,
and also raises fears about
genetic
profiling and
prenatal
testing.
Innate bisexuality (or
predisposition to bisexuality) is a term introduced by
Sigmund Freud, based on work by his associate
Wilhelm Fliess, that expounds that
all humans are born bisexual but through psychological development
– which includes both external and internal factors – become
monosexual, while the bisexuality remains in a
latent state.
The authors of a 2008 study stated that "there is considerable
evidence that human sexual orientation is genetically influenced,
so it is not known how homosexuality, which tends to lower
reproductive success, is maintained in the
population at a relatively high frequency". They hypothesized that
"while genes predisposing to homosexuality reduce homosexuals'
reproductive success, they may confer some advantage in
heterosexuals who carry them". Their results suggested that "genes
predisposing to homosexuality may confer a mating advantage in
heterosexuals, which could help explain the evolution and
maintenance of homosexuality in the population". A 2009 study also
suggested a significant increase in fecundity in the females
related to the homosexual people from the maternal line (but not in
those related from the paternal one).
Parenting
Many LGB people are parents through various means including current
or former relationships,
adoption,
donor insemination,
foster parenting, and
surrogacy. In the
2000 U.S. Census, 33 percent of female
same-sex couple households and 22 percent of male same-sex couple
households reported at least one child under eighteen living in
their home. Some children do not know they have an LGB parent;
coming out issues vary and some parents may never come out to their
children.
LGBT parenting in general,
and
adoption by LGBT couples in
particular, are issues of ongoing political controversy in many
Western countries, often seen as part of
culture wars between
conservatives and
social liberals.
In January 2008, the
European
Court of Human Rights
ruled that same-sex couples have the right to
adopt a child. In the U.S., LGB
people can legally adopt in all states except for Florida.
The scientific research has consistently shown that lesbian and gay
parents are as fit and capable as heterosexual parents. Research
has documented that there is no relationship between parents'
sexual orientation and any measure of a child's emotional,
psychosocial, and behavioral adjustment. The literature indicates
that parents’ financial, psychological and physical well-being is
enhanced by marriage and that children benefit from being raised by
two parents within a legally-recognized union.
In 2006,
the American Psychological Association, American Psychiatric
Association and National Association of
Social Workers stated in an amicus
curiae brief presented to the Supreme Court of
California
:
When comparing the outcomes of different forms of
parenting, it is critically important to make appropriate
comparisons.
For example, differences resulting from the number of
parents in a household cannot be attributed to the parents’ gender
or sexual orientation.
Research in households with heterosexual parents
generally indicates that – all else being equal – children do
better with two parenting figures rather than just
one.
The specific research studies typically cited in this
regard do not address parents’ sexual orientation, however, and
therefore do not permit any conclusions to be drawn about the
consequences of having heterosexual versus nonheterosexual parents,
or two parents who are of the same versus different
genders.
Indeed, the scientific research that has directly
compared outcomes for children with gay and lesbian parents with
outcomes for children with heterosexual parents has been remarkably
consistent in showing that lesbian and gay parents are every bit as
fit and capable as heterosexual parents, and their children are as
psychologically healthy and well-adjusted as children reared by
heterosexual parents.
Amici emphasize that the abilities of gay and lesbian
persons as parents and the positive outcomes for their children are
not areas where credible scientific researchers
disagree.
Statements by the leading associations of experts in
this area reflect professional consensus that children raised by
lesbian or gay parents do not differ in any important respects from
those raised by heterosexual parents.
No credible empirical research suggests
otherwise.
Allowing same-sex couples to legally marry will not
have any detrimental effect on children raised in heterosexual
households, but it will benefit children being raised by same-sex
couples.
As noted
by Professor Judith Stacey, of New York University
: “Rarely is there as much consensus in any area of
social science as in the case of gay parenting, which is why the
American Academy of Pediatrics and all of the
majorprofessional organizations with expertise in child
welfare have issued reports and resolutions in supportof gay and
lesbian parental rights”. Among these mainstream organizations are
in the United States the
American Psychiatric
Association, the
National Association of
Social Workers,
Child Welfare League of
America, the
American Bar
Association, the North American Council on Adoptable Children,
the
American Academy of
Pediatrics, the
American Psychoanalytic
Association, the
American Academy of Family
Physicians, in the United Kingdom, the
Royal College of
Psychiatrists, and in Canada, the
Canadian Psychological
Association.
Health
Physical
Men who have sex with men (MSM) and
women who have sex with women
(WSW) refers to people who engage in sexual activity with others of
the same sex regardless of how they identify themselves as many
choose not to accept
social
identities as lesbian, gay and bisexual. These terms are often
used in medical literature and
social
research to describe such groups for study, without needing to
consider the issues of sexual self-identity. The terms are seen as
problematic, however, because it "obscures social dimensions of
sexuality; undermines the self-labeling of lesbian, gay, and
bisexual people; and does not sufficiently describe variations in
sexual behavior". MSM and WSW are sexually active with each other
for a variety of reasons with the main ones arguably sexual
pleasure, intimacy and bonding. In contrast to its benefits, sexual
behavior can be a
disease vector.
Safe sex is a relevant
harm reduction philosophy. The United States
prohibits men who have sex
with men from donating blood "because they are, as a group, at
increased risk for
HIV,
hepatitis B and certain other infections that
can be transmitted by transfusion." Many European countries have
the same prohibition.
Mental
When it was first described in medical literature, homosexuality
was often approached from a view that sought to find an inherent
psychopathology as its root cause. Much literature on mental health
and homosexual patients centered on their
depression,
substance abuse, and suicide. Although these
issues exist among people who are
non-heterosexual, discussion about their
causes shifted after homosexuality was removed from the
Diagnostic and Statistical
Manual (DSM) in 1973. Instead, social ostracism, legal
discrimination, internalization of negative stereotypes, and
limited support structures indicate factors homosexual people face
in Western societies that often adversely affect their mental
health.Stigma, prejudice, and discrimination stemming from negative
societal attitudes toward homosexuality lead to a higher prevalence
of mental health disorders among lesbians, gay men, and bisexuals
compared to their heterosexual peers. Evidence indicates that the
liberalization of these attitudes over the past few decades is
associated with a decrease in such mental health risks among
younger LGBT people.
Gay and lesbian youth
Gay and lesbian youth bear an increased risk of suicide, substance
abuse, school problems, and isolation because of a "hostile and
condemning environment, verbal and physical abuse, rejection and
isolation from family and peers". Further, LGB youths are more
likely to report psychological and physical abuse by parents or
caretakers, and more sexual abuse. Suggested reasons for this
disparity are that (1) LGBT youths may be specifically targeted on
the basis of their
perceived sexual orientation or
gender non-conforming appearance, and (2) that "risk factors
associated with sexual minority status, including discrimination,
invisibility, and rejection by family members...may lead to an
increase in behaviors that are associated with risk for
victimization, such as substance abuse, sex with multiple partners,
or running away from home as a teenager." A 2008 study showed a
correlation between the degree of rejecting behavior by parents of
LGB adolescents and negative health problems in the teenagers
studied:
Crisis centers in larger cities and information sites on the
Internet have arisen to help youth and adults.
The Trevor Helpline, a suicide
prevention helpline for gay youth, was established following the
1998 airing on HBO of the
Academy
Award winning short film
Trevor.
History
Societal attitudes towards same-sex relationships have varied over
time and place, from expecting all males to engage in same-sex
relationships, to casual integration, through acceptance, to seeing
the practice as a minor sin, repressing it through law enforcement
and judicial mechanisms, and to proscribing it under penalty of
death.
In a detailed compilation of
historical
and
ethnographic materials of
Preindustrial Cultures, "strong
disapproval of homosexuality was reported for 41% of 42 cultures;
it was accepted or ignored by 21%, and 12% reported no such
concept. Of 70 ethnographies, 59% reported homosexuality absent or
rare in frequency and 41% reported it present or not
uncommon."
In cultures influenced by
Abrahamic
religions, the
law and the
church established
sodomy as a
transgression against divine law or a
crime against nature. The condemnation
of anal sex between males, however, predates Christian belief. It
was frequent in ancient Greece; "unnatural" can be traced back to
Plato.
Many historical figures, including
Socrates,
Lord Byron,
Edward II, and
Hadrian, have had terms such as
gay or
bisexual applied to them; some
scholars, such as
Michel Foucault,
have regarded this as risking the anachronistic introduction of a
contemporary
construction of
sexuality foreign to their times, though others challenge
this.
A common thread of constructionist argument is that no one in
antiquity or the Middle Ages experienced homosexuality as an
exclusive, permanent, or defining mode of sexuality. John Boswell
has countered this argument by citing ancient Greek writings by
Plato, which describe individuals exhibiting exclusive
homosexuality.
Africa
Though often ignored or suppressed by European explorers and
colonialists, homosexual expression in native Africa was also
present and took a variety of forms.
Anthropologists
Stephen Murray and Will Roscoe reported that women in Lesotho
engaged in
socially sanctioned "long term, erotic relationships" called
motsoalle. E.
E. Evans-Pritchard also recorded that
male Azande warriors in the northern Congo
routinely took on young male lovers between the
ages of twelve and twenty, who helped with household tasks and
participated in intercrural sex with
their older husbands. The practice had died out by the early
20th century, after Europeans had gained control of African
countries, but was recounted to Evans-Pritchard by the elders to
whom he spoke.
The first recorded homosexual couple in history is commonly
regarded as
Khnumhotep and
Niankhkhnum, an Egyptian male couple, who lived around the 2400
BCE. The pair are portrayed in a nose-kissing position, the most
intimate pose in Egyptian art, surrounded by what appear to be
their heirs.
Americas
Among
indigenous
peoples of the Americas prior to European colonization, a
common form of same-sex sexuality centered around the figure of the
Two-Spirit individual. Typically this
individual was recognized early in life, given a choice by the
parents to follow the path and, if the child accepted the role,
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 was with the ordinary
tribe members of the same sex.
Homosexual and transgender individuals were also common among other
pre-
conquest
civilizations in
Latin America, such
as the
Aztecs,
Mayans,
Quechuas,
Moches,
Zapotecs, and the
Tupinambá of Brazil.
The Spanish conquerors were horrified to discover sodomy openly
practiced among native peoples, and attempted to crush it out by
subjecting the
berdaches (as the
Spanish called them) under their rule to severe penalties,
including public execution, burning and being torn to pieces by
dogs.
East Asia
In
East Asia, same-sex love has been
referred to since the earliest recorded history.
Homosexuality in China, known
as the
pleasures of the bitten peach, the cut
sleeve, or
the southern custom, has been recorded
since approximately 600 BCE. These euphemistic terms were used to
describe behaviors, not identities (recently some fashionable young
Chinese tend to euphemistically use the term "brokeback," 斷背
duanbei to refer to homosexual men, from the success of
director
Ang Lee's film
Brokeback Mountain). The
relationships were marked by differences in age and social
position. However, the instances of same-sex affection and sexual
interactions described in the classical novel
Dream of the Red Chamber seem
as familiar to observers in the present as do equivalent stories of
romances between heterosexual people during the same period.
Homosexuality in
Japan, 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.
Similarly,
in Thailand
,
Kathoey, or "ladyboys," have been a
feature of Thai society for many centuries, and Thai kings had male
as well as female lovers. While
Kathoey may
encompass simple
effeminacy or
transvestism, it most commonly is treated in
Thai culture as a
third gender. They are generally accepted by
society, and Thailand has never had legal prohibitions against
homosexuality or homosexual behavior.
Europe
The earliest Western documents (in the form of literary works, art
objects, and
mythographic materials)
concerning same-sex relationships are derived from
ancient Greece.
In regard of male homosexuality such documents depict a world in
which relationships with women and relationships with youths were
the essential foundation of a normal man's love life. Same-sex
relationships were a social institution variously constructed over
time and from one city to another. The formal practice, an erotic
yet often restrained relationship between a free adult male and a
free adolescent, was valued for its pedagogic benefits and as a
means of population control, though occasionally blamed for causing
disorder.
Plato praised its benefits in his
early writings but in his late works proposed its prohibition. In
the
Symposium (182B-D), Plato equates acceptance of
homosexuality with democracy, and its suppression with despotism,
saying that homosexuality "is shameful to barbarians because of
their despotic governments, just as philosophy and athletics are,
since it is apparently not in best interests of such rulers to have
great ideas engendered in their subjects, or powerful friendships
or physical unions, all of which love is particularly apt to
produce". Aristotle, in the
Politics, dismissed Plato's
ideas about abolishing homosexuality (2.4); he explains that
barbarians like the Celts accorded it a special honour (2.6.6),
while the Cretans used it to regulate the population (2.7.5).
Little is known of female homosexuality in antiquity. Sappho, born
on the island of Lesbos, was included by later Greeks in the
canonical list of
nine lyric poets.
The adjectives deriving from her name and place of birth (Sapphic
and Lesbian) came to be applied to female homosexuality beginning
in the 19th century. Sappho's poetry centers on passion and love
for various personages and both genders. The narrators of many of
her poems speak of infatuations and love (sometimes requited,
sometimes not) for various females, but descriptions of physical
acts between women are few and subject to debate. There is no
evidence that she ran an academy for girls.
Sappho reading to her companions on an
Attic vase of c.
In
Ancient Rome the young male body
remained a focus of male sexual attention, but relationships were
between older free men and slaves or freed youths who took the
receptive role in sex. All the emperors with the exception of
Claudius took male lovers. The Hellenophile
emperor
Hadrian is renowned for his
relationship with
Antinous, but the
Christian emperor
Theodosius I decreed
a law on August 6, 390, condemning passive males to be burned at
the stake.
Justinian, towards the end of
his reign, expanded the proscription to the active partner as well
(in 558), warning that such conduct can lead to the destruction of
cities through the "wrath of God". Notwithstanding these
regulations, taxes on
brothels of boys
available for homosexual sex continued to be collected until the
end of the reign of
Anastasius
I in 518.
During
the Renaissance, wealthy cities in
northern Italy—Florence
and Venice
in
particular—were renowned for their widespread practice of same-sex
love, engaged in by a considerable part of the male population and
constructed along the classical pattern of Greece and Rome.
But even as many of the male population were 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. In northern Europe the artistic discourse on sodomy
was turned against its proponents by artists such as
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.
The relationships of socially prominent figures, such as
King James I
and the
Duke of
Buckingham, served to highlight the issue, including in
anonymously authored street pamphlets: "The world is chang'd I know
not how, For men Kiss Men, not Women now;...Of J. the First and
Buckingham: He, true it is, his Wives Embraces fled, To slabber his
lov'd Ganimede" (
Mundus Foppensis, or The Fop Display'd,
1691).
Love Letters Between a Certain Late Nobleman and the Famous Mr.
Wilson was published in 1723 in England and was presumed by
some modern scholars to be a novel. The 1749 edition of
John Cleland's popular novel
Fanny Hill includes a homosexual scene, but
this was removed in its 1750 edition. Also in 1749, the earliest
extended and serious defense of homosexuality in English,
Ancient and Modern Pederasty Investigated and Exemplified,
written by
Thomas Cannon, was
published, but was suppressed almost immediately. It includes the
passage, "Unnatural Desire is a Contradiction in Terms; downright
Nonsense. Desire is an amatory Impulse of the inmost human Parts."
Around 1785
Jeremy Bentham wrote
another defense, but this was not published until 1978. Executions
for sodomy continued in the Netherlands until 1803, and in England
until 1835.
Between 1864 and 1880
Karl
Heinrich Ulrichs published a series of twelve tracts, which he
collectively titled
Research on the Riddle of Man-Manly
Love. In 1867 he became the first self-proclaimed homosexual
person to speak out publicly in defense of homosexuality when he
pleaded at the Congress of German Jurists in Munich for a
resolution urging the repeal of anti-homosexual laws.
Sexual
Inversion by
Havelock Ellis,
published in 1896, challenged theories that homosexuality was
abnormal, as well as stereotypes, and insisted on the ubiquity of
homosexuality and its association with intellectual and artistic
achievement. Although medical texts like these (written partly in
Latin to obscure the sexual details) were not widely read by the
general public, they did lead to the rise of
Magnus Hirschfeld's
Scientific Humanitarian
Committee, which campaigned from 1897 to 1933 against
anti-sodomy laws in Germany, as well as a much
more informal, unpublicized movement among British intellectuals
and writers, led by such figures as
Edward Carpenter and
John Addington Symonds. Beginning in
1894 with
Homogenic Love, Socialist activist and poet
Edward Carpenter wrote a string of pro-homosexual articles and
pamphlets, and "came out" in 1916 in his book
My Days and
Dreams. In 1900,
Elisar von
Kupffer published an anthology of homosexual literature from
antiquity to his own time,
Lieblingminne
und Freundesliebe in der Weltliteratur. His aim was to
broaden the public perspective of homosexuality beyond its being
viewed simply as a medical or biological issue, but also as an
ethical and cultural one. In a backlash to this, the
Third Reich specifically
targeted LGBT
people in the Holocaust.
Middle East, South and Central Asia
Among many
Middle Eastern Muslim
cultures egalitarian or age-structured homosexual practices were,
and remain, widespread and thinly veiled. The prevailing pattern of
same-sex relationships in the temperate and sub-tropical zone
stretching from Northern India to the Western Sahara is one in
which the relationships were—and are—either gender-structured or
age-structured or both. In recent years, egalitarian relationships
modeled on the western pattern have become more frequent, though
they remain rare.
Same-sex intercourse officially carries the
death penalty in several Muslim nations: Saudi Arabia, Iran,
Mauritania
, northern Nigeria
, Sudan
, and
Yemen
.
A tradition of art and literature sprang up constructing Middle
Eastern homosexuality.
Muslim—often Sufi—poets
in medieval Arab lands and in Persia
wrote odes
to the beautiful wine boys who served them in the taverns.
In many areas the practice survived into modern times, as
documented by
Richard Francis
Burton,
André Gide, and
others.
In Persia homosexuality and homoerotic expressions were tolerated
in numerous public places, from monasteries and seminaries to
taverns, military camps, bathhouses, and coffee houses. In the
early
Safavid era (1501–1723), male houses
of prostitution (
amrad khane) were legally recognized and
paid taxes. Persian poets, such as
Sa’di (d.
1291),
Hafez (d. 1389), and
Jami (d. 1492), wrote poems replete with homoerotic
allusions. The two most commonly documented forms were commercial
sex with transgender young males or males enacting transgender
roles exemplified by the
köçeks and
the
bacchás, and
Sufi spiritual practices in which the practitioner
admired the form of a beautiful boy in order to enter ecstatic
states and glimpse the beauty of god.
Today, governments in the Middle East often ignore, deny the
existence of, or criminalize homosexuality. Iranian President
Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, during his
2007 speech at Columbia University, asserted that there were no
gay people in Iran. Gay people do live in Iran, but most keep their
sexuality a secret for fear of government sanction or rejection by
their families.
The
Laws of Manu, the
foundational work of Hindu law, mentions a "third sex", members of
which may engage in nontraditional gender expression and homosexual
activities.
South Pacific
In many
societies of Melanesia, especially in
Papua New
Guinea
, same-sex relationships were an integral part of
the culture until the middle of the last century. The
Etoro and
Marind-anim for example, even viewed
heterosexuality as sinful and celebrated homosexuality instead. In
many traditional Melanesian cultures a prepubertal boy would be
paired with an older adolescent who would become his mentor and who
would "inseminate" him (orally, anally, or topically, depending on
the tribe) over a number of years in order for the younger to also
reach puberty. Many Melanesian societies, however, have become
hostile towards same-sex relationships since the introduction of
Christianity by
European missionaries.
Law, politics, society and sociology
Legality
Most nations do not impede consensual sex between unrelated persons
above the local
age of consent. Some
jurisdictions further recognize identical rights, protections, and
privileges for the family structures of same-sex couples, including
marriage. Some nations mandate
that all individuals restrict themselves to heterosexual
relationships; that is, in some jurisdictions homosexual activity
is illegal.
Offenders can face the death penalty in some
fundamentalist Muslim areas such as Iran and parts of
Nigeria. There are, however, often significant
differences between official policy and real-world enforcement.See
Violence against LGBT
people.
Although homosexual acts were decriminalized in some parts of the
Western world, such as
Poland in 1932,
Denmark in 1933,
Sweden in 1944, and the
United Kingdom in 1967, it
was not until the mid-1970s that the
gay
community first began to achieve limited
civil rights in some
developed countries. On July 2, 2009,
homosexuality was decriminalized in India by a High Court ruling. A
turning point was reached in 1973 when the
American Psychiatric
Association removed homosexuality from the
Diagnostic
and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders, thus negating
its previous definition of homosexuality as a clinical
mental disorder.
In 1977, Quebec
became the
first state-level jurisdiction in the world to prohibit discrimination on the grounds of sexual
orientation. During the 1980s and 1990s, most
developed countries enacted laws
decriminalizing homosexual behavior and prohibiting discrimination
against lesbian and gay people in employment, housing, and
services. On the other hand, many countries today in the Middle
East and Africa, as well as several countries in Asia, the
Caribbean and the South Pacific, outlaw homosexuality. In six
countries, homosexual behavior is punishable by
life imprisonment; in ten others, it
carries the
death penalty.
Sexual orientation and the law
- Employment
discrimination refers to discriminatory employment
practices such as bias in hiring, promotion, job assignment,
termination, and compensation, and various types of harassment.
In
the United States there is "very little statutory, common law,
and case law establishing employment discrimination based upon
sexual orientation as a legal wrong." Some exceptions and
alternative legal strategies are available. President Bill Clinton's Executive Order 13087 (1998) prohibits
discrimination based on sexual orientation in the competitive
service of the federal civilian workforce, and federal non-civil
service employees may have recourse under the due process clause of the U.S. Constitution. Private sector workers may
have a Title VII action under a quid pro
quo sexual harassment theory, a
"hostile work environment" theory, a sexual stereotyping theory, or
others.
- Housing
discrimination refers to discrimination against
potential or current tenants by landlords. In the United States,
there is no federal law against such discrimination on the basis of
sexual orientation or gender identity, but at least thirteen states
and many major cities have enacted laws prohibiting it.
- Hate crimes (also
known as bias crimes) are crimes motivated by bias
against an identifiable social group,
usually groups defined by race, religion, sexual orientation, disability, ethnicity,
nationality, age, gender, gender
identity, or political
affiliation. In the United States, 45 states and the
District of
Columbia
have statutes criminalizing various types of
bias-motivated violence or intimidation (the exceptions are
AZ
, GA
, IN
, SC
, and
WY
).
Each of these statutes covers bias on the basis of race, religion,
and ethnicity; 32 of them cover sexual orientation, 28 cover
gender, and 11 cover transgender/gender-identity. In October 2009,
the Matthew
Shepard and James Byrd, Jr. Hate Crimes Prevention Act, which
"...gives the Justice Department the power to investigate and
prosecute bias-motivated violence where the perpetrator has
selected the victim because of the person's actual or perceived
race, color, religion, national origin, gender, sexual orientation,
gender identity or disability," was signed into law and now makes a
hate crime based on sexual orientation, amongst other offenses, a
federal crime in the United States.
Political activism
Since the 1960s, many LGBT people in the West, particularly those
in major metropolitan areas, have developed a so-called
gay culture. To many, gay culture is
exemplified by the
gay pride movement,
with annual parades and displays of rainbow flags. Yet not all LGBT
people choose to participate in "queer culture", and many gay men
and women specifically decline to do so. To some it seems to be a
frivolous display, perpetuating gay stereotypes. To some others,
the gay culture represents
heterophobia
and is scorned as widening the gulf between gay and non-gay
people.
With the outbreak of
AIDS in the early 1980s,
many LGBT groups and individuals organized campaigns to promote
efforts in AIDS education, prevention, research, patient support,
and community outreach, as well as to demand government support for
these programs.
Gay Men's Health
Crisis, Project Inform, and
ACT UP are
some notable American examples of the LGBT community's response to
the AIDS crisis.
The bewildering death toll wrought by the
AIDS
epidemic at first seemed to slow the progress of the
gay rights movement, but in time it galvanized
some parts of the LGBT community into community service and
political action, and challenged the heterosexual community to
respond compassionately.
Major American motion pictures from this
period that dramatized the response of individuals and communities
to the AIDS crisis include An Early
Frost (1985), Longtime
Companion (1990), And the Band Played On (1993),
Philadelphia (1993),
and Common
Threads: Stories from the Quilt (1989), the last referring
to the NAMES Project
AIDS Memorial Quilt, last displayed in its entirety on the Mall
in Washington, D.C.
, in 1996.
Publicly gay
politicians have attained numerous government posts, even in
countries that had
sodomy laws in their
recent past.
Examples include Peter Mandelson, a British Labour Party cabinet minister, and
Per-Kristian Foss, formerly
Norwegian
Minister of
Finance.
LGBT movements are opposed by a variety of individuals and
organizations. Some
social
conservatives believe that all sexual relationships with people
other than an opposite-sex spouse undermine the traditional family
and that children should be reared in homes with both a father and
a mother. There is concern that gay rights may conflict with
individuals' freedom of speech, religious freedoms in the
workplace, the ability to run churches, charitable organizations
and other religious organizations in accordance with one's
religious views, and that the acceptance of homosexual
relationships by religious organizations might be forced through
threatening to remove the tax-exempt status of churches whose views
don't align with those of the government.
Critics charge that political correctness has led to the
association of sex between males and HIV being downplayed.
Relationships
In 2006,
the American Psychological Association, American Psychiatric
Association and National Association of
Social Workers stated in an Amicus
Brief presented to the Supreme
Court of the State of California
: "Gay men and lesbians form stable, committed
relationships that are equivalent to heterosexual relationships in
essential respects. The institution of marriage offers
social, psychological, and health benefits that are denied to
same-sex couples. By denying same-sex couples the right to marry,
the state reinforces and perpetuates the stigma historically
associated with homosexuality. Homosexuality remains stigmatized,
and this stigma has negative consequences. California’s prohibition
on marriage for same-sex couples reflects and reinforces this
stigma". They concluded: "There is no scientific basis for
distinguishing between same-sex couples and heterosexual couples
with respect to the legal rights, obligations, benefits, and
burdens conferred by civil marriage."
Military service
Policies and attitudes toward gay and lesbian
military personnel vary widely around the world.
Some countries allow gay men, lesbians, and bisexual people to
serve openly and have granted them the same rights and privileges
as their heterosexual counterparts. Many countries neither ban nor
support LGB service members. A few countries continue to ban
homosexual personnel outright.
Most Western military forces have removed policies excluding sexual
minority members.
Of the 26 countries that participate
militarily in NATO
, more than
20 permit openly gay, lesbian and bisexual people to serve.
Of the
permanent members of the United Nations Security
Council, two (United
Kingdom
and France
) do
so. The other three generally do not: China
bans gay and
lesbian people outright, Russia
excludes all
gay and lesbian people during peacetime but allows some gay men to
serve in wartime (see below), and the United States (see Don't ask,
don't tell) technically permits gay and lesbian people to
serve, but only in secrecy and celibacy. Israel
is the only
country in the Middle East region that allows openly LGB people to
serve in the military.
While the question of homosexuality in the military has been highly
politicized in the United States, it is not necessarily so in many
countries. Generally speaking, sexuality in these cultures is
considered a more personal aspect of one's identity than it is in
the United States.
Religion
Though the relationship between
homosexuality and religion can
vary greatly across time and place, within and between different
religions and
sects,
and regarding different forms of homosexuality and bisexuality,
current authoritative bodies and doctrines of the world's largest
religions generally view homosexuality negatively. This can range
from quietly discouraging homosexual activity, to explicitly
forbidding same-sex sexual practices among adherents and actively
opposing social acceptance of homosexuality. Some teach that
homosexual orientation itself is sinful, while others assert that
only the sexual act is a sin. Some claim that homosexuality can be
overcome through religious faith and practice. On the other hand,
voices exist within many of these religions that view homosexuality
more positively, and liberal
religious denominations may bless
same-sex marriages. Some view
same-sex love and sexuality as sacred, and a
mythology of same-sex love can be
found around the world. Regardless of their position on
homosexuality, many people of faith look to both
sacred texts and
tradition for guidance on this issue. However, the
authority of various traditions or scriptural passages and the
correctness of
translations and
interpretations are hotly disputed.
Heterosexism and homophobia
In many cultures, homosexual people are frequently subject to
prejudice and discrimination. Like members of many other minority
groups that are the objects of prejudice, they are also subject to
stereotyping, which further adds to
marginalization. The prejudice, discrimination and stereotyping are
all likely tied to forms of homophobia and heterosexism, which is
negative
attitudes,
bias, and
discrimination
in favor of opposite-sex sexuality and relationships. Heterosexism
can include the presumption that everyone is
heterosexual or that opposite-sex
attractions and relationships are the
norm and
therefore superior. is a fear of, aversion to, or discrimination
against homosexual people. It manifests in different forms, and a
number of different types have been postulated, among which are
internalized homophobia, social homophobia, emotional homophobia,
rationalized homophobia, and others. Similar is
lesbophobia (specifically targeting lesbians)
and
biphobia (against bisexual people).
When such attitudes manifest as crimes they are often called
hate crimes and
gay bashing.
Negative stereotypes characterize LGB people as less romantically
stable, more promiscuous and more likely to abuse children, but
research has generally contradicted such assertions. Research
suggests LGB people develop enduring romantic relationships. Gay
men are often alleged as having
pedophilic tendencies and more likely to commit
child sexual abuse than the
heterosexual male population, a view rejected by mainstream
psychiatric groups and contradicted by research. Claims that there
is scientific evidence to support an association between being gay
and being a pedophile are based on misuses of those terms and
misrepresentation of the actual evidence.
Violence against gay and lesbian people
In the
United States, the FBI
reported
that 15.6% of hate crimes reported to police in 2004 were based on
perceived sexual orientation. Sixty-one percent of these
attacks were against gay men. The 1998 murder of
Matthew Shepard, a gay student, is one of
the most notorious incidents in the U.S.
Homosexual behavior in animals
Homosexual behavior in
animals refers to the documented evidence of homosexual,
bisexual and transgender behavior in
non-human animals. Such behaviors include
sex,
courtship,
affection,
pair
bonding, and
parenting. Homosexual and
bisexual behavior are widespread in the
animal
kingdom: a 1999 review by researcher
Bruce Bagemihl shows that homosexual behavior
has been observed in close to 1500 species, ranging from
primates to
gut
worms, and is well documented for 500 of them.
Animal sexual behavior
takes many different forms, even within the same
species. The motivations for and implications of
these behaviors have yet to be fully understood, since most species
have yet to be fully studied. According to Bagemihl, "the animal
kingdom [does] it with much greater sexual diversity -- including
homosexual, bisexual and nonreproductive sex -- than the scientific
community and society at large have previously been willing to
accept."
See also
References
Bibliography
Books
- Adam, Barry (1987). The Rise of a Gay and Lesbian
Movement, G. K. Hall & Co. ISBN 0805797149
- Dover, Kenneth J., Greek Homosexuality, , Gerald
Duckworth & Co. Ltd. 1979, ISBN 0-674-36261-6 (hardcover), ISBN
0-674-36270-5 (paperback)
- d'Emilio, John Sexual Politics, Sexual Communities: The
Making of a Homosexual Minority in the United States,
1940-1970, University
of Chicago Press 1983, ISBN 0226142655
- Roth, Norman. 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, ISBN 0913969257
- 1990s
- Bérubé, Allan, Coming out under Fire: The History of Gay
Men and Women in World War Two, New York: MacMillan 1990, ISBN
0029031001
- Hinsch, Bret, Passions of the Cut Sleeve: The Male
Homosexual Tradition in China, The University of California
Press, 1990, ISBN 0-520-06720-7
- Rousseau, George, Perilous Enlightenment: Pre- and
Post-Modern Discourses—Sexual, Historical, Manchester
University Press 1991, ISBN 0719033012
- 2000s
Journal articles
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