History of homosexuality

Homosexuality is defined as romantic attraction, sexual attraction, or sexual behavior between people of the same sex or gender.^[1] As a sexual orientation, homosexuality is "an enduring pattern of emotional, romantic, and/or sexual attractions" exclusively to people of the same sex or gender.^[2] It "also refers to a person's sense of identity based on those attractions, related behaviors, and membership in a community of others who share those attractions."^[3]

Societal attitudes towards same-sex relationships have varied over time and place. Attitudes to male homosexuality have varied from requiring 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 addition, it has varied as to whether any negative attitudes towards men who have sex with men have extended to all participants, as has been common in Abrahamic religions, or more towards passive (penetrated) participants, as was common in Ancient Greece and Ancient Rome. Which acts are considered "hsexual", "lustful", or "romantic" have also differed throughout history. At various times, actions such as bed-sharing, cuddling, passionate declarations of love, and even kissing have been considered appropriate within same-sex friendships and/or unacceptable within the context of opposite-sex friendships and even marriage.^[4] Female homosexuality has historically been given less acknowledgment, explicit acceptance, and opposition.

Homosexuality was generally tolerated in many ancient and medieval eastern cultures such as those influenced by Buddhism, Hinduism, and Taoism.^[5]^[6] Homophobia in the eastern world is often discussed in the context of being an import from the western world.^[7]^[8] Some have contended that definitions of "progress" on homosexuality (e.g. LGBT rights) as being Western-centric.^[9]

Many male historical figures, including Socrates, Lord Byron, Edward II, and Hadrian,^[10] 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 social construct of sexuality foreign to their times,^[11] though others challenge this.^[12]^[13]^[14] 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,^[15] which describe individuals exhibiting exclusive homosexuality.

^ Lehman, James R.; Diaz, Kristine; Ng, Henry; Petty, Elizabeth M.; Thatikunta, Meena; Eckstrand, Kristen, eds. (2020). The Equal Curriculum: The Student and Educator Guide to LGBTQ Health. Springer eBooks Medicine (1st ed. 2020 ed.). Cham: Springer. ISBN 978-3-030-24025-7.
^ "LGBTQIA+ Glossary". LGBTQ Resource Center. Retrieved 2025-05-06.
^ www.apa.org https://www.apa.org/helpcenter/sexual-orientation.aspx. Retrieved 2025-05-06. {{cite web}}: Missing or empty |title= (help)
^ Blank, Hanne (2012). Straight: the surprisingly short history of heterosexuality. Boston: Beacon Press. ISBN 978-0-8070-4443-8.
^ Keown, Damien (2020). "(page 48)p. 48C4Sexuality and gender". Sexuality and gender. pp. 48–60. doi:10.1093/actrade/9780198850052.003.0004. ISBN 978-0-19-885005-2. Retrieved 2024-01-24. {{cite book}}: |website= ignored (help)
^ Fian, Andi (2 December 2022). "BUDDHISM AND CONFUCIANISM ON HOMOSEXUALITY: THE ACCEPTANCE AND REJECTION BASED ON THE ARGUMENTS OF RELIGIOUS TEXTS". Journal of Religious Studies. 3 (2). Sekolah Pascasarjana, Universitas Gadjah Mada: Center for Religious and Cross-cultural Studies (CRCS): 73–82 – via Phil.
^ Wong, Brian (2020-12-17). "Column: Homophobia Is Not an Asian Value". TIME. Retrieved 2024-08-25.
^ Laidlaw, Emily (2014-02-03). "Homophobia is not solely a Western invention". Kill Your Darlings. Retrieved 2024-08-25.
^ Rao, R. (2014-09-01). "The locations of homophobia". London Review of International Law. 2 (2): 169–199. doi:10.1093/lril/lru010. ISSN 2050-6325.
^ Roman Homosexuality, Craig Arthur Williams, p.60
^ (Foucault 1986)
^ Thomas K. Hubbard, Review of David M. Halperin, "How to Do the History of Homosexuality" in Bryn Mawr Classical Review 2003.09.22
^ Norton, Rictor (2016). Myth of the Modern Homosexual. Bloomsbury Academic. ISBN 9781474286923. The author has made adapted and expanded portions of this book available online as A Critique of Social Constructionism and Postmodern Queer Theory.
^ Boswell, John (1989). "Revolutions, Universals, and Sexual Categories" (PDF). In Duberman, Martin Bauml; Vicinus, Martha; Chauncey, George Jr. (eds.). Hidden From History: Reclaiming the Gay and Lesbian Past. Penguin Books. pp. 17–36. S2CID 34904667. Archived from the original (PDF) on 2019-03-04.
^ Boswell, John (1980). Christianity, Social Tolerance, and Homosexuality: Gay People in Western Europe from the Beginning of the Christian Era to the Fourteenth Century. Chicago: The University of Chicago Press.

[1] Lehman, James R.; Diaz, Kristine; Ng, Henry; Petty, Elizabeth M.; Thatikunta, Meena; Eckstrand, Kristen, eds. (2020). The Equal Curriculum: The Student and Educator Guide to LGBTQ Health. Springer eBooks Medicine (1st ed. 2020 ed.). Cham: Springer. ISBN 978-3-030-24025-7.

[2] "LGBTQIA+ Glossary". LGBTQ Resource Center. Retrieved 2025-05-06.

[3] www.apa.org https://www.apa.org/helpcenter/sexual-orientation.aspx. Retrieved 2025-05-06. {{cite web}}: Missing or empty |title= (help)

[:1-4] Blank, Hanne (2012). Straight: the surprisingly short history of heterosexuality. Boston: Beacon Press. ISBN 978-0-8070-4443-8.

[5] Keown, Damien (2020). "(page 48)p. 48C4Sexuality and gender". Sexuality and gender. pp. 48–60. doi:10.1093/actrade/9780198850052.003.0004. ISBN 978-0-19-885005-2. Retrieved 2024-01-24. {{cite book}}: |website= ignored (help)

[6] Fian, Andi (2 December 2022). "BUDDHISM AND CONFUCIANISM ON HOMOSEXUALITY: THE ACCEPTANCE AND REJECTION BASED ON THE ARGUMENTS OF RELIGIOUS TEXTS". Journal of Religious Studies. 3 (2). Sekolah Pascasarjana, Universitas Gadjah Mada: Center for Religious and Cross-cultural Studies (CRCS): 73–82 – via Phil.

[7] Wong, Brian (2020-12-17). "Column: Homophobia Is Not an Asian Value". TIME. Retrieved 2024-08-25.

[8] Laidlaw, Emily (2014-02-03). "Homophobia is not solely a Western invention". Kill Your Darlings. Retrieved 2024-08-25.

[9] Rao, R. (2014-09-01). "The locations of homophobia". London Review of International Law. 2 (2): 169–199. doi:10.1093/lril/lru010. ISSN 2050-6325.

[10] Roman Homosexuality, Craig Arthur Williams, p.60

[foucault-11] (Foucault 1986)

[12] Thomas K. Hubbard, Review of David M. Halperin, "How to Do the History of Homosexuality" in Bryn Mawr Classical Review 2003.09.22

[13] Norton, Rictor (2016). Myth of the Modern Homosexual. Bloomsbury Academic. ISBN 9781474286923. The author has made adapted and expanded portions of this book available online as A Critique of Social Constructionism and Postmodern Queer Theory.

[14] Boswell, John (1989). "Revolutions, Universals, and Sexual Categories" (PDF). In Duberman, Martin Bauml; Vicinus, Martha; Chauncey, George Jr. (eds.). Hidden From History: Reclaiming the Gay and Lesbian Past. Penguin Books. pp. 17–36. S2CID 34904667. Archived from the original (PDF) on 2019-03-04.

[boswell1-15] Boswell, John (1980). Christianity, Social Tolerance, and Homosexuality: Gay People in Western Europe from the Beginning of the Christian Era to the Fourteenth Century. Chicago: The University of Chicago Press.

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