WHAT IS HOMOSEXUALITY?
Homosexuality is attraction, or between members of the same or . As a , homosexuality is "an enduring pattern of emotional, romantic, and/or sexual attractions" to people of the same sex. It "also refers to a person's sense of identity based on those attractions, related behaviors, and membership in a who share those attractions.
Scientists do not know what determines an individual's sexual orientation, but they theorize that it is caused by a complex interplay of , , and , and do not view it as a choice. They favor , which point to genetic factors, the early uterine environment, both, or the inclusion of genetic and social factors. Hypotheses for the impact of the post-natal social environment on sexual orientation, however, are weak, especially for males. There is no substantive evidence which suggests parenting or early childhood experiences play a role with regard to sexual orientation. While some people believe that homosexual activity is unnatural, scientific research has shown that homosexuality is a normal and natural variation in and is not in and of itself a source of negative psychological effects. There is insufficient evidence to support the use of .
HISTORY OF HOMOSEXUALITY
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 1976 study, Gwen Broude and Sarah Greene compared attitudes towards and frequency of homosexuality in the ethnographic studies available in the . They found that out of 42 communities: homosexuality was accepted or ignored in 9; 5 communities had no concept of homosexuality; 11 considered it undesirable but did not set punishments; and 17 strongly disapproved and punished. Of 70 communities, homosexuality was reported to be absent or rare in frequency in 41, and present or not uncommon in 29.
It was frequent in ancient Greece. However, in later cultures influenced by , the and the established as a transgression against divine law or a .
Many historical figures, including , , , and , have had terms such as gay or applied to them; some scholars, such as , have regarded this as risking the anachronistic introduction of a contemporary 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. has countered this argument by citing ancient Greek writings by , which describe individuals exhibiting exclusive homosexuality.
IS HOMOSEXUALITY A DISORDER?
Homosexuality is no longer considered a form of mental illness by mainstream psychologists and psychiatrists.
WHEN DOES HOMOSEXUALITY STOP AS A DISORDER?
Not until 1987 did homosexuality completely fall out of the DSM.
In the 1950s and 1960s, some therapists employed aversion therapy of the kind featured in A Clockwork Orange to "cure" male homosexuality. This typically involved showing patients pictures of naked men while giving them electric shocks or to make them vomit, and, once they could no longer bear it, showing them pictures of naked women or sending them out on a "date" with a young nurse. Needless to say, these cruel and degrading methods proved entirely ineffective.
First published in 1968, DSM-II (the American classification of mental disorders) listed homosexuality as a mental disorder. In this, the DSM followed in a long tradition in medicine and psychiatry, which in the 19th century appropriated homosexuality from the Church and, in an élan of enlightenment, transformed it from sin to mental disorder.
