A Brief History of Homosexuality – Red’s Viewpoint

***Please note the following is my opinion and mine alone. While many will agree with my opinion many will not. I want to be clear I am basing my opinion on historical record which, of course, as with all history can be interpreted in many ways. This is a controversial issue and I will reiterate that any comments that are defamatory towards either side of the argument will not be approved.***

One of the most debated topics of the day is whether homosexuality is biological or a choice influenced by the environment. Basically stated nature versus nurture. There are many arguments supporting both theories but we must remember theories are not facts. Neither side of the argument can prove scientifically (yet) that being homosexual is nature or nurture but what is fact is that there is approximately over 61,000,000 homosexuals in the world today. That is roughly 10% of the world’s population. I find it hard to believe that this many people chose to be attracted to the same sex.  Being gay is not a modern concept. Homosexuality can be documented to the beginnings of modern civilizations where it was accepted as a natural way of life. With that being said, the following  is a brief background of the roots of homosexuality.

In the beginnings of modern civilization, the term homosexual did not exist. There was no category or classification for those that were attracted to or had sexual relations with the same sex. The Ancient Greek philosophy on sexual preferences saw no gender, but rather, that beauty could be seen in either sex and love could be obtained no matter what physiological details one had. “Gender just becomes an irrelevant “detail” and instead the excellence in character and beauty is what is most important.” (http://plato.standford.edu/entries/homosexuality/) The Greeks throughout their history recorded same sex attraction and sexual acts openly. Even some of their Gods; Zeus, Achilles and Hercules all had stories of sexual acts and relationships with men.  In Homer’s Iliad, that  was written around the 8th Century BC,  there was no thought that being attracted to the same sex was “wrong” like many see it today. Achilles, for example, falls in love with and has a relationship with Patrocius until his death. (The 20th Century movie of Troy changed this part of the story to have Brad Pitt’s character Achilles fall in love with Patrocius but as a woman not a man.)

Another famous Greek that was very open about his attraction to men was Alexander the Great. He made no qualms about his attraction to men and preferred sexual relations with men over women. If it were not the strong influence of his mother, Alexander most likely would never had produced any heirs as he wanted no part of sexual relations with women. Alexander’s father before him also had sexual relations with males. The thinking of the time was pleasure could be found in either sex and if you preferred male on male relations then so be it. Plato wrote about a whole city that encouraged a homosexual lifestyle. “The City of Elis…described by Plato, Plutarch, and Xeonphon as a city that actively encouraged male-male relationships.” (http://isocrat.org/history/gay_hist.php)

The Ancient Romans mirrored the Greeks on same sex attraction and sexual relations with the same sex. Many have tried to say that the Romans persecuted homosexuality, but that is far from the truth historically.  Cicero was one of the most strictest enforcers of Roman Law to include statutes dealing with any type of sexual relations. No where in recorded history does Cicero talk about persecution or punishing anyone that had same sex sexual relations. In Augustinian Rome, male prostitution was not only legal but taxed. Prominent citizens of this time were very open about their relations with the same sex and felt no shame in being open with it. The Roman Senate that made the laws for Rome for hundreds and hundreds of years were not only tolerant of homosexuality, many were either bi-sexual or homosexual. It was not until the rise of Christianity that the thought process started changing about being homosexual.

The rise of Christianity was the catalyst that sent open sexuality into the dark ages. The first reforms of open sexuality began in  Augustinian Rome. Augustus and Pope Clement I planted the seeds that would one day cause homophobia in Europe. Their original beliefs that it was not “natural” to have sexual relations with anyone for pleasure let alone with the same sex. Augustus and Clement’s “natural” theory did not exactly make a whole lot of sense though. At the time, it was believed, under the “natural” theory that hyenas dug up corpses in graves for food, that rabbits grew a new anal opening yearly and that weasels mated through the mouth and gave birth through their ears. “Because hyenas were considered a rather disgusting animal, and the fact they believed to engage in homosexual sex predominately, homosexuality itself began to be considered to be disgusting…”(http://www.bidstrup.com/phobiahistory.htm) Unfortunately for Augustus and Clement, this “natural” theory did not wash to well with the Romans at the time. Open sexuality was still a normal way of life and most ignored their “natural” theory completely and life went on as it prior to Christianity was introduced.

As Christianity spread through Europe, homosexuality was for the most part tolerated until about the 11th century. While there were periods from the fall of Constantinople into the Dark Ages where homosexuals were killed for their preferences, there were no firm written laws regarding being homosexual. Christianity and Islam forbade sexual relations with the same sex on moral grounds but sex with anyone at that time was frowned upon unless it was for procreation. Also at this time, the word homosexual was still not used. Anyone having any type of sex that was not missionary style for procreation purposes was called a sodomite. With the fall of the Roman Empire and Constantinople many of the teachings of the Ancient Greeks and Romans were lost and the repression of the Catholic church spread throughout Europe.

As Europe entered the Middle Ages, Pope Gregory IX set up the Papal Inquisition. The Papal Inquisition branded homosexuals, among many others for various reasons, heretics. As the inquistions spread throughout Europe anyone considered a sodomite was condemned to death. There were a few occasions where sodomites were “forgiven” but these would mostly be the priests and abbots in the monastaries run by the church. It should come to no surprise that “many priests and abbots not only left us literature celebrating their gay lovers, but some of the poetry they left us was baldy erotic.” (http://bidstrup.com/phobiahistory/htm) We also must remember that the term sodomite does not just refer to homosexuals it also refers to anyone that has sexual relations in an unnatural way.

As time went on, Christianity and Islam took hold of Europe and Asia. Both religions condemned any form of same sex attraction or sexual acts. Religious fervor swept both continents and led to the birth of homophobia. Many repressed any types of feelings of attraction to the same sex out of utter fear of death. Religious theories scared the population into thinking that if they were homosexual or condoned such behavior would burn in hell for eternity. Lack of knowledge and fear of perscution of the church repressed open sexuality for hundreds and hundreds of years. Homosexuality still existed but in the shadows until a more open world would accept them.

Unfortunately, religious law prevailed throughout the Western world for many centuries. It was not until the Enlightenment and Martin Luther that the populations started revolting against the oppression of the Catholic Church. Philosophy was reborn and the wisdom of the Ancient Greeks and Romans were brought back into the fold of education. Free thinkers and political upheavel spread throughout Europe but the Catholic Church stood their ground and claimed to be the “keeper of ethics and morals and claiming to be the moral authority even if it had been forced to yield political sovereignty.” (http://www.bidstrup.com/phobiahistory.htm) Since the Church decided it what was moral and what was not homosexuality was still condemned.

Not much has changed in that aspect today. The Christian and Islamic (the two largest religions in the world) still believe that homosexuality is morally wrong and unnatural. While they cannot prove this theory, they will both go to great lengths to make you believe it is true. Homosexuality was considered a mental disease for hundreds of years. Modern psychologists began questioning that theory and decided that being homosexual was not a mental condition and/or birth defect but rather a way of living that they had no control over. This conclusion came from studies of homosexuals’ brain patterns compared with heterosexuals’ brains. While there is no conclusive evidence that this is true, scientists are now in the process of trying to prove early psychological theories correct about homosexuality being as natural as being heterosexual.  

Modern times has not really done much in the way of acceptance and tolerance of gays and lesbians. The outbreak of the AIDS epidemic in the 1980’s caused large amounts of fear in straight and gay people.   Many labled HIV/AIDS the “gay disease” and were under the impression that it was spread by homosexual sex only. We all know now that is far from the truth and the origins of HIV and AIDs did not arise from homosexuals. The propoganda at the time only reinforced lack of tolerance and acceptance of gays and lesbians. As we head further into the 21st century, one would think that 61,000,000 million people would be more tolerated and accepted as they would have been in Ancient Greek and Roman society. It would seem, that we are turning back the clock to the Dark Ages once again, with the grass roots movement of getting back to basics. This movement is propelled by hard lined conservative thinking and religious beliefs. Gays and lesbians that were once starting to be more tolerated have now been attacked at all angles with the issue of having gay marriage legal.

One can only hope that people can put there beliefs aside and not let history repeat itself as is was in the Dark Ages. We all must remember that a belief is not fact but theory. The fact is there is 61,000,000 million people in the world today that do not have the same rights as heterosexuals enjoy. Whether you believe being gay is a choice or biological, they should not be discriminated against or persecuted because you don’t agree with how they live their life. How is it the basis of modern civilization today openly accepted homosexuals but we cannot in the 21st century?