homosexuality

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homosexuality

Written and fact-checked by The Editors of Encyclopaedia Britannica

Last Updated: Apr 9, 2024 • Article History

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Category: History & Society

Key People:: Frederick William Rolfe; Magnus Hirschfeld; George Weinberg; John Addington Symonds; Harry Hay

Related Topics:: same-sex marriage; gay rights movement; homophobia; lesbianism; male homosexuality

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Behind the movement that brought homosexuality — and psychiatry’s power — to a vote 50 years ago

homosexuality, sexual interest in and attraction to members of one’s own sex. The term gay is frequently used as a synonym for homosexual; female homosexuality is often referred to as lesbianism. At different times and in different cultures, homosexual behaviour has been variously approved of, tolerated, punished, and banned. Homosexuality was not uncommon in ancient Greece and Rome, and the relationships between adult and adolescent males in particular have become a chief focus of Western classicists in recent years. Judeo-Christian as well as Muslim cultures have generally perceived homosexual behaviour as sinful. Many Jewish and Christian leaders, however, have gone ...(100 of 1426 words)

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