History  of  homosexuality  (Part 1)

Let me premise this article with the statement that I am a heterosexual and happily married for the past 36 years with two daughters and five grandchildren.

It is impossible to determine when homosexuality began evolving but it probably began when human males and females began walking on their own two feet. Nowadays, male homosexuals are referred to as gays and female homosexuals are referred to as lesbians. The word ‘gay’ when referring to homosexuals is derived from the way homosexual males think of themselves as happily romantic and free of shame. The word ‘lesbian’ comes from the Greek word, ‘Lesbos’ which was an island off of the Greek coast. During the 1800s, probably before 1870, the word ‘lesbian’ began being used to describe women who had sexual desires for other women. 

For centuries, homosexuality was considered as a sin by the Christian Church even though in the New Testament there is no record of Jesus ever saying anything about homosexuality, either as a sexual orientation or as a practice.  Paul, one of Jesus’ disciples saw homosexual practices as a result of idolatry, but he did not claim that such practices brought about God's wrath. There are references to homosexuality in the Old Testament however. They are included in the modern version Leviticus which says “Homosexual acts are an abomination to God.” 18:22 and “If a man has sex with another man, kill them both.” 20:13 “You shalt not lie with mankind, as with womankind: it is an abomination.” 18:22  The Qur'an cites the story of the ‘people of Lot’ (that is also known as the people of  Sodom and Gomorrah that had been destroyed by the wrath of God because they engaged in lustful carnal acts between men.

Scholars of Islam, such as Sheikh al-Islam Imam Malik, and Imam Shafi amongst others, ruled that Islam disallowed homosexual activity and ordained capital punishment for any person guilty of it. Homosexual activity is a crime in several Muslim-majority countries. In the Islamic regimes of Iran, Mauritania, Saudi Arabia, North Sudan and Yemen, homosexual activity is punishable with the death penalty. In Nigeria and Somalia the death penalty is issued in some regions.

United States and homosexuality

For many years, the prevailing attitude towards homosexuals in the U.S. was one of revulsion and condemnation. By the time the middle of the last century arrived, 42 states punished homosexuals with long prison sentences. For example, the maximum penalty for practicing homosexual acts in California was 21 years in prison. In Arizona it was 20 years imprisonment. It was the same also in Georgia, Massachusetts, Nebraska, New Jersey, and Rhode Island. The remaining states of the 42 states had lesser sentences ranging from 15 years to 3 months for New York.

As early as 1955 the American Law Institute recommended that the individual states consider that private homosexual acts between consenting adults no longer be considered a crime. The American Bar Association on August 8, 1973 adopted a resolution calling for the repeal of all state laws that classified as criminal any form of non-commercial sex between consenting adults in private. Further, the American Medical Association in December 1973 called on its members to support its position that private sexual conduct between consenting adults should only be a concern between consenting partners and as such, not be subject to criminal penalties. The American Psychiatric Association on December 15, 1973, removed homosexuality from its list of mental disorders. I should point out however that the Association wasn’t prepared at that time to admit that homosexual acts were normal. They referred to it as a form of sexual orientational disturbance. Such a classification in my respectful opinion is rather ludicrous when you consider that anal penetration and oral sex between heterosexual partners is commonly practiced and the Association has never gone on record as classifying their acts as sexual oriental disturbances and that such persons are troubled persons. The Association however urged the enactment of local, state and federal governments to bring about legislation that would ensure that homosexual citizens get the same protection that is guaranteed to non-homosexual citizens and that those governments should repeal all existing criminal sanctions against homosexuals practicing homosexual acts in private. I should point out however that during those years and even today, being a homosexual is not against the law. That is because there is no law that prohibits states of mind.

I would be remiss however if I didn’t point out that sodomy (anal or oral sex) in the era of 1973 was a criminal offence. I remember when I was in the Canadian Navy in the 1950s, I read the Rules and Regulations of the Canadian Navy (as many others took the time to do so) and learned that anyone in the armed forces of Canada who practiced sodomy in private or publicly even if it was consensual and was caught doing it was subject to 14 years in prison.

The National Task Force on Homosexuality (in the U.S.) estimated that in 1969, there were as many as at least three to four million adults in the United States who were predominately homosexual. Imagine if you will that if even ten percent of them were incarcerated, they would have to build hundreds of new prisons to house them. It was also presumed that there were more males who were homosexual than females during that era. A major argument about enforcing laws prohibiting homosexual acts between consenting adults was as being for the most part, unenforceable.

 There were really stupid arguments for retaining laws against homosexual acts such as (1) it is the cause of moral decay, (2) repeal of the laws would remove much of the pressure on homosexuals to seek medical help, (3) medical science has not yet demonstrated that psychiatric treatment is a reasonable alternative to punishment, (4) permitting homosexual behavior in private would open the floodgates leading to more public displays, of homosexual activity such as homosexual bars, magazines and men walking arm-in arm in the streets and (5) relaxing moral standards in the community.

Speaking of moral standards, it appears that adultery, unless very notorious, was not considered as being so heinous that it lowered the standards of the community even though it lowered the standards of the participants.

Anyone who was reported to be or acknowledged to being a homosexual, found great difficulty in obtaining employment. Any hope of homosexuals being given a job with the Civil Service in the U.S. was out of reach for them because of a real and justified fear that they may be blackmailed. Many years ago, a Canadian homosexual member of Parliament was being blackmailed and he put an end to the blackmail when he publically announced that he was a homosexual. He was still readily accepted in Parliament by his fellow members because of his courage. In the United States, many of the homosexuals were willing to admit to their prospective Civil Service employers that they were homosexuals thereby defusing the fear of their potential employers that they would be blackmailed.

There can be no doubt that the strongest bastion of homophobia was found in the American military. The reason was that it was believed then that homosexuals would be unfit for military service because their presence would impair the morals and disciplines of the armed forces. That was utter nonsense of course. Unfortunately between 1950 and 1967 as many as between 2000 and 3000 homosexuals were discharged dishonourably from the armed forces and lived with the stigma of being discharged dishonourably for the rest of their lives. I only knew of one homosexual in the Canadian Navy who was discharged. His homosexually was obvious from what I remember of him when he was in our Division in the navy base in Esquimalt, British Columbia.

One group of homosexuals who were particularly vulnerable to being dismissed from their jobs were the school teachers. That was because a great many parents were terrified that their children might be influenced by the teachers into embracing homosexuality or worse yet, be sexually molested by them. That too was utter nonsense and without any real foundation for those fears. Admittedly there were a few rare instances of child molestation by homosexual teachers but its rarity didn’t justify the fear the parents had considering that there were far more instances where non-homosexual teachers molested their students.

One is forced to ask the rhetorical question as to why homosexual teachers would so willingly choose to teach young students in school. It may have provide them a needed source of self-esteem and social recognition. Some professionals have believed that some students who are heterosexuals will benefit from being taught by homosexual teachers because the student’s stereotypes of homosexuals will be altered.

The subject of homosexuality in the U.S. has since the last century attained an unprecedented openness in American Society. A great many books and magazines have flourished that deal specifically with homosexuality. Homosexuals are no longer afraid to publicly admit to their homosexuality. We see Pride Parades in various cities in which gays and lesbians dress themselves in costumes and speak openly about their homosexuality.

In Part II, I will submit to my readers information about how homosexuality became legal and accepted in the United States.