Written by Samer Alhato
Spoiler alert. It’s existed. For a long time, actually. Longer than you’d think. In recent times the rhetoric being applied towards homosexuals has been pretty bland. We are dubbed as a new “wave” of “liberal teens rebelling.” Yawn. I’ve been asked to do a crash course on homosexuality throughout history, and I’m not a big fan of spoon feeding people information seeing how it’s their duty to do research, but I’ll give you all the bare minimum.
Over the course of human history and constructed societies the opinion towards homosexuality, or more accurately same-sex relationships, have varied. Given the time and place in history, same-sex relationships were either casually integrated, accepted, seen as a major sin, repressed through law, and to proscribed under the penalty of death. Of all societies one tends to stand out: Greece. Same-sex was frequent in ancient Greece, but in later cultures that were influenced by the rise of abrahamic religions saw the creation of laws forbidding sodomy (sodomy, not same sex). Historically, many figures have had the terms “gay” or “bisexual” applied to them: Socrates, Lord Byron, Edward the Second, Hadrian, and manny more.
The most prominent argument is that sexuality isn’t really a…“thing.” It’s been stated many times that no one in antiquity experiences homosexuality as an exclusive, or even permanent defining mode of their sexuality. I’ll walk you through a brief timeline of same-sex. Prior to European colonization, same-sex sexuality centered around the individual referred as “Two-Spirited.” Native Americans actively accepted same-sex individuals, and were commonly anointed as shamans. Same-sex individuals in Native American tribes were also revered has having powers beyond an ordinary shaman.
Homosexual and transgender individuals were also very common throughout pre-colonized Latin America such as the Aztecs, Mayans, Quechuas, and Zapotecs. After the Spanish conquerors were horrified to discover the natives openly practicing sodomy, they made it a crime. These individuals were subjects to public execution, burning alive, and torn to pieces by dogs.
For ancient Greece, I’ll keep it simple. Men had wives and children, and would often engage in sex with other men. Older men would have sex with younger men to welcome them into the “adult life.” So there you have it. They had sex with a man, then went home to their wife.
Notably, I’d like to mention the term Hijra – it’s a term used in South Asia. Particularly in India, it’s used to refer to a transwomen. In Pakistan the Hijras are recognized as a third gender by the government – neither male, nor female. They tend to live in very well defined Hijra communities, and have served a great role in subcontinental culture, gender-liminalism, and spiritual survival. They’ve existed for a long time within South Asia – so sorry to all the conservatives that think the Devil has possessed the youths’ minds. We’re not a new wave. We’re here. We’ve been here, and will continue to demand justice for our communities.
Now that you have the terminology and the philosophy, you can do the rest on your own. Good luck researching!
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