A Gay Rights Position

Every culture’s dominant belief system includes notions of how males should differ from females. Table 8.1 has proposed key components of the dominant American belief system that was in vogue during the early decades of the 20th century, a pattern of thought that has carried its influence into the 21st century but has been undergoing significant revision in recent years. The gay rights movement has played a key role in promoting
that change.

A Short History of Homosexual Suppression:
The expression gender-role preference refers to which lifestyle masculine or feminine a person chooses to adopt. Cultures have differed markedly over the centuries in the dominant view held by the populace about what sort or sorts of preference are acceptable. For example, the ancient Greeks approved of heterosexuality (erotic attraction to the opposite gender), homosexuality (erotic attraction to one’s own gender), and bisexuality (attraction to both one’s own and the opposite gender). Furthermore, in traditional Samoan culture, the homosexual male (fa’afafine) was and still is an acceptable member of society. And when Europeans began settling North America in the 16th century, American Indian homosexual men were called berdaches French for slave-boys used to refer to passive male homosexuals.

In contrast, most Christian European cultures from the Middle Ages forward accorded social approval only to heterosexuals, a tradition carried to the Americas by Christian settlers and widely promoted far into the 20th century, with serious negative sanctions imposed on anyone caught in homosexual or bisexual relationships. Doctrinaire Roman Catholics and evangelical Protestants continue to subscribe to such convictions in the 21st century.