Questions about the homosexual riddled the 19th and 20th centuries. Namely: is homosexuality a crime? is it unnatural? and is it a choice? These questions are viewed from many angles: the religious perspective, the biological perspective, the psychological perspective, the sociological perspective, the heterosexual perspective, and of course the perspective from the homosexual themselves. Some even ask if it is the "fault" of biology? the mother? the father? can we cure it? but few ask why they need to assign "fault" at all. I'm going to review the past theories of homosexuality, what does online sources tell us about homosexuality, and what homosexuals tell us about themselves.
In the effort define homosexuality to prevent the incarceration of homosexual men and women from their "offenses against nature" or rather against Judeo-Christian political control, doctors in the 19th century made it an "urgent medical matter." (pg 40) Jennifer Terry in her book "American Obsession" she initially focuses on the first three theories; naturalists, degenerationists, and psychogenists.
The Naturalists theory, definded by Karl Heinrich Ulrichs in 1864, regarded homosexuality to be an "inborn benign anomaly". That their psyches were hermaphroditic which was produced by two germ layers that are not in harmony. (pg 43-44)
The Degenerationists, defined first by Richard von Krafft-Ebing in 1886, believed that it is a nervous condition that is degenerating the men into "primitives". "Nervous exhaustion thus led to the emergence of a morphologically undifferentiated class of defective individuals who were neither clearly male nor female, and who were hypersexual." (pg.49)
And finally the Psychogenists theory, defined by Sigmund Freud in 1908, is that "homosexuality was a stage in normal childhood development, passed through by all individuals during the course of the Oedipus complex" and is related to the latent homosexuality that arises when a child's "difficulty in adjusting to the psychosexual demands of maturation." (pg 56-61) After 50 years of efforts in defining homosexuality medically, to the theorist, homosexuality was suggested to be inferior and a perversion, linked to narcissism, and threatening to the culture; which was not a large step at all from the Judeo-Christian politics.
The Catholic Apologentics International online has used statistics to endorse their stand that homosexuality in not only unhealthy for the individual, but also for the culture. Below, I've listed a few of statistics reported on their blog.
*One study reports that the average homosexual has between 20 and 106 partners per year. The average heterosexual has 8 partners in a lifetime.
*Many homosexuals don't pay heed to warnings of their lifestyles: "Knowledge of health guidelines was quite high, but this knowledge had no relation to sexual behavior."
*37% of homosexuals engage in sadomasochism, which accounts for many accidental deaths. In San Francisco, classes were held to teach homosexuals how to not kill their partners during sadomasochism.
*41% of homosexuals say they have had sex with strangers in public restrooms, 60% say they have had sex with strangers in bathhouses, and 64% of these encounters have involved the use of illegal drugs.
*Depending on the city, 39-59% of homosexuals are infected with intestinal parasites like worms, flukes and amoebae, which is common in filthy third world countries.
*Captain William Riddle of the Los Angeles Police says, "30,000 sexually abused children in Los Angeles were victims of homosexuals."
*Homosexuals commit more than 33% of all reported child molestations in the United States, which, assuming homosexuals make up 2% of the population, means that 1 in 20 homosexuals is a child molestor, while 1 in 490 heterosexuals is a child molestor.
*73% of all homosexuals have had sex with boys under 19 years of age.
*78% of homosexuals are affected by STDs.
*Homosexuals were responsible for spreading AIDS in the United States, and it takes approximately $300,000 to take care of each AIDS victim. Even today, homosexuals account for well over 50% of the AIDS cases in the United States.
*Homosexuals account for a disproportionate number of hepatitis cases: 70-80% in San Francisco, 29% in Denver, 66% in New York City, 56% in Toronto, 42% in Montreal, and 26% in Melbourne.
*50% of suicides can be attributed to homosexuals.
*The median age of death of homosexuals is 42 (only 9% live past age 65). This drops to 39 if the cause of death is AIDS. The median age of death of a married heterosexual man is 75.
*The median age of death of lesbians is 45 (only 24% live past age 65). The median age of death of a married heterosexual woman is 79.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LYMjXucTFaM
What's also online can be humorous in cartoon form. Where a cartoon that walks through some of the theories with humor.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_Osw05HGe5I
And this link is an 8 minute clip on the Nurture/Nature debate which in an introductory video for psychology classes. In this case there are two twin boys, one likes airplanes and GI Joe's while the other boy likes horses, dolls and stuffed Pokemon. The second young boy is said to have childhood gender nonconformity. A doctor later in the clip indicates that the environment in the womb may be a determining factor and that it might not be the genes or the environment that makes the alteration, but the hormones released to each fetus. Online there are many links with various spins, but a common theme is that society is still trying to determine the "right" or "wrongness" of homosexuality.
Perhaps it is not what is defined by science or culture that is important, but what those that homosexuals think themselves. Natalie Barney considered herself homosexual since she was twelve and wrote in 1899, "I consider myself without shame: albinos aren't reproached for having pink eyes and whitish hair. Why should they hold it against me for being lesbian? It's a question of Nature. My queerness isn't a vice, isn't deliberate, and harms no one." (pg 71) In 1900, she published a book of her love poems to women, which was tracked down and destroyed by her father.
Also, in a 60's film on humanity and homosexuality, Larz Larson states that the realization of his homosexuality was frightening. That whatever the reason, he was oriented to the masculine. In an effort to explore this discovery he traveled to the french quarter in New Orleans. After 7 days without "experience" he decided that if that environment was what homosexuality was about that he didn't want anything to do with it. He thought it was ugly. But then later, on a weekend trip with a roommate he had a "grand experience". There was alot Larz had to fear in the 1960's for being a homosexual. For an occasional act of intimacy, homosexuals could get five to sixty years in prison; which is a greater sentence than 2nd degree murder, six times that of an abortion, two times that of a bank robbery, and seven hundred and thirty times that of a drunk driver. In the video You Don't Know Dick, a transsexual male stated, "If you perceive me in my female body as male, then I worry about discovery as being female and accused of deceiving. If you perceive me as female ... then it is as if I didn't exist at all."
Even though, it may appear that the "medical writing about homosexuality from the 1860's to 1920's was, oh the whole, speculative and far from scientifically credible" I don't think it should be dismissed altogether unless you are ready to dismiss the "fault" or question in it's entirety. Much more can be said or done on theories to satisfy where they fit in the culture, but the fact remains that they are a part of our culture and not "crazy". Maybe in time those that need an answere, both homosexual and heterosexual alike, will get it. But for now, we need to work together to make our culture a healthy environment for both the heterosexual and the homosexual.
Bibliography
Terry, Jennifer. 1999. An American obsession: science, medicine, and homosexuality in modern society. Chicago: University of Chicago Press.
"Homosexuality: Nature vs. Nurture." Video toolkit for Introductory Psychology. CBS News. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_Osw05HGe5I (June 03, 2008)
"Is Homosexuality a Choice." http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LYMjXucTFaM
"The Statistics on Homosexuality and its Effects." Catholic Apologentics International. http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/1502263/posts (Oct. 14, 2005)
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