HOMOSEXUALITY

Abstract

The objective of this study is to understand who are homosexuals, the forms of sexuality, the rights of
homosexuals, and why homophobia exists in a large number of cultures and societies in the world.
Secondary data has been used for the research purposes of this study.

Keywords: Homosexuality, homosexuals, homophobia etc.

INTRODUCTION
The Oxford dictionary defines sexuality as a person’s sexual preference. Until recently
sexuality was considered as a highly personal subject. Much of what is known about
sexuality came from biologists, medical researchers ads sexologists, and scholars have looked
to the animal world for clues about sexual behaviour of human.

The oxford dictionary defines homosexual as sexually attracted to people of your own sex.
When we talk about homosexuality we are talking about the sexual orientation of an
individual. As a sexual orientation, homosexuality is an enduring pattern of emotional,
romantic, and/or sexual attractions to people of the same sex. It also refers to a person's sense
of identity based on those attractions, related behaviours, and membership in a community of
others who share those attractions. Homosexual relationships are based on mutual trust and
commitment. Sexual orientation in all cultures result from the complex interplay of biological
and social factors which are not yet fully understood, and sexuality may involve both
orientation and preference to a certain degree. As earlier stated homosexuality involves the
sexual or romantic attraction for persons of one’s own sex. Today the term gay is also used to
refer to male homosexuals, lesbian for female homosexuals and bi as shorthand for bisexuals,
people who experience sexual or romantic attraction for persons of either sex.

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 LITERATURE REVIEW
Diversity of sexual behaviour
Alfred Kinsey conducted a research to find the diverse sexual behaviours in the 1940s and 1950s in
USA. Kinsey’s research findings were surprising because they revealed a large difference between the
public expectations of sexual behaviour and actual sexual conduct as described by the people in the
sample. The study also showed much higher level of male same-sex activity than expected, revealing
that many otherwise heterosexual men also experienced homosexual feelings. His findings were
instrumental in challenging the widespread view at the time that homosexuality was a form of mental
illness requiring treatment.

Homosexuality is not a medical condition

In earlier times homosexuality was considered as a medical condition. Mary McIntosh (1968) was
amongst the first to suggest that homosexuality was not a universal medical condition, but was in fact
a social role that did not exist in some societies. For instance, she claims that, homosexual role came
into being only at the end of seventeenth century in England. McIntosh also argued that evidence from
Kinsey’s research project in the 1940s and 1950s into the varied sexual practices and of adults in USA
show that the apparently distinctive identities of ‘heterosexuals’ and ‘homosexuals’ were polarized.
For example, many heterosexual men reported they had also engaged in ‘homosexual’ activities with
other men.

Homosexuality in societies
In his study of sexuality, Michel Foucault (1978) showed that before the eighteenth century the notion
of a homosexual person seems to barely exist in European societies. The act of sodomy was
denounced by Church authorities and the law, and in England and several other European countries it
was punishable by death. The term ‘homosexuality’ was coined in the 1860s, and from then on,
lesbians and gay men were increasingly regarded as being a distinct type of people with a particular
sexual aberration (Weeks 1986). Homosexuality became a part of a ‘medicalized’ discourse, spoken
of in clinical terms as psychiatric disorder or perversion rather than religious sin. Homosexuals along
with other deviants such as paedophiles and transvestites, were seen as suffering from a biological
pathology that threatened the wholesomeness of the mainstream society.

Forms of sexuality
Most people, in all societies, are heterosexuals. Heterosexuality in every society has historically been
the basis of child-rearing and family life. Yet there are numerous other sexual orientations too. Judith
Lorber (1994) distinguishes as many as ten different sexual identities: straight woman, straight man,
lesbian woman, gay man, bisexual woman, bisexual ma, transvestite woman, transvestite man,
transsexual woman and transsexual man.

Types of homosexuality
According to Kenneth Plummer there are four types of homosexuality: casual homosexuals, situated
activities, personalised homosexuality, homosexuality as a way of life.

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 Research Methodology
Research methodology is the science of studying how research is carried out scientifically.

Research method is the technique or tool of data collection. For this study secondary data has
been used. Secondary data is data that has been collected by previous researchers or
organisations such as the government. Quantitative sources of secondary data include official
government statistics and qualitative sources are very numerous including government
reports, newspapers, personal documents such as diaries as well as the staggering amount of
audio-visual content available online.

ANALYSIS
Homosexuality is romantic attraction, sexual attraction or sexual behavior between members
of the same sex or gender. As a sexual orientation, homosexuality is "an enduring pattern of
emotional, romantic, and/or sexual attractions" to people of the same sex. It "also refers to a
person's sense of identity based on those attractions, related behaviors, and membership in
a community of others who share those attractions.

Along with bisexuality and heterosexuality, homosexuality is one of the three main categories
of sexual orientation within the heterosexual–homosexual continuum. Scientists do not know
exactly what determines an individual's sexual orientation, but they believe that it is caused
by a complex interplay of genetic, hormonal, and environmental influences, and do not view
it as a choice. They favour biologically-based theories, which point to genetic factors, the
early uterine environment, both, or the inclusion of genetic and social factors. There is no
substantive evidence which suggests parenting or early childhood experiences play a role
when it comes to sexual orientation. While some people believe that homosexual activity is
unnatural, scientific research has shown that homosexuality is a normal and natural variation
in human sexuality and is not in and of itself a source of negative psychological
effects. There is insufficient evidence to support the use of psychological interventions to
change sexual orientation.
The most common terms for homosexual people are lesbian for females and gay for males,
though gay is also used to refer generally to both homosexual males and females. The number
of people who identify as gay or lesbian and the proportion of people who have same-sex
sexual experiences are difficult for researchers to estimate reliably for a variety of reasons,
including many gay or lesbian people not openly identifying as such due
to homophobia and heterosexist discrimination. Homosexual behaviour has also been
documented in many non-human animal species.
Many gay and lesbian people are in committed same-sex relationships, though only recently
have census forms and political conditions facilitated their visibility and enumeration. These
relationships are equivalent to heterosexual relationships in essential psychological
respects. Homosexual relationships and acts have been admired, as well as condemned,
throughout recorded history, depending on the form they took and the culture in which they
occurred. Since the end of the 19th century, there has been a global movement
towards increased visibility, recognition, and legal rights for gay people, including the rights
to marriage and civil unions, adoption and parenting, employment, military service, equal
access to health care, and the introduction of anti-bullying legislation to protect gay minors.

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There are three patterns of homosexual partnership:
1. Equal opportunity exists as they are not guided by general assumptions.
2. Due to the absence of gender division of labour there are lesser expectations between the
partners.
3. Presence of mutual trust which is followed by willingness to work are hallmarks of
homosexual relations.
According to sociologist Kenneth Plummer there are four types of homosexuality:
1. Casual homosexuality: Passing encounter that does not structure one’s sexual life.
2. Situated activities: Circumstances in which same sex activities are carried out.
3. Personalised homosexuality: Individuals have preferences but are socially hidden from
friends and colleagues because of social constraints and fear of being ridiculed.
4. Homosexuality as a way of life: Homosexuals have come out of their shells and are open
and explicit about their sexuality.
Homophobia is the hatred or fear of homosexuality and homosexuals. The term was coined in
1960s. Homophobia is form of prejudice that is reflected not only in overt acts of hostility
and violence but also in verbal abuse. Although gay and lesbian relations are becoming more
accepted, homophobia remains ingrained in many areas of the society, and ‘hate crimes’ like
violent assault and murder of gay men still occur. R.W Connell’s dynamics of gender argues
that there are many different expressions of masculinity and femininity. Hegemonic
masculinity is at the top of the hierarchy. Hegemonic means dominant. It is the configuration
of gender practices that supports dominant position of man over all other masculinity and
femininity. It is associated heterosexuality and marriage, strength, physical toughness,
aggressive nature etc. Whereas marginalised masculinity means the opposite of hegemonic
masculinity. Due to homophobia marginalised masculine are given labels by hegemonic
masculine like fag, sissy etc.
Before late 1960s most homosexuals hid their sexual orientation for fear that coming out
would cost them their jobs, families and friends and leave them open to discrimination and
hate crime. Since the 1980s, though many people have acknowledged their homosexuality
openly, and in some areas the lives of homosexuals have to a large extent been normalized. In
Asia and the Middle East gay sex is banned in the vast majority of the countries, including all
those that are predominantly Islamic. Europe meanwhile, has some of the most liberal laws in
the world: same-sex relationships have been legalised in nearly all countries, and many
legally recognise same-sex partnership or marriages.
Today there is a growing global movement for the rights of sexual minorities. A large number
of Gay pride parade or LGBT pride parade have been taking place all over the world with the
goal to make people aware and to fight for the rights of homosexuals, trans and intersex.

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 CONCLUSION

Homosexuals, trans, intersex, bisexual though are recognised and accepted in a lot of
countries, cultures, societies there are lot of societies, cultures, countries that do not accept
them. They are shunned from the society. Even though the LGBT community has raised
awareness and have fought for their rights their battle is far from over as some countries still
believe that homosexuality is a crime. Even though today it has been proved that
homosexuality is not a medical condition there are many who believe it is. To ensure that
people of the LGBT community are not a victim of hate crime and violence due to
homophobia more awareness needs to be spread in the society. People must be made aware of
the facts that homosexuality is not a medical condition and that it is natural.
The limitations of this research is that secondary data was used to conduct this research the
data that was collected for the research was not available in the usual research format thus the
data might be inaccurate. The data collected might be bias in nature.

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 BIBLIOGRAPHY

1. Giddens, Anthony and Philip W. Sutton. Sociology 7th ed., 2016

2. McIntosh, Mary. The Homosexual Role, 1968
3. Kinsey, Alfred. Sexual Behaviour in Human Males, 1948.
---. Sexual Behaviour in Human Females, 1953