Two of these travelers, Rifa'ah al-Tahtawi and Muhammad as-Saffar, show their surprise that the French sometimes deliberately mistranslated love poetry about a young boy, instead referring to a young female, to maintain their social norms and morals. Israel is considered the most tolerant country in the Middle East and Asia to homosexuals [74] with Tel Aviv being named "the gay capital of the Middle East", [75] and is considered one of the most gay friendly cities in the world.

On the other hand, many governments in the Middle East often ignore, deny the existence of, or criminalize homosexuality. Homosexuality is illegal in almost all Muslim countries. However, the probable reason is that they keep their sexuality a secret for fear of government sanction or rejection by their families.

In ancient Sumer , a set of priests known as gala worked in the temples of the goddess Inanna , where they performed elegies and lamentations. In ancient Assyria , homosexuality was present and common; it was also not prohibited, condemned, nor looked upon as immoral or disordered. Some religious texts contain prayers for divine blessings on homosexual relationships.

In Greater Iran , homosexuality and homoerotic expressions were tolerated in numerous public places, from monasteries and seminaries to taverns, military camps, bathhouses, and coffee houses. In the early Safavid dynasty — , male houses of prostitution amrad khane were legally recognized and paid taxes.

Some scholars argue that there are examples of homosexual love in ancient literature, like in the Mesopotamian Epic of Gilgamesh as well as in the Biblical story of David and Jonathan. In the Epic of Gilgamesh, the relationship between the main protagonist Gilgamesh and the character Enkidu has been seen by some to be homosexual in nature. In many societies of Melanesia , especially in Papua New Guinea , same-sex relationships were an integral part of the culture until the middle of the s.

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The Etoro and Marind-anim for example, viewed heterosexuality as sinful and celebrated homosexuality instead. In many traditional Melanesian cultures a prepubertal boy would be paired with an older adolescent who would become his mentor and who would "inseminate" him orally, anally, or topically, depending on the tribe over a number of years in order for the younger to also reach puberty.

Many Melanesian societies, however, have become hostile towards same-sex relationships since the introduction of Christianity by European missionaries. The American Psychological Association , the American Psychiatric Association , and the National Association of Social Workers identify sexual orientation as "not merely a personal characteristic that can be defined in isolation.

Rather, one's sexual orientation defines the universe of persons with whom one is likely to find the satisfying and fulfilling relationships": Sexual orientation is commonly discussed as a characteristic of the individual, like biological sex, gender identity, or age. This perspective is incomplete because sexual orientation is always defined in relational terms and necessarily involves relationships with other individuals.

Sexual acts and romantic attractions are categorized as homosexual or heterosexual according to the biological sex of the individuals involved in them, relative to each other. Indeed, it is by acting—or desiring to act—with another person that individuals express their heterosexuality, homosexuality, or bisexuality. This includes actions as simple as holding hands with or kissing another person. Thus, sexual orientation is integrally linked to the intimate personal relationships that human beings form with others to meet their deeply felt needs for love, attachment, and intimacy.

In addition to sexual behavior, these bonds encompass nonsexual physical affection between partners, shared goals and values, mutual support, and ongoing commitment. The Kinsey scale , also called the Heterosexual-Homosexual Rating Scale, [93] attempts to describe a person's sexual history or episodes of his or her sexual activity at a given time. It uses a scale from 0, meaning exclusively heterosexual , to 6, meaning exclusively homosexual. In both the Male and Female volumes of the Kinsey Reports , an additional grade, listed as "X", has been interpreted by scholars to indicate asexuality.

Often, sexual orientation and sexual orientation identity are not distinguished, which can impact accurately assessing sexual identity and whether or not sexual orientation is able to change; sexual orientation identity can change throughout an individual's life, and may or may not align with biological sex, sexual behavior or actual sexual orientation. People with a homosexual orientation can express their sexuality in a variety of ways, and may or may not express it in their behaviors.

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Coming out of the closet is a phrase referring to one's disclosure of their sexual orientation or gender identity, and is described and experienced variously as a psychological process or journey. The first phase is that of "knowing oneself", and the realization emerges that one is open to same-sex relations.

The second phase involves one's decision to come out to others, e. The third phase more generally involves living openly as an LGBT person. At this age, they may not trust or ask for help from others, especially when their orientation is not accepted in society. Sometimes their own families are not even informed.

According to Rosario, Schrimshaw, Hunter, Braun , "the development of a lesbian, gay, or bisexual LGB sexual identity is a complex and often difficult process. Unlike members of other minority groups e. Rather, LGB individuals are often raised in communities that are either ignorant of or openly hostile toward homosexuality. Outing is the practice of publicly revealing the sexual orientation of a closeted person. Many commentators oppose the practice altogether, [] while some encourage outing public figures who use their positions of influence to harm other gay people. Lesbians often experience their sexuality differently from gay men, and have different understandings about etiology from those derived from studies focused mostly on men.

For information specific to female homosexuality, see Lesbian. This is the only major piece of research into female sexuality that has looked at how women understand being homosexual since Kinsey in The research yielded information about women's general understanding of lesbian relationships and their sexual orientation.

Women gave various reasons for preferring sexual relations with women to sexual relations with men, including finding women more sensitive to other people's needs.

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Since Hite carried out her study she has acknowledged that some women may have chosen the political identity of a lesbian. Julie Bindel , a UK journalist, reaffirmed that "political lesbianism continues to make intrinsic sense because it reinforces the idea that sexuality is a choice, and we are not destined to a particular fate because of our chromosomes. Early 20th-century writers on a homosexual orientation usually understood it to be intrinsically linked to the subject's own sex.

For example, it was thought that a typical female-bodied person who is attracted to female-bodied persons would have masculine attributes, and vice versa. Transgender and cisgender people may be attracted to men, women or both, although the prevalence of different sexual orientations is quite different in these two populations see sexual orientation of transwomen. An individual homosexual, heterosexual or bisexual person may be masculine, feminine, or androgynous , and in addition, many members and supporters of lesbian and gay communities now see the "gender-conforming heterosexual" and the "gender-nonconforming homosexual" as negative stereotypes.



However, studies by J. Michael Bailey and K.

Gay people are better at sex, according to science

Zucker have found that a majority of gay men and lesbians report being gender-nonconforming during their childhood years. Reliable data as to the size of the gay and lesbian population are of value in informing public policy. Measuring the prevalence of homosexuality presents difficulties. It is necessary to consider the measuring criteria that are used, the cutoff point and the time span taken to define a sexual orientation. The research must measure some characteristic that may or may not be defining of sexual orientation.

The number of people with same-sex desires may be larger than the number of people who act on those desires, which in turn may be larger than the number of people who self-identify as gay, lesbian, or bisexual. A study by the CDC in which over 34, Americans were interviewed, puts the percentage of lesbians and gays at 1. In October , Gallup started conducting annual surveys to study the demographics of LGBT people, determining that 3. The poll attributes the rise to greater willingness of younger people to reveal their sexual identity.

In recognition of the scientific evidence, [] the American Psychiatric Association removed homosexuality from the DSM in , stating that "homosexuality per se implies no impairment in judgment, stability, reliability, or general social or vocational capabilities. Thus, mental health professionals and researchers have long recognized that being homosexual poses no inherent obstacle to leading a happy, healthy, and productive life, and that the vast majority of gay and lesbian people function well in the full array of social institutions and interpersonal relationships.

The consensus of research and clinical literature demonstrates that same-sex sexual and romantic attractions, feelings, and behaviors are normal and positive variations of human sexuality. The Chinese Society of Psychiatry removed homosexuality from its Chinese Classification of Mental Disorders in after five years of study by the association. However, the experiences of discrimination in society and possible rejection by friends, families and others, such as employers, means that some LGB people experience a greater than expected prevalence of mental health difficulties and substance misuse problems.

Although there have been claims by conservative political groups in the USA that this higher prevalence of mental health difficulties is confirmation that homosexuality is itself a mental disorder, there is no evidence whatever to substantiate such a claim. Most lesbian, gay, and bisexual people who seek psychotherapy do so for the same reasons as heterosexual people stress, relationship difficulties, difficulty adjusting to social or work situations, etc.

Whatever the issue, there is a high risk for anti-gay bias in psychotherapy with lesbian, gay, and bisexual clients. The appropriate application of affirmative psychotherapy is based on the following scientific facts: Although scientists favor biological models for the cause of sexual orientation, [3] they do not believe that it is the result of any one factor. They generally believe that it is determined by biological and environmental factors ; they state that most people's sexual orientation is determined at an early age, and sexual orientation development involves a complex interplay between nature and nurture.

The American Academy of Pediatrics stated in Pediatrics in Research into the causes of homosexuality plays a role in political and social debates and also raises concerns about genetic profiling and prenatal testing. Despite numerous attempts, no "gay gene" has been identified. However, there is substantial evidence for a genetic basis of homosexuality especially in males based on twin studies , with some association with regions of Chromosome 8 and with the Xq28 gene on the X chromosome. Since homosexuality tends to lower reproductive success, and since there is considerable evidence that human sexual orientation is genetically influenced, it is unclear how it is maintained in the population at a relatively high frequency.

There are no studies of adequate scientific rigor that conclude that sexual orientation change efforts work to change a person's sexual orientation. Those efforts have been controversial due to tensions between the values held by some faith-based organizations, on the one hand, and those held by LGBT rights organizations and professional and scientific organizations and other faith-based organizations, on the other.

Many of these individuals and groups appeared to be embedded within the larger context of conservative religious political movements that have supported the stigmatization of homosexuality on political or religious grounds. No major mental health professional organization has sanctioned efforts to change sexual orientation and virtually all of them have adopted policy statements cautioning the profession and the public about treatments that purport to change sexual orientation.

Homosexuality - Wikipedia

The American Psychological Association states that "sexual orientation is not a choice that can be changed at will, and that sexual orientation is most likely the result of a complex interaction of environmental, cognitive and biological factors They do, however, encourage gay affirmative psychotherapy. The American Psychological Association "encourages mental health professionals to avoid misrepresenting the efficacy of sexual orientation change efforts by promoting or promising change in sexual orientation when providing assistance to individuals distressed by their own or others' sexual orientation and concludes that the benefits reported by participants in sexual orientation change efforts can be gained through approaches that do not attempt to change sexual orientation".

Scientific research has been generally consistent in showing that lesbian and gay parents are as fit and capable as heterosexual parents, and their children are as psychologically healthy and well-adjusted as children reared by heterosexual parents. Patterson for the American Psychological Association found that the available data did not suggest higher rates of homosexuality among the children of lesbian or gay parents.

The terms " men who have sex with men " MSM and " women who have sex with women " WSW refer to people who engage in sexual activity with others of the same sex regardless of how they identify themselves—as many choose not to accept social identities as lesbian, gay and bisexual.

The terms are seen as problematic by some, however, because they "obscure social dimensions of sexuality; undermine the self-labeling of lesbian, gay, and bisexual people; and do not sufficiently describe variations in sexual behavior". In contrast to its benefits, sexual behavior can be a disease vector.