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Homosexuality is behavior of choosing a partner of the same sexual interaction. The term homosexual is used to characterize individuals who prefer romantic attachments and sexual interaction with the same sex and typically are maximally aroused by same sex erotic imagery. The word is used to describe both males and females. There are many terms that are used to describe homosexuals. First, Homo is short for homosexual and the first part of the word means same. The term queer is used to denote something different or odd.
The term lesbian is referred to females and originally referred to the people from the Greek Island of Lesbos, where the poet Sappho lived. Sappho wrote poems about love between women, which led to gay women to be called lesbians. Some derogatory or insulting terms for homosexuals are faggot, fag, queer, dyke, and lesbo. The term faggot came from the word fagot, which is a stick of wood used to start a fire. During the Middle Ages, gay people were considered dangerous and sometimes burned at the stake.
Homosexuality has always been apart of society. Until the High Middle Ages, though, the subject was never brought up. They appeared to have been widely tolerated or ignored by the Christian church throughout Europe. Beginning in the 12 th century, however, hostility towards homosexuality began to show.
Homosexuality began to be viewed as unnatural. By the end of the 19 th century, medicine and psychiatry were competing with religion and law over sexuality. It started to be seen as a crime and a sin. Today homosexuality is look as both right and wrong. There are ongoing debates on the highly controversial issue. There has also been a lot of activity for the last forty years with what has been called the Gay Revolution.
It has been going on since 1960 s to sustain drive for gay rights, and seek to end discrimination against homosexuality originated in employment, credit, housing, public accommodations and other areas of life. This led to the start of Gay Pride Week that takes place in late June. Gay Pride Week is an annual Celebration of the Stone Wall or Christopher Street riots. These celebrations and demonstrations began in an atmosphere created by young people especially in college.
Today, the question is What makes someone gay? Right now, there is no known answer. We do know that there is no evidence that shows homosexuality is genetic. Many people believe that there is a Gay Gene, but that isnt the case. In July of 1993, the research journal Science published a study by Dean Hamer, which claims that there might be a gene for homosexuality.
Research seemed to be on the verge of proving that homosexuality was genetic and therefor unchangeable. Soon afterward, a radio station talked about the gene on the air and got Newsweek to run a cover story on the Gay Gene. This caused everyone to believe that there really is a gay gene and that is the cause of homosexuality when it really was not true. There have been many other studies that have pointed to other causes of homosexuality. One study believes that it is caused by intrauterine influences. Other studies suggest postnatal environment, choices made during development, or it is a learned behavior.
Here are some factors that could lead to homosexuality due to outside causes: An inherited temperament Didnt have a good father / mother figure Sexual abuse Needs feeling of comfort Lack of sympathy, guilt Reliever of distress Born with certain features that have characteristics of homosexuals. Ex: sensitive disposition, creativeness Discovering our sexuality is a very important process that everyone goes through although in most people it comes very easy. For those who think they are a homosexual it can be a very long a tiring process. There are six stages that most typical questionable homosexuals goes through. Stage one: Identity Confusion. This stage is referred to the who am I stage.
In this stage, one feels personal alienation. They become aware that they may be different from their peers. They go through denial, shame, anxiety and ambivalence. Stage two: Identity Comparison.
It is called the rationalization or bargaining stage. In this stage, the person starts to think that maybe they are homosexual or bisexual. They also think that they are alone and the only person in the world that thinks this of themselves. Stage three: Identity Tolerance. In this stage, they think that they are probably homosexual. They begin to make contact with other homosexuals to counteract feelings of isolation.
In this stage they tolerate rather then accepts the homosexual identity. Stage four: Identity Acceptance. In this stage they continue and increase contact with other homosexuals. They start to form friendships. They begin to accept rather then tolerate the homosexual self-image.
The questions of who am I? and Where do I belong are answered. Stage five: Identity Pride. This stage is referred to as these are my people: stage.
They develop awareness of incongruity that exists between the persons own positive concept of self as a homosexual and awareness of society's rejection. They become to feel angry with heterosexuals and have a Them and Us attitude. Stage six: Identity Synthesis. In this stage the anger towards all heterosexuals lessens. They learn who to trust and who can be supportive. They develop their own unique personality.
After these stages are complete and they are comfortable with themselves, they have to learn to share the truth with others and start relationships. There are five stages that help him through this. The first stage is Pre-Coming out. This is where they are still going through some of the previous mentioned stages and they dont know where they stand for sure. The second stage is Coming out.
They go through great personal confusion but know they are homosexual. The third stage is called Exploration. They begin to experiment with other gay or lesbian people. The fourth stage is first relationship. This is when they now want to show commitment towards another in a relationship. The final fifth stage is called Integration.
This is where they find a good self-image for themselves and are comfortable with who they are and what they are doing. People do not know about many facts and statistics. Some of them are: One in ten Americans are gay 25 % chose a family member as the first...
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Research essay sample on Middle Ages Gay Gene
