Homosexuality

Zephyrus and Hyacinthus Attic red-figure cup from Tarquinia, 480 BC (Boston Museum of Fine Arts)
Burning of two homosexuals (the knight Richard von Hohenburg and his squire Anton Mätzler) at the stake outside Zürich, 1482 (from the Spiezer Schilling chronicle)
Dance to the Berdache Sac and Fox Nation ceremonial dance to celebrate the two-spirit person. George Catlin (1796–1872); Smithsonian Institution, Washington, D.C.
A woman spying on a pair of male lovers. China, Qing Dynasty.
Female youths are depicted surrounding Sappho in this painting of Lafond "Sappho sings for Homer", 1824.
Sappho reading to her companions on an Attic vase of c. 435 BC
Photograph of the Finnish artist Touko Laaksonen (1920–1991) alias Tom of Finland, well known for his stylized highly masculinized homoerotic art, playing the piano in late 1950s. In the background, his partner Veli Mäkinen (left) and his sister Kaija (right).
An illustration from the 19th-century book Sawaqub al-Manaquib depicting homosexual anal sex with a wine boy
Shah Abbas I of Persia with a boy. By Muhammad Qasim (1627).
U.S. President Barack Obama signs into law the Don't Ask, Don't Tell Repeal Act of 2010
LGBT activists at Cologne Pride in 2015 carrying a banner with the flags of 70 countries where homosexuality is illegal
Protests in New York City against Uganda's Anti-Homosexuality Bill.
Roy and Silo, two New York Central Park Zoo male chinstrap penguins similar to those pictured, became internationally known when they coupled and later were given an egg that needed hatching and care, which they successfully provided.

Romantic attraction, sexual attraction, or sexual behavior between members of the same sex or gender.

- Homosexuality
Zephyrus and Hyacinthus Attic red-figure cup from Tarquinia, 480 BC (Boston Museum of Fine Arts)

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Brochure used by Save Our Children, a political coalition formed in 1977 in Miami, Florida, U.S., to overturn a recently legislated county ordinance that banned discrimination in areas of housing, employment, and public accommodation based on sexual orientation

Homophobia

Brochure used by Save Our Children, a political coalition formed in 1977 in Miami, Florida, U.S., to overturn a recently legislated county ordinance that banned discrimination in areas of housing, employment, and public accommodation based on sexual orientation
Religious protestors at a pride parade in Jerusalem, with a sign that reads, "Homo sex is immoral (Lev. 18/22)". The association of homosexual sex with immorality or sinfulness is seen by many as a homophobic act.
Protests in New York City against Uganda's Anti-Homosexuality Bill
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Westboro Baptist Church protesters, in Oklahoma, 2005
Between January 2010 and November 2014, 47 individuals have been killed due to their real or perceived sexual orientation or gender identity in Turkey according to online news sources.
Acceptance of homosexuality to GDP per capita in several countries
LGBT activists at Cologne Pride carrying a banner with the flags of over 70 countries where homosexuality is illegal

Homophobia encompasses a range of negative attitudes and feelings toward homosexuality or people who are identified or perceived as being lesbian, gay, bisexual or transgender (LGBT).

External male genitals (depilated).

Human sexuality

Way people experience and express themselves sexually.

Way people experience and express themselves sexually.

External male genitals (depilated).
The male reproductive system.
External female genitals (depilated).
The female reproductive system.
A women's liberation march in Washington, D.C., in August 1970, from Farragut Square to Lafayette Park.
A Gay Liberation march in London, UK, c. 1972. A Gay Liberation Front banner is visible. Location is believed to be Trafalgar Square.
The Flirtation, Eugene de Blaas, 1904.

This is further supported by cross-cultural evidence, because cultures that are very tolerant of homosexuality do not have significantly higher rates of it.

An 1870 oil painting by Ford Madox Brown of Romeo and Juliet, considered to be the archetypal romantic couple, depicting the play's iconic balcony scene.

Romance (love)

Feeling of love for, or a strong attraction towards another person, and the courtship behaviors undertaken by an individual to express those overall feelings and resultant emotions.

Feeling of love for, or a strong attraction towards another person, and the courtship behaviors undertaken by an individual to express those overall feelings and resultant emotions.

An 1870 oil painting by Ford Madox Brown of Romeo and Juliet, considered to be the archetypal romantic couple, depicting the play's iconic balcony scene.
Bernger von Horheim in the Codex Manesse (early 14th century)
La Belle Dame sans Merci 1893, by John William Waterhouse
Roman copy of a Greek sculpture by Lysippus depicting Eros, the Greek personification of romantic love
Archetypal lovers in Romeo and Juliet by Frank Dicksee, 1884

One example of the changes experienced in relationships in the early 21st century was explored by Giddens regarding homosexual relationships.

Sappho and Erinna in a Garden at Mytilene by Simeon Solomon, 1864

LGBT rights by country or territory

Rights affecting lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender (LGBT) people vary greatly by country or jurisdiction—encompassing everything from the legal recognition of same-sex marriage to the death penalty for homosexuality.

Rights affecting lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender (LGBT) people vary greatly by country or jurisdiction—encompassing everything from the legal recognition of same-sex marriage to the death penalty for homosexuality.

Sappho and Erinna in a Garden at Mytilene by Simeon Solomon, 1864

In 2011, the United Nations Human Rights Council passed its first resolution recognizing LGBT rights, following which the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights issued a report documenting violations of the rights of LGBT people, including hate crimes, criminalization of homosexual activity, and discrimination.

Saint Sebastian, by Carlo Saraceni (c1610-15), Castle Museum, Prague. The image of Sebastian pierced by arrows has regularly been described as homoerotic.

Homoeroticism

Sexual attraction between members of the same sex, either male–male or female–female.

Sexual attraction between members of the same sex, either male–male or female–female.

Saint Sebastian, by Carlo Saraceni (c1610-15), Castle Museum, Prague. The image of Sebastian pierced by arrows has regularly been described as homoerotic.
Male Nude Lying, by Aleksander Lesser (1837), National Museum, Warsaw. The painting was displayed in the temporary exhibition of homoerotic art Ars Homo Erotica.
Male nudes wrestling, by John Singer Sargent (c. 1880).
An example of lesbian erotica by Édouard-Henri Avril.

The concept differs from the concept of homosexuality: it refers specifically to the desire itself, which can be temporary, whereas "homosexuality" implies a more permanent state of identity or sexual orientation.

Men kissing intimately

Men who have sex with men

Men who have sex with men (MSM), also known as males who have sex with males, are male persons who engage in sexual activity with members of the same sex, regardless of how they identify themselves.

Men who have sex with men (MSM), also known as males who have sex with males, are male persons who engage in sexual activity with members of the same sex, regardless of how they identify themselves.

Men kissing intimately

They may identify as gay, homosexual, bisexual, pansexual, or heterosexual; or dispense with sexual identification altogether.

A six-band rainbow flag representing the LGBT community

LGBT

Initialism that stands for lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender.

Initialism that stands for lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender.

A six-band rainbow flag representing the LGBT community
The Stonewall Inn in the gay village of Greenwich Village, Manhattan, site of the June 1969 Stonewall riots, the cradle of the modern LGBT rights movement and an icon of LGBT culture, is adorned with rainbow pride flags.
LGBT publications, pride parades, and related events, such as this stage at Bologna Pride 2008 in Italy, increasingly drop the LGBT initialism instead of regularly adding new letters, and dealing with issues of placement of those letters within the new title.
2010 pride parade in Plaza de Mayo, Buenos Aires, which uses the LGBTIQ initialism
People gathering at the Senate Square, Helsinki, right before the 2011 Helsinki Pride parade started
LGBT families, like these in a 2007 Boston pride parade, are labeled as non-heterosexual by researchers for a variety of reasons.

The first widely used term, homosexual, now a term used primarily in scientific contexts, has at times carried negative connotations in the United States.

The transgender pride flag

Transgender

Transgender people have a gender identity or gender expression that differs from the sex that they were assigned at birth.

Transgender people have a gender identity or gender expression that differs from the sex that they were assigned at birth.

The transgender pride flag
Transgender friends in Washington, D.C.
A drag queen performer
Camille Cabral, a French transgender activist at a demonstration for transgender people in Paris, October 1, 2005
Jogappa is a transgender community in Karnataka and Andhra Pradesh. They are traditional folk singers and dancers.
Nong Tum, a Kathoey internationally recognized for her portrayal in the film Beautiful Boxer
Actress Laverne Cox, who is trans, in July 2014
Trans March "Existrans" 2017

Transgender people may identify as heterosexual (straight), homosexual (gay or lesbian), bisexual, asexual, or otherwise, or may decline to label their sexual orientation.

An illustration of anal sex

Anal sex

Generally the insertion and thrusting of the erect penis into a person's anus, or anus and rectum, for sexual pleasure.

Generally the insertion and thrusting of the erect penis into a person's anus, or anus and rectum, for sexual pleasure.

An illustration of anal sex
Male genital anatomy, showing the location of the prostate with respect to the rectum
1892 lithograph by Paul Avril depicting male-to-female anal sex
19th-century erotic interpretation of Hadrian and Antinous (detail), by Paul Avril
A woman wearing a strap-on dildo about to engage in anal sex with a man
A woman performing anilingus (anal–oral sex) on another woman
Mucous membranes of the rectum
Depiction of anal sex on 510 BC Attic red-figure kylix
Suzuki Harunobu, A shunga print depicting an older and a younger man
Two Roman males on the Warren Cup, British Museum
Man and woman having anal sex. Ceramic, Moche Culture. 300 C.E. Larco Museum Collection.
François-Rolland Elluin, Sodomites provoking divine wrath, from Le pot-pourri (1781)
Ottoman illustration depicting two young men having sex (from Sawaqub al-Manaquib)

While anal sex is commonly associated with male homosexuality, research shows that not all gay men engage in anal sex and that it is not uncommon in heterosexual relationships.

Mr. Prejudice - painted by Horace Pippin in 1943, depicts a personal view of race relations in the United States

Prejudice

Affective feeling towards a person based on their perceived group membership.

Affective feeling towards a person based on their perceived group membership.

Mr. Prejudice - painted by Horace Pippin in 1943, depicts a personal view of race relations in the United States

Like most minority groups, homosexuals and bisexuals are not immune to prejudice or stereotypes from the majority group.