Homosexuality

There is insufficient evidence to support the use of psychological interventions to change sexual orientation.

Sexual orientation change efforts (SOCE) are methods used in attempts to change the sexual orientation of homosexual and bisexual people to heterosexuality.

The most common terms for homosexual people are lesbian for females and gay for males, but gay also commonly refers to both homosexual females and males.

Gay is a term that primarily refers to a homosexual person or the trait of being homosexual.

The percentage of people who are gay or lesbian and the proportion of people who are in same-sex romantic relationships or have had same-sex sexual experiences are difficult for researchers to estimate reliably for a variety of reasons, including many gay and lesbian people not openly identifying as such due to prejudice or discrimination such as homophobia and heterosexism.

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).

The first known appearance of homosexual in print is found in an 1869 German pamphlet by the Austrian-born novelist Karl-Maria Kertbeny, published anonymously, arguing against a Prussian anti-sodomy law. In cultures influenced by Abrahamic religions, the law and the church established sodomy as a transgression against divine law or a crime against nature.

In practice, sodomy laws have rarely been enforced against heterosexual couples, and have mostly been used to target homosexuals.

Homosexuality is romantic attraction, sexual attraction, or sexual behavior between members of the same sex or gender.

For example, a gay or lesbian person would typically find a person of the same sex to be more attractive than one of the other sex.

There is also a word referring to same-sex love, homophilia.

The words homophile and homophilia are dated terms for homosexuality.

Some synonyms for same-sex attraction or sexual activity include men who have sex with men or MSM (used in the medical community when specifically discussing sexual activity) and homoerotic (referring to works of art).

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.

Scientists do not know what determines an individual's sexual orientation, but they theorize that it is caused by a complex interplay of genetic, hormonal, and environmental influences, and do not view it as a choice.

There is no substantial evidence which suggests parenting or early childhood experiences influence sexual orientation, but research has linked childhood gender nonconformity and homosexuality.

While some people believe that homosexual activity is unnatural, scientific research shows that homosexuality is a normal and natural variation in human sexuality and is not in and of itself a source of negative psychological effects.

Other aspects of human sexuality, such as sexual satisfaction, incidence of oral sex, and attitudes toward homosexuality and masturbation, show little to no observed difference between males and females.

Homosexuality is romantic attraction, sexual attraction, or sexual behavior between members of the same sex or gender.

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

Some synonyms for same-sex attraction or sexual activity include men who have sex with men or MSM (used in the medical community when specifically discussing sexual activity) and homoerotic (referring to works of art).

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

In cultures influenced by Abrahamic religions, the law and the church established sodomy as a transgression against divine law or a crime against nature.

Within Christianity, there are a variety of views on sexual orientation and homosexuality.

Since the end of the 19th century, there has been a global movement towards freedom and equality for gay people, including the introduction of anti-bullying legislation to protect gay children at school, legislation ensuring non-discrimination, equal ability to serve in the military, equal access to health care, equal ability to adopt and parent, and the establishment of marriage equality.

A number of fundamental freedoms, including the right to life, are violated in a number of member countries where homosexuality is criminalised.

Gay especially refers to male homosexuality, but may be used in a broader sense to refer to all LGBT people.

The first widely used term, homosexual, now carries negative connotations.

The condemnation of anal sex between males, however, predates Christian belief.

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

The first known appearance of homosexual in print is found in an 1869 German pamphlet by the Austrian-born novelist Karl-Maria Kertbeny, published anonymously, arguing against a Prussian anti-sodomy law.

He is best known for coining the words heterosexual and homosexual.

Since the end of the 19th century, there has been a global movement towards freedom and equality for gay people, including the introduction of anti-bullying legislation to protect gay children at school, legislation ensuring non-discrimination, equal ability to serve in the military, equal access to health care, equal ability to adopt and parent, and the establishment of marriage equality.

Hall subscribed to Ellis and Krafft-Ebing's theories and rejected (conservatively understood version of) Freud's theory that same-sex attraction was caused by childhood trauma and was curable.

Homosexuality in China, known as the passions of the cut peach and various other euphemisms, has been recorded since approximately 600 BCE.

According to one study, homosexuality was regarded as a normal facet of life in China, prior to the Western impact of 1840 onwards.

In 1886, the psychiatrist Richard von Krafft-Ebing used the terms homosexual and heterosexual in his book Psychopathia Sexualis.

Translations of various editions of this book introduced to English such terms as "sadist" (derived from the brutal sexual practices depicted in the novels of the Marquis de Sade), "masochist", (derived from the name of Leopold von Sacher-Masoch), "homosexuality", "necrophilia", and "anilingus".

The most common terms for homosexual people are lesbian for females and gay for males, but gay also commonly refers to both homosexual females and males.

A lesbian is a homosexual woman.

The word homosexual is a Greek and Latin hybrid, with the first element derived from Greek ὁμός homos, "same" (not related to the Latin homo, "man", as in Homo sapiens), thus connoting sexual acts and affections between members of the same sex, including lesbianism.

The term homosocial is now used to describe single-sex contexts that are not specifically sexual.

Homosociality, by definition, implies neither heterosexuality nor homosexuality.

Many historical figures, including Socrates, Lord Byron, Edward II, and Hadrian, have had terms such as gay or bisexual applied to them.

"I am tired of pl & opt Cs, the last thing I could be tired of", Byron wrote to Hobhouse from Athens (an abbreviation of "coitum plenum et optabilem" – complete intercourse to one's heart's desire, from Petronius' Satyricon), which, as an earlier letter establishes, was their shared code for homosexual experience.

Among indigenous peoples of the Americas prior to European colonization, a common form of same-sex sexuality centered around the figure of the Two-Spirit individual.

Often in their writings they applied this term to any male who they perceived to be homosexual, bisexual, or effeminate by Western social standards, leading to a wide variety of diverse individuals being categorized under this imprecise term.

The percentage of people who are gay or lesbian and the proportion of people who are in same-sex romantic relationships or have had same-sex sexual experiences are difficult for researchers to estimate reliably for a variety of reasons, including many gay and lesbian people not openly identifying as such due to prejudice or discrimination such as homophobia and heterosexism.

This research found that of the 80 countries around the world that continue to consider homosexuality illegal, five carry the death penalty for homosexual activity, and two do in some regions of the country.