History Of Homosexuality

Over the last couple of years, there has been many new sexual identities that have been introduced. The most common one still being homosexuality. According to Merriam-Webster, a homosexual is defined as being “sexually attracted to people of the same sex.” It has been dated back many years back in history, showing up in Ancient Japan. It is represented by the nanshoku which means “male colors”, 'color ' having a meaning of sexual pleasure (Wikipedia). In Ancient Japan, Homosexuality was viewed as a normal practice that many like the middle class adopted from the monastery (Leupp 53-54). It was a normal occurrence especially in the warrior class where if permitted, an adult man was to take a boy as his lover until he came of age and was to

Homosexuality was viewed as a ‘sin’ that many couldn’t believe to be true. Many people didn’t understand how people could love someone of the same sex. It was even classified as a mental illness until 1973 because people believed there was something wrong in their head. The ones who were out of the closet were shamed and discriminated against, and those who lived in the closet lived in fear of being discovered. Families often disowned their own family members as they were embarrassed and ashamed. The 1980s were also a really hard time for homosexuals as it was when the AIDs epidemic began. Many people didn’t understand what was going on. However, it was quickly established as a ‘gay disease’ as most of the people getting infected were from the gay community. It was a time where many “gay men questioned why some were getting sick and other were not,” according to the HRSA Website. While many were trying to find themselves, others found themselves rejected and despised. The gay community itself was riddled with confusion as they didn’t know what was happening or why it was happening. “Families would often abandon their AIDS-stricken sons and brothers, some who never told their families that they were gay and some employees would fire people who became sick” (HRSA Website). Though it was all a misconception as HIV/AIDS

In Ancient Japan relationships between a young boy and a man would take place, though it was viewed as a normal occurrence. Two males having sex was considered a natural occurrence in Japan while in the United States many people condemn those sexual acts between males. They were shocked that such acts should even occur, shaming many homosexuals. Another difference is how there was no religious opposition to homosexuality in Japan in non-Buddhist traditions according to Chuck Stewart. While in the United States, the main opposition came from religious people, especially Christians. They believed and many still believe that a relationship is between a man and woman and anything else is against the bible. When the AIDS epidemic began many religious leaders said that AIDS was “God punishment” (HRSA Website). It’s the reason many are against same-sex marriage as the union in their eyes should only be between a man and woman. And one of the main differences between both time periods is how in Japan homosexuality is mostly referenced as a traditional practice. People during that era also didn’t identify as gay or homosexual. In other words, they didn’t go around stating they were gay but would often have sex with other males. This is different from U.S as people were identifying homosexual as their sexual