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Forming Modern Homosexuality In The 19th Century

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Forming Modern Homosexuality Before it came down to just two classifications of how we identified ourselves, it took centuries to come up with two names that clarified a huge issue.Today claiming to be a homosexual is no big deal. You can marry freely and claim it on your Facebook page, but back in the late 19th and early 20th century, it was something known as a “silent sin”. It was not understood as well as there was no classification to call yourself if you did have an attraction to the same sex. Modern understandings and terminology evolved from the work and understandings of sexologist in the late 1900’s and early 20th century. In the late 19th century and early twentieth century, the only way the act of a man and another man could be looked at was through the eyes of religion. In the eyes of religion, the people of this time found that viewing a man as you would a woman and vice versa was a sin, an abomination. In the 19th century, religion held a very high standard when it came to creating laws. The act of another man being with another man was not only known as a sin, but as a criminal charge. At this time, the people who wanted to be with the same sex were known as inverts. They believed that the men wanting to be with other men were less masculine as the men who were with the opposite sex. They also …show more content…

In the 1900’s, Ellis (sexologist) believed that there were three principles that caused homoerotic behavior such as an absence of the opposite sex, disappointments in the opposite sex, or seduction by the same sex. In modern day understanding, most people believe that it is natural, that you are born this way, but some will debate that no one is born that way and still view it through the eyes of religion or 1900’s

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