Cha: Ancient to Morn (Chapter 7) - The Cambridge History of Gay and Lbian Lerature

Contents:

• THE CAMBRIDGE HISTORY OF GAY AND LBIAN LERATURE
• GAY LERATURE: POETRY AND PROSEGAY LERATURE: POETRY AND PROSE
• A HISTORY OF GAY LERATURE

THE CAMBRIDGE HISTORY OF GAY AND LBIAN LERATURE

In the cultur of the ancient world, there was no need for signatns such as LGBTQ+ bee there was no difference noted between what is now fed as "homosexual" and "heterosexual" relatnships.

Scholar Col Spencer not, "Bisexualy the male was accepted as natural and never drew adverse ment, but passive homosexualy ma the Egyptians feel uneasy.

GAY LERATURE: POETRY AND PROSEGAY LERATURE: POETRY AND PROSE

The tale of Sodom and Gomorrah om the Book of Genis is also monly ced attacks on the gay muny, but even Church Fathers such as Sat Ambrose (d. Pdar and TheoxenThe most famo love poem wrten by Pdar to clare his love for the young Theoxen was scribed by gay rights scholar Magn Hirschfeld as "one of the most perfect love songs the Greek language. Issu the morn-day regardg genr inty and civil rights for members of the LGBTQ muny are a relatively recent phenomenon as are the terms 'homosexual' and 'heterosexual'.

Kertbeny, a closeted gay man, had lost a close iend his youth who killed himself after he was extorted by a blackmailer who found out he was gay. Although homosexual relatnships were, of urse, regnized prr to Kertbeny, he was among the first to argue that one’s sexual preference and genr inty was nate – not a choice – and that a gay man should not be equated wh effemacy by potg to great hero of antiquy who were gay. History, both morn and ancient, tells the stori of many people whose sexualy is downplayed or ignored bee, for centuri after the rise of Christiany, homosexualy was nsired a shameful s.

One of the biblil passag most often ced the prent to nmn same-sex relatnships, Romans 1:24-27, any translatn, mentns how men and women gave up "natural relatns for unnatural" and mted "shamels acts" but, the ntext of the whole passage, this should be unrstood as referencg idolatro behavr – behavg as pagans did at i – rather than a mted gay relatnship.

A HISTORY OF GAY LERATURE

Later European translators of the Bible terpreted the reference to pagan sexual practic as viance, and this was fally terpreted as 'homosexualy' the 1946 Revised Standard Versn of the Bible (Cannon, 9). Some scholars, fact – cludg the bishop John Shelby Spong - have suggted that Pl’s "thorn the flh" (II Corthians 12:6-7) is a reference to his own homosexualy which he seems to have stggled wh.

It has also been poted out that the story of Sodom and Gomorrah om the Book of Genis, also equently ed to nmn homosexualy, is actually a utnary tale on the importance of hospaly. Although there is certaly evince of negative personal views toward homosexual practic pre-Christian civilizatn, the seem to have to do wh eher loss of a man’s virily and stat as a man, loss of a young woman’s virgy, or, the se of certa perds of Roman history, extreme licentns and promiscuy.

Though this book is full of dozens of characters, there are three ghosts that might be nsired ma characters a more nventnal novel, one of whom is a gay man.

Wh the creasg impact of the gay rights movement and acceptance of gays mastream society, gay studi and gay lerature are emergg as rpected fields. The wrer Christopher Isherwood said bt when he explaed that beg gay do not volve the act of sex; stead, is the proclivy or the abily to fall love wh another member of the same genr. No sgle piece of gay fictn n claim to be emblematic of the “gay experience, ” for as the growg numbers of gay short stori shows, this “experience” is different each story.