Introduction
- For the past several decades, the world has become engaged in a conversation about homosexuality
- Individuals and activist groups have appealed to their governments around the world, demanding equal rights to love who they choose
- Within the past several years, many governments have repealed homophobic laws or created legislation protecting the rights of the LGBTQA community
- However, the world is still hostile towards people of different sexualities, regardless of the legal progress we have made
- It is still dangerous to be open about your sexuality
- The world wasn’t always this way
- Before the rise and spread of Western culture and monotheistic religions like Christianity, Judaism, and Islam, the majority of the world looked at homosexuality as a normal and natural part of life
- All of the major civilizations of the ancient world were inclusive of different sexualities
- We live over the ashes of a world that understood that love and gender are not black and white concepts
- Let’s take a trip around the world
Today: Egypt
- Human Rights Watch is an advocacy organization that brings attention to issues for the LGBTQA community
- In September 2014, 7 men were arrested for “inciting debauchery”
- They were suspected of performing a same sex marriage
- The Egyptian government has forced those arrested for debauchery to undergo anal medical examinations, where men are “checked” to make sure they haven’t engaged in homosexual activity
- Despite there being no law banning homosexuality, people convicted of debauchery are sentenced to up to 8 years of jail time
Ancient Egypt
- Homosexuality and gender fluidity were normal parts of Egyptian life
- The gods regularly shifted gender and engaged in same sex relationships
- Horus and Seth
- Not a romantic relationship, as they were both trying to prove the other was the “passive” member
- The god’s weren’t the only ones to accept same sex relationships
- Tombs of the pharaohs and prominent Egyptians depicted normal life, and many of them showed homosexual relationships
- Niankhkhnum and Khnumhotep were servants to the Pharaoh, and were buried in a conjoined tomb
Today: China
- China decriminalized homosexuality in 1997 (“hooliganism”)
- Removed it from the list of mental illnesses in
- CNN published an article in December of 2014 describing public sentiment towards homosexuality
- “You only have one child so you want your child to be ‘normal’ like everybody else”
- Xiaogang Wei, Beijing Gender Health Education Institute
- “You only have one child so you want your child to be ‘normal’ like everybody else”
- The article continues, claiming many members of the LGBTQA community get married to the opposite gender anyway, either to pretend to be straight or to produce a child
- As of 2013, Chinese clinics still offered “shock treatment” as a cure for homosexuality
Ancient China
- Confucianism was tolerant of homosexuality and same sex relationships
- According to WomenOfChina, The emperors of the Han dynasty (202 BCE – 220 CE) were often openly gay and kept male lovers throughout their rule
- Emperors Wu and Wen were both known to be gay
- Emperor Ai had slept with his male servant – when he got up he ripped his sleeves so as not to disturb the other man
- “Relationship of the cut-off sleeves” stems from this story
- Galeote Pereira, “The greatest fault we do find among the Chinese is sodomy, a vice very common in the meaner sort, and nothing strange among the best”
- The Origins and Role of Same-Sex Relations in Human Societies
Today: The Americas
- Argentina Brazil, Colombia, and Uruguay have passed legislation allowing gay marriage
- Many Latin American countries have tried legally protecting LGBTQA rights
- However, it’s not enough
- According to the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights, 600 people in Latin America were killed between January 2013 and March 2014 from homophobic violence
- Joel Molero, a 19 year old Peruvian man was murdered and dismembered in for being openly gay in November of 2012
- According to HuffPost, information not released by the press until June of 2013
- In North America, the US and Canada have legalized gay marriage
- Parts of Mexico allow it
- Parts of Mexico allow it
- Despite legal changes, discrimination still pervades everyday life
- June 12, 2016 49 people were killed at the Pulse nightclub in Orlando
- One of the worst shootings in our history
- Approximately 20% of hate crimes in the US in 2012 were on the basis of sexual orientation
- I’ve witnessed people harassing each other in high school for their sexuality
Tribal Americas
- Many native South American tribes included same sex relationships in daily life
- The Moche people of Peru (0 CE – 800 CE) left erotic pottery depicting same sex couples
- The Incan Empire considered both homosexuality and premarital sex normal parts of life
- A fact the conquistadors were horrified to find out
- In “The Construction of Homosexuality,” David Greenberg discusses the commonhomosexuality of the Mayans, as described by Spanish missionaries
- Most Native American tribes were accepting of homosexuality
- Navajo tribes considered gay marriage a normal union
- “Common law marriages” applied to everyone
- “Two spirit” is a common term
- You are blessed to have the spirit of male and female
- LGBT tribe members often became religious leaders for that reason
- You are blessed to have the spirit of male and female
- Crossdressing and androgyny were both totally acceptable
Today: Africa
- Multiple African nations have tried to claim that homosexuality is a Western concept brought by slavers and colonists to Africa
- Bisi Alimi is a Nigerian journalist – he has written about homosexuality in precolonial africa
- He was forced to emigrate to the UK after receiving death threats for revealing his sexuality
- South Africa is the ONLY African country to legalize gay marriage
- Homosexuality itself is still illegal in OVER 30 African countries
- Jailing, Beatings, and occasionally the death penalty are CURRENT punishments for homosexuality
Tribal Africa
- Bisi Alimi argues against his government, reminding them that the Yoruban word “adofuro,” meaning homosexuality, has existed long before the colonial era
- The men of the Zande warrior tribe often married younger men
- Lived in the region that is now Sudan, where being convicted of homosexuality often means the death penalty
- King Mwanga II of Uganda was well known for being bisexual – he was open in his rebellion against the Christian colonists who tried to criminalize homosexuality in Ugandan culture
Conclusion
- Egypt, China, The Americas, and Africa were only 4 of the many many regions that accepted homosexuality as a normal part of life
- Ancient Rome, India, Russia, and all of the other hubs of culture today were inclusive of different sexualities
- As of right now, only 26 countries have legalized gay marriage
- There are 195 countries in the world
- Hundreds of people are murdered every year for being open about their sexuality
- Despite the progress that anti-discrimination laws have made, the LGBTQA community is still in physical and emotional danger from the rest of the world
- Laws and policies will not fix the situation – we need social change to truly make a difference
- We need to go back to our roots
- Every ancient civilization was tolerant of homosexuality,including same sex relationships as normal parts of everyday life
- Gender did not have to be a black and white concept, and neither did sexuality
- When you are sick, you try to rid yourself of the disease
- Homophobia is a disease in our global community, and we must get rid of it
- The ancients recognized the true rules of nature – love is love, regardless of gender
- Let’s take an active role in changing the world perception, and act like the ancients
