1. by John Toro Introduction to Global Studies Professor Barbara Seater
Gay is Global by
John Toro
Introduction to Global Studies
Professor Barbara Seater

2. sexual orientation
sexual orientation is a classification of individuals as heterosexual, bisexual, or homosexual
based on their emotional and sexual attraction, relationships, self-identity, and lifestyle

3. groups experiencing prejudice and discrimination due to sexual orientation
lesbigay population
term referring to lesbians, gays, and bisexuals
transgendered individuals
persons who do not fit neatly into either the male or female category
LGBT
term that refers collectively to lesbians, gays, bisexuals, and transgendered individuals

4. problems of identification and categorization
stigma associated with not being heterosexual causes individuals to conceal their sexual orientation
exact numbers of non-herosexuals unknown
distinctions of sexual orientation categories are not clear-cut
may change across the life span

5. gender identity and sexual behavior globally
Western ideas about sex and gender not directly exportable to other cultures and countries
gay identified men are a small subset of men who have sex with men
most men who have sex with men are precisely and only that: men who have sex with men
same thing for lesbian women

6. gays pre-20th century
instances of same-sex love and sexuality within almost all ancient civilization
transgender & third sex peoples have also been recorded in almost all cultures across human history
acceptance in both:
ancient Greece & Rome
ancient China & Japan
different attitude in Middle Ages in Europe

7. Judeo-Christian attitudes toward homosexuality
historically negative attitudes toward homosexuality
biblical injunction in Leviticus “You shall not lie with a man as one lies with a female - it is an abomination”

8. Judaism today:
Orthodox Jews: homosexual acts forbidden, homosexuals must try to “work against” their inclinations
Conservative Judaism: temples may perform same-sex commitment ceremonies and hire gay rabbis and cantors
Reform Judaism: support gay commitment ceremonies and gay families
many homosexual Jews are reformed Jews
reinterpret “to-evah” from “abomination” to “idolatrous acts”
thus, the Bible prohibits cult-like homosexual acts as practiced in Biblical times, not as homosexual relationships are today

9. Islamic views toward homosexuality
homosexuality strictly forbidden among men
implicitly extends to women

10. societal attitudes (U.S.)
early to mid-1900s societal shift: from sinner to sickness
drastic attempts used to “cure” homosexuality, including castration, lobotomy, drugs, hormones, hypnosis, electroshock treatment, and aversion therapy (pairing shock or nausea-induction w/homosexual stimuli)
1973: APA removed homosexuality from list of mental disorders

11. first transexuals
in Ancient Greece, the Goddess Cybele was worshiped by a cult of people who castrated themselves
took female dress
referred to themselves as female
The earliest documents concerning same-sex pederastic relationships come from young eromenos (loved one). Both partners inspired by love symbolized by Eros, the erastes unselfishly provided education, guidance, and appropriate gifts to his eromenos, who became his devoted pupil and assistant. Kenneth J. Dover, followed by Michel Foucault and Halperin, assumed that it was considered improper for the eromenos to feel desire, as that would not be masculine. However, Dover's claim has been questioned in light of evidence of love poetry which suggests a more emotional connection than earlier researchers liked to acknowledge.
Some research has shown that ancient Greeks believed semen, more specifically sperm, to be the source of knowledge, and that these relationships served to pass wisdom on from the erastes to the eromenos within society.[1] Many in the GLBT movement assert that Greek pederastic relationships have nothing to do with modern GLBT practices because they involve children.
In Ancient Greece and Phrygia, the Goddess Cybele was worshiped by a cult of people who castrated themselves, and thereafter took female dress and referred to themselves as female.[2] [3] These early transsexual figures have also been referred to as early gay role models by several authors.[4] [5] 11

12. ancient China and Japan
Scholar Pan Guangdan (潘光旦) claimed that nearly every emperor in the Han Dynasty had one or more male sex partners
no persecution as in Europe
in Japan, emperors involved in homosexual relationships and to “handsome boys retained for sexual purposes”
Homosexuality has been acknowledged in China since ancient times. Scholar Pan Guangdan (潘光旦) came to the conclusion that nearly every emperor in the Han Dynasty had one or more male sex partners.[citation needed] There are also descriptions of lesbians in some history books. It is believed homosexuality was popular in the Song, Ming and Qing dynasties. Chinese homosexuals did not experience high-profile persecution as compared with that which was received by homosexuals in Europe during the Middle Ages.[citation needed]
Same-sex love was celebrated in Chinese art, many examples of which have survived the book burnings of the Cultural Revolution. Though no large statues are known to still exist, many hand scrolls and paintings on silk can be found in private collections.[1]
In Japan, several Heian diaries which contain references to homosexual acts exist as well. Some of these also contain references to emperors involved in homosexual relationships and to "handsome boys retained for sexual purposes"[citation needed] by emperors. In other literary works can be found references to what Leupp has called "problems of gender identity",[citation needed] such as the story of a youth's falling in love with a girl who is actually a cross-dressing male.
Japanese shunga are erotic pictures which include same-sex and opposite-sex love. 12

13. Middle Ages – Europe
Roman Catholic Church only condemned gay people in the 12th Century
no special concern about homosexuality before
initially church leaders worried most about lesbian sex
imprisonment and executions
modern word “lesbian” traced back to 1732
While same-sex relationships among men were highly documented and condemned, "Moral theologans did not pay much attention to the question of what we would today call lesbian sex, perhaps because anything that did not involve a phallus did not fall within the bounds of their understanding of the sexual ... Some legislation against lesbian relations can be adduced for the period ... mainly involving the use of "instruments," in other words, dildoes 13

14. rapidly, male homosexuality became of primary concern
condemnation is well-documented

15. non-heterosexual adults in the United States
more than 10 million gay and lesbian adults in the U. S.,
represents between 4% and 5% of the adult population
2004 poll found that 5% of U.S. high school students identify as lesbian or gay
estimated 1 to 3 million Americans older than age 65 are gay, lesbian, bisexual, or transgender

16. non-heterosexual adults worldwide
globally: 300 to 500 million of them either are – or could grow up to be gay or lesbian
United Kingdom: 3 to 5 million people could well be lesbian or gay

17. transexuality worldwide
globally as many as 3 to 5 million people were potentially transsexual
ratio of transsexuals in the US is officially estimated as 1 per 30,000 adult males and 1 per 100,000 adult females
1 in 2,500 men have already had reassignment to female (0.04%)
Hijra of India are a sect which includes intersex as well as transgendered people
are estimated at 1 million
represents 0.1% of society

18. intersexed worldwide
most conservative estimates are 0.018% and the most generous 1.7%
difference is due to disagreement about what actually constitutes intersex
according to reports in 2003 up to 5% of the male population in Western Europe and North America are now born with intersex-like genital ambiguities
around 30 to 50 million people worldwide could well be intersexed, and forced to live in shame and secrecy

19. same-sex couple households (U. S.)
2000 census found that about 1 in 9 unmarried-partner households involve partners of the same sex
22.3% of gay male couples and 34.3% of lesbian couples have children
99.3% of U.S. counties reported same-sex cohabiting partners
compared to 52% of counties in 1990

20. Massachusetts is the only state in the United States that allows same-sex couples to obtain marriage licenses
several other states - including New Jersey, Connecticut, Vermont, New Hampshire, Maine, California, Oregon, Washington state, Hawaii - and Washington D.C. offer civil unions or domestic partnerships
New York, Rhode Island, and New Mexico recognize foreign marriage licenses but do not grant them or any other form of same-sex relationship recognition

21. first civil unions recognized with same rights as marriage
Denmark 1989

22. gay marriage around the world
Netherlands was the first country to allow same-sex marriage in 2001
same-sex marriages are also recognized in Belgium, Spain, Canada and South Africa

23. legal status (U. S.)
June 2003 a Supreme Court decision in Lawrence v. Texas invalidated state laws that criminalize sodomy—oral and anal sexual acts
historic decision overruled a 1986 Supreme Court case (Bowers v. Hardwick), which upheld a Georgia sodomy law as constitutional

24. before Lawrence v. Texas, sodomy was illegal in 13 states:
Alabama, Florida, Idaho, Kansas, Louisiana, Mississippi, Missouri, North Carolina, Oklahoma, South Carolina, Texas, Utah, and Virginia
penalties for engaging in sodomy ranged from a $200 fine to 20 years’ imprisonment

25. discrimination in marriage
Defense of Marriage Act (1996) which that marriage is a “legal union between one man and one woman”
denies federal recognition of same-sex marriage
allows states to either recognize or not recognize same-sex marriages performed in other states

26. as of May 2005, 39 states had banned gay marriage and 15 states had passed antigay family measures that ban other forms of partner recognition in addition to marriage, such as domestic partnerships and civil unions

27. states banning discrimination based on sexual orientation
California (1992)
Connecticut (1991)
Hawaii (1991)
Illinois (2005)
Maine (2005)
Maryland (2001)
Massachusetts (1989)
Minnesota (1993)
Nevada (1999)
New Hampshire (1997)
New Jersey (1992)
New Mexico (2003)
New York (2002)
Rhode Island (2001)
Vermont (1992)
Wisconsin (1982)

28. gay around the world

29. international law
Articles 1 and 2 of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights guarantee full and equal human rights for all, including the right of every person to protection against discrimination
existing international human rights law does not extend protection to all victims against systematic discrimination, including sexual minorities

30. International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights (ICCPR)
guarantees right “without distinction of any kind, such as race, color, sex, language, religion, political or other opinion, national or social origin, property, birth or other status”
Human Rights Committee (1994) held that “held that sexual orientation” was a status protected under the ICCPR from discrimination, with reference to “sex” including sexual orientation”
three more UN bodies have also pronounced on abuse of LGBT

31. Nicolas Toonen vs. Australia (1994): the UN Human Rights Committee struck down the Tasmania sodomy law and in that judgment held that "such laws violate protections against discrimination in the ICCPR, as well as article 17, which protects the right to privacy"

32. global anti-gay consequnces
Amnesty International (2000) highlighted that many people around the world are tortured, imprisoned and killed because of their sexuality or gender identity
minorities are often not tolerated in much of North and South America, the Middle East, Africa and parts of Europe
people are targeted for simply being who they are – and this is sometimes sanctioned by the state

33. in most middle-income countries, violence against sexual minorities is still highly prevalent
Egypt, Romania, India, etc.

34. WHO World Report on Violence and Health (2002)
sexual violence against men takes place in homes, schools, on the street, in the military, during wars, in prison, and at police posts
3.6 percent of men report such violence in Namibia, 20 percent in Peru

35. forced sexual initiation during adolescence common for both men and women
from 6. 4 % of men in South African study to 30 percent in Cameroon study

36. antigay laws worldwide
84 countries define sexual activity between consenting adults of the same sex is illegal
55 of these countries have laws criminalizing same-sex sexual behavior applied to both gay and lesbian behaviors
29 of these countries have laws that apply to male homosexuality only

37. consequences
the death penalty may be applied to individuals found guilty of homosexual acts in a number of nations including:
Afghanistan
Iran
Mauritania
Pakistan
Saudi Arabia
Somalia
Sudan
United Arab Emirates
Yemen

38. African Law

39. case study: Uganda homosexuality is illegal in Uganda
but there are gays and lesbians (self-identified) throughout the country
persecution and prosecution tends to come in waves
diversity in experience, expression and circumstances
different cultures and different families react differently to news of a gay or lesbian child
Though few people are arrested or convicted for homosexual acts. Usually they are arrested and convicted for lewd behavior.

40. church makes the situation worse
economic hardship is major consequence
little activism

41. case study: Dakar lives characterized by rejection and violence
half verbally abused by family members
a fourth forced to move in the last 12 months
37 percent forced to have sex in last 12 months
13 percent have been raped by a policeman

42. mean age at first sexual contact: 15 years one third of sample:
first male sexual encounter with family member
vast majority have had sex with women
of these 88 % had vaginal sex, 25 % anal sex
13 % are married, 25 % have children

43. a global phenomenon
the developed world the gay liberation movement started to gain importance only since 1969, and even there violence on account of sexual orientation has not yet been rooted out

44. Stonewall Riots Autumn 1959 closure of all gay bars in NY
27th June 1969:
Police raid Stonewall Inn
Rioting in Greenwich Village in protest.
considered a turning point in the LGBT rights movement
at the time media coverage was minor
commemorative march 1 year later:
6,000 protestors march up 6th Avenue.
worldwide publicity, brought LGBT rights firmly into the spotlight
These State Liquor Authority provisions declared that it was illegal for homosexuals to congregate and be served alcoholic drinks in bars 44

45. the future: gay pride

46. gay pride: San Francisco

47. first Gay Pride march in the United Kingdom (June 1978)

48. Gay Pride Day - Latvia

49. Gay Pride parade – New York City

50. gay organizations in the Middle East
Muslim organizations
Al-Fatiha foundation
progressive Islamic nonprofit that promotes acceptance of homosexuality as natural
Straightway
support group/web site for Muslims who feel same-sex attraction
promotes “help” in avoiding acting on same-sex attractions

51. goals of the gay rights movement
decriminalization of private sexual behavior
2003 Lawrence et al. v. Texas Supreme Court ruling declared “sodomy” laws unconstitutional based on right to privacy
still illegal in many countries
end discrimination against homosexuals
Amendment to 1964 Civil Rights Act to include sexual orientation along with ”race, creed, color, and sex” to make discrimination illegal in housing, employment, insurance, and public accommodations

52. equal recognition and protection for gay relationships and families
legal adoption, and marriage/civil union
end military’s discrimination against homosexuals
“don’t ask, don’t tell” policy: says that military considers gay people unfit for service, but they may serve as long as they keep their orientation secret
11,000 gays and lesbians have since been expelled from the military
Iraq war--secrecy means that partners at home have no access to support services and may not be told if partner is wounded, captured, or killed

53. Equal rights, equal privileges, equal opportunities and equal responsibilities because . . .