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First of all, let me say that I know this is a very delicate issue. In no way should my question be seen as an attempt to endorse negative attitudes towards the LGTB community. I am seeking objective, historical evidence; not speculation or personal opinion.

According to this Wikipedia article, "many forms of religion, including the Eastern faiths and Abrahamic faiths, do not support gay sex. Evangelical Christianity, Catholicism, Mormonism, Orthodox Judaism and Islam hold the view that gay sex is a sin and that its practice and acceptance in society weakens moral standards and undermines the family."

Moreover, according a 2009 report by the International Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Trans and Intersex Association, 80 countries in the world consider homosexuality illegal, with five of them punishing homosexual acts with death.

It seems that the movement to push for the acceptance of LGTB rights is recent when compared to a relatively long history of religious and political entities holding negative attitudes towards homosexuality.

What are some of the historical reasons behind this?

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This is better asked on evolutionary psych or cultural anthro SE, except we don't have those. There is no historical event - it's merely a successful meme - successful in that the memetic systems adopting it survived and propagated in some environments. – DVK Jan 14 at 2:23
The question is legitimate to me, but I would try and be more specific, e.g. "How did a negative attitude towards homos. originate in Orthodox Judaism?" - rather than "What are some of the historical reasons behind this?". Consider also that a satisfactory historical answer could be "Because somebody wrote in the Bible". I feel your questions concerns more anthropology, as per @DVK. A Warm Welcome to h@se though! – astabada Jan 14 at 10:37
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Concur with @astabada; I think the question is too broad - you're asking about multiple faiths(inter-related), multiple histories and multiple legal frameworks. The answer is almost by definition a book. I think the question would be more successful if it were narrowed. – Mark C. Wallace Jan 14 at 12:03
Concurring with @astabada above, the question should be 'Why did the writers of the Bible/Quran think homosexuality is a sin?' – Arjun J Rao Jan 14 at 12:09
@ArjunJRao That's more a theological question than a historical one. – Luke 18 hours ago
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Homosexual relationships do not lend themselves well to marriage, as discussed below. Therefore, they took place outside of marriage, and would be regarded as a form of "adultery," or at least "fornication."

The REAL sin of a homosexual relationship is that it cannot produce children BY DEFINITION. That' why until recent times, there was no suc thing as "gay marriage." And even if gays can marry (as today), there is no MATRIMONY (basically, "mother-making") involved.

Traditional societies were "all about" producing children, since most of them didn't live to adulthood. Any practice that stood in the way of producing children (homosexuality, birth control, masturbation), was therefore frowned upon until modern times.

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This is somewhat correct but simplistic. Pederasty was well regarded among Greeks and Arabs in different times, despite the same demographic considerations. – DVK 15 hours ago
Also, see the difference between the weight of the infraction between homosexuality and lesbianism in Judauism. One is a mortal sin, one is merely a frowned-upon violation of the norms of decency. Your last paragraph does NOT explain the duality – DVK 15 hours ago

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