Homosexuality, sexual interest in or sexual contact with members of the same sex. Female homosexuals are called lesbians, after the Greek island of Lesbos where in ancient times the poet Sappho wrote accounts of this type of relationship. Homosexual men prefer the term gay to homosexual.
In the United States, the legal status of homosexuals varies. Some cities and states have laws barring discrimination against homosexuals; others have laws declaring sexual acts between members of the same sex to be criminal offenses. The Gay Liberation, or Gay Rights, Movement, which arose in the mid-1960's, works to gain legal and social acceptance for homosexuals.
Before the 1970's, some psychologists held that homosexuality was a mental illness. This is no longer believed to be true. Many experts contend, however, that the stress and condemnation society places on a homosexual can cause mental disturbances.
Controversy surrounds the question as to why an individual is homosexual. Some investigators feel that physiological differences, such as variations in hormonal production, exist between homosexuals and other persons. Others believe that homosexuality results from such environmental factors as emotional conflicts in child-parent relationships during early childhood or in peer relationships during adolescence. Many, however, have concluded that the issue is too complicated to cite one particular cause.
Surveys and investigations regarding sexual behavior in the United States indicate that a substantial number of persons (both male and female) have had homosexual encounters at some time in their lives, usually in their youth. Only a small percentage of these persons, however, go on to adopt homosexuality as a consistent sexual pattern.
During the 1980's and 1990's, the high incidence of the disease AIDS among the male homosexual population in the United States was a major issue both within and outside the gay community. In response, the gay community became stronger politically and spurred efforts in research toward treating and curing the disease.
