The De-Normalization of Queer
LGBTQ People — Not Historical Outcasts
Same-sex relationships have been considered “normal” in many places and times.
Right here and right now during my lifetime, we queer people are struggling. Those of us with minority sexual orientations and gender identities are fighting for acceptance and equal treatment.
In other times and places, humans understood much better than today that sexual attraction and gender expression are varied and often fluid.
A particularly interesting read, for those who are curious, is The Great Mirror of Male Love, written by Ihara Saikaku, and published in 1687. Interestingly, it happens to be the first book printed in Japan with moveable type.
This collection of often-erotic stories includes anecdotes of idealized male/male love in Edo-period Samurai culture and in the so-called “floating world” that westerners associate with Geisha culture.
Sexual practices are almost always highly regulated in any given culture. It’s often been the case, however, that cultures have existed in which people…
