> A society in which at least 45% of men
enjoyed pederasty with boys younger than
the age of eighteen but also probably had
sex with women and had children as well,
as in the Florence of Cellini and
Michelangelo, is very different from a
society in which about one in ten men is
a gay man
But the desire to suck the cock of the pretty boy who just passed you is almost the same if not identical. The societal regulations may be different, but once you negotiate them, the desire is no different.
No matter how societally approved my having sex with women is considered to be, I cannot choose to or make myself desire to do so. When I have tried, I found that the scent of women repulsive to me. But the smell of a man is the sweetest of perfumes no matter how society pathologizes my desires.
> Sexual regulation has changed greatly over
time.
But it still exists and must be combatted with fierceness.
> Learning about such dramatic differences,
which are not common knowledge . . .
That knowledge is much more widespread than one might think.
> . . . understanding diverse sexual practices
of the pre-modern world as they actually were
is an important weapon against those who seek
to make homophobia and homosexuality timeless
and universal.
But we should encourage the effort to allow people to choose a gay identity if they so wish. Sexual authoritarians and control freaks will oppose this: "Fuck my way or not at all" is their motto (such types are fearful of the wondrous anarchic possibilities contained within the sexual realm). But society should no more restrict people's ability to express themselves sexually than they would restrict their ability to breathe.
Brian