[lbo-talk] Nepal gays and Maoists/Marxist Approach

[Miles Jackson]

Dennis Redmond wrote:
> Miles wrote:
> 
> 
>>The historical and anthopological record clearly contradicts this
>>claim.  Yes, same-sex sexual relations occur in most societies, but
>>the linkage of that behavior to a stable, exclusive sexual identity is
>>not a human universal.
> 
> 
> I never said sexual identity was stable or exclusive, my point is that
> same-sex desire and practice has been around forever. The literary,
> cultural and anthropological record is unambiguous on this point. How that
> desire is mediated and transformed into social identities is another
> question entirely.
> 
> -- DRR

You claimed that "lesbians and gays" have been around forever.  The 
point I'm trying to emphasize is that many people in many societies have 
same-sex desire and sexual relations, and they do not identify 
themselves or others as "lesbian" or "gay".  It appears that we pretty 
much agree; I just bristle when people use modern, historically produced 
categories (like those of sexual identity) and project them into the 
past to manufacture false universality.

Miles