173-453: Gay Cable Network (GCN) was one of the first cable television networks which openly appealed to a gay and lesbian audience. It was established in 1982 in New York City by Lou Maletta , was broadcast on Manhattan Cable Television channel 35 and wound down operations in 2000–2001. It initially broadcast a series titled Men and Films , which explored male erotica , and evolved to host
346-493: A crime against nature . The condemnation of anal sex between males, however, predates Christian belief. Throughout the majority of Christian history , most Christian theologians and denominations have considered homosexual behavior as immoral or sinful . Many historical figures, including Socrates , Lord Byron , Edward II , and Hadrian , have had terms such as gay or bisexual applied to them. Some scholars, such as Michel Foucault , have regarded this as risking
519-442: A Socrates of "intolerable smugness and complacency". Symposium is a dialogue of Socrates with other prominent Athenians during an after-dinner discussion, but is quite different from Plato's Symposium : there is no overlap in the guest list. In Memorabilia , he defends Socrates from the accusations of corrupting the youth and being against the gods; essentially, it is a collection of various stories gathered together to construct
692-485: A group of young "butch queens" (cisgender gay men), transgender women, drag queens, and butch women. Since its release, the film has become a cult classic and has served as an organizing and academic tool for the gay and trans communities (though it has been subject to significant criticism). Meanwhile, the television reality program RuPaul's Drag Race has been on-air in the United States since 2009 and has introduced
865-426: A happy man, if he really possesses this art ( technē ), and teaches for so moderate a fee. Certainly I would pride and preen myself if I knew ( epistamai ) these things, but I do not know ( epistamai ) them, gentlemen". In some of Plato's dialogues, Socrates appears to credit himself with some knowledge, and can even seem strongly opinionated for a man who professes his own ignorance. There are varying explanations of
1038-405: A known expert on the subject, usually in the company of some young men and boys, and by dialogue proves the expert's beliefs and arguments to be contradictory. Socrates initiates the dialogue by asking his interlocutor for a definition of the subject. As he asks more questions, the interlocutor's answers eventually contradict the first definition. The conclusion is that the expert did not really know
1211-555: A long history for gay men in the United States. In 1869 at the Hamilton Lodge in Harlem , the first drag balls were held. These balls were held in secret, but news grew of their existence as a safe place for gay men to congregate. The balls were deemed immoral and illegal, and a moral reform organization known as the Committee of Fourteen investigated alleged "immoral" activities. In 1916,
1384-454: A matter, the discussion places doubt on the common opinion. Socrates also tests his own opinions through the Socratic method. Thus Socrates does not teach a fixed philosophical doctrine. Rather, he acknowledges his own ignorance while searching for truth with his pupils and interlocutors. Scholars have questioned the validity and the exact nature of the Socratic method, or indeed if there even
1557-469: A means to eudaimonia (the "identical" and "sufficiency" theses, respectively). Another point of debate is whether, according to Socrates, people desire what is in fact good—or, rather, simply what they perceive as good. Moral intellectualism refers to the prominent role Socrates gave to knowledge. He believed that all virtue was based on knowledge (hence Socrates is characterized as a virtue intellectualist). He also believed that humans were guided by
1730-408: A new apology for Socrates. Plato's representation of Socrates is not straightforward. Plato was a pupil of Socrates and outlived him by five decades. How trustworthy Plato is in representing the attributes of Socrates is a matter of debate; the view that he did not represent views other than Socrates's own is not shared by many contemporary scholars. A driver of this doubt is the inconsistency of
1903-657: A people group, rather than male homosexuality as a sexual act. Kissing, mutual masturbation and love-letters between men were now seen as legitimate reasons for the police to make arrests. The law never defined a "sex offence", leaving it to interpretation. Between 1933 and 1945, an estimated 100,000 men were arrested as homosexuals under the Nazi regime, of whom some 50,000 were officially sentenced. Most of these men served time in prison, while an estimated 5,000 to 15,000 were incarcerated in Nazi concentration camps . Rüdiger Lautmann argued that
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#17331157453012076-489: A performance used for artistic or entertainment purposes. Drag shows often include lip-syncing , dancing, and live singing. They occur at events like drag pageants and gay pride parades and in nightclubs and cabarets , as well as in local gay bars. Drag queens vary by dedication, type, and culture, and range from professionals who star in films and on Broadway , such as Gene Malin , Divine , or Rupaul , to people who do drag only occasionally. Drag balls themselves have
2249-542: A positive light. Media coverage of gay men during the AIDS crisis depended on the location and therefore the local attitudes toward gay men. For example, in the Bay Area , The San Francisco Chronicle hired an openly gay man as a reporter and ran detailed stories on gay male topics. This was a sharp contrast to The New York Times , which refused to use the word "gay" in its writing, exclusively referring to gay men and lesbians with
2422-485: A predicament known as the Socratic problem . The works of Plato, Xenophon, and other authors who use the character of Socrates as an investigative tool, are written in the form of a dialogue between Socrates and his interlocutors and provide the main source of information on Socrates's life and thought. Socratic dialogues ( logos sokratikos ) was a term coined by Aristotle to describe this newly formed literary genre. While
2595-491: A press conference that the American scientist Robert Gallo had discovered the probable cause of AIDS, the retrovirus which would be named human immunodeficiency virus or HIV. In September 1985, during his second term in office, US President Ronald Reagan publicly mentioned AIDS for the first time after being asked about his administration's lack of medical research funding for the crisis. Four months later, Anthony Fauci ,
2768-610: A professor of anthropology at the University of the West Indies , writes, "A lot of Jamaican men, if you call them a homosexual, ... will immediately get violent. It's the worst insult you could give to a Jamaican man." Stewart writes that homophobia influences Caribbean society even at the micro level of language. He writes of urban youth vernacular, "It's like if you say, 'Come back here,' they will say, 'No, no, no don't say "come back".' You have to say, 'come forward,' because come back
2941-483: A result of the growing influence and power of the conquistadors, many Native leaders started condemning homosexual acts themselves. During the period following European colonization , homosexuality was prosecuted by the Inquisition , sometimes leading to death sentences on the charges of sodomy, and the practices became clandestine. Many homosexual men went into heterosexual marriages to keep appearances, and some turned to
3114-418: A rooster to Asclepius . Don't forget to pay the debt.” In 399 BC, Socrates was formally accused of corrupting the minds of the youth of Athens, and for asebeia (impiety), i.e. worshipping false gods and failing to worship the gods of Athens. At the trial, Socrates defended himself unsuccessfully. He was found guilty by a majority vote cast by a jury of hundreds of male Athenian citizens and, according to
3287-559: A single deity, while at other times he refers to plural "gods". This has been interpreted to mean that he either believed that a supreme deity commanded other gods, or that various gods were parts, or manifestations, of this single deity. The relationship of Socrates's religious beliefs with his strict adherence to rationalism has been subject to debate. Philosophy professor Mark McPherran suggests that Socrates interpreted every divine sign through secular rationality for confirmation. Professor of ancient philosophy A. A. Long suggests that it
3460-472: A situation known as the Socratic problem . Socrates was a polarizing figure in Athenian society. In 399 BC, he was accused of impiety and corrupting the youth. After a trial that lasted a day, he was sentenced to death . He spent his last day in prison, refusing offers to help him escape. Plato's dialogues are among the most comprehensive accounts of Socrates to survive from antiquity. They demonstrate
3633-484: A spouse; still others deny that Socrates suggests any egoistic motivation at all. In Symposium , Socrates argues that children offer the false impression of immortality to their parents, and this misconception yields a form of unity among them. Scholars also note that for Socrates, love is rational. Socrates, who claims to know only that he does not know, makes an exception (in Plato's Symposium ), where he says he will tell
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#17331157453013806-583: A transnational organization, with 140 chapters around the world, while the AIDS crisis ultimately became a global epidemic . By 2019, complications related to AIDS had taken 32.7 million lives worldwide. There are 54 nations in Africa recognized by the United Nations and/or African Union . In 34 of these states, male homosexuality is explicitly outlawed. In a 2015 report, Human Rights Watch noted that in Benin and
3979-753: A trial. Witnesses have also reported that the gay men are regularly beaten (with polypropylene pipes below the waist), tortured with electricity, and spat in the face by prison guards. In some cases the process of torture has resulted in the death of the person being tortured. As of 2021, the situation in Chechnya continues to worsen for gay men. In other countries in Eastern Europe, rights for gay men continue to deteriorate. Polish President Andrzej Duda has pledged to ban teaching about gay men in schools, forbid same-sex marriage and adoption, and establish " LGBT-free zones ". A 2017 Pew Research Center poll found that
4152-600: A wider variety of content, including news and current affairs programs which covered political developments affecting the LGBT community and the HIV/AIDS epidemic . Throughout its time, GCN provided coverage of the Democratic and Republican National Conventions, with on-floor correspondents interviewing candidates and delegates, as well as coverage of the 1987 and 1993 LGBT rights marches on Washington. A documentary aired on GCN, Out in
4325-476: A woman. Yves Saint Laurent (b. 1935), also regarded as being among the foremost fashion designers in the twentieth century , was openly gay; his long-time partner was Pierre Berge. Gianni Versace (b. 1946), an Italian fashion designer and founder of Versace , publicly came out in an interview with The Advocate in July 1995. Versace was murdered in 1997. A younger generation of gay men gained prominence in
4498-651: A wrestling school in the company of Lysis and his friends. They start their dialogue by investigating parental love and how it manifests with respect to the freedom and boundaries that parents set for their children. Socrates concludes that if Lysis is utterly useless, nobody will love him—not even his parents. While most scholars believe this text was intended to be humorous, it has also been suggested that Lysis shows Socrates held an egoistic view of love, according to which we only love people who are useful to us in some way. Other scholars disagree with this view, arguing that Socrates's doctrine leaves room for non-egoistic love for
4671-529: Is a central character. In this drama, Aristophanes presents a caricature of Socrates that leans towards sophism, ridiculing Socrates as an absurd atheist. Socrates in Clouds is interested in natural philosophy, which conforms to Plato's depiction of him in Phaedo . What is certain is that by the age of 45, Socrates had already captured the interest of Athenians as a philosopher. It is not clear whether Aristophanes's work
4844-813: Is a consensus that Socrates accepts that acknowledging one's lack of knowledge is the first step towards wisdom. Socrates is known for disavowing knowledge, a claim encapsulated in the saying " I know that I know nothing ". This is often attributed to Socrates on the basis of a statement in Plato's Apology , though the same view is repeatedly found elsewhere in Plato's early writings on Socrates. In other statements, though, he implies or even claims that he does have knowledge. For example, in Plato's Apology Socrates says: "...but that to do injustice and disobey my superior, god or man, this I know to be evil and base..." ( Apology , 29b6–7). In his debate with Callicles, he says: "...I know well that if you will agree with me on those things which my soul believes, those things will be
5017-533: Is also truthful when saying he knows-E, for example, that it is evil for someone to disobey his superiors, as he claims in Apology . Not all scholars have agreed with this semantic dualism. James H. Lesher has argued that Socrates claimed in various dialogues that one word is linked to one meaning (i.e. in Hippias Major , Meno , and Laches ). Lesher suggests that although Socrates claimed that he had no knowledge about
5190-419: Is anachronistic to suppose that Socrates believed the religious and rational realms were separate. In several texts (e.g., Plato's Euthyphro 3b5; Apology 31c–d; Xenophon's Memorabilia 1.1.2) Socrates claims he hears a daimōnic sign —an inner voice heard usually when he was about to make a mistake. Socrates gave a brief description of this daimonion at his trial ( Apology 31c–d): "...The reason for this
5363-458: Is chang'd I know not how, For men Kiss Men, not Women now; ... Of J. the First and Buckingham: He, true it is, his Wives Embraces fled, To slabber his lov'd Ganimede" ( Mundus Foppensis, or The Fop Display'd , 1691). In ancient Sumer , a set of priests known as gala worked in the temples of the goddess Inanna , where they performed elegies and lamentations. Gala took female names, spoke in
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5536-472: Is commonly seen as ironic when using praise to flatter or when addressing his interlocutors. Scholars are divided on why Socrates uses irony. According to an opinion advanced since the Hellenistic period , Socratic irony is a playful way to get the audience's attention. Another line of thought holds that Socrates conceals his philosophical message with irony, making it accessible only to those who can separate
5709-413: Is enough evidence to refute both claims. In his view, for Socrates, there are two separate meanings of "knowledge": Knowledge-C and Knowledge-E (C stands for "certain", and E stands for elenchus , i.e. the Socratic method). Knowledge-C is something unquestionable whereas Knowledge-E is the knowledge derived from Socrates's elenchus . Thus, Socrates speaks the truth when he says he knows-C something, and he
5882-425: Is hard to define his exact political philosophy. In Plato's Gorgias , he tells Callicles : "I believe that I'm one of a few Athenians—so as not to say I'm the only one, but the only one among our contemporaries—to take up the true political craft and practice the true politics. This is because the speeches I make on each occasion do not aim at gratification but at what's best." His claim illustrates his aversion for
6055-718: Is implying that you're 'coming in the back,' which is how gay men have sex." In Eastern Europe, there has been a steady erosion of rights for gay men over the course of the last decade. In the Russian republic of Chechnya , gay men have been subjected to forced disappearances —secret abductions, imprisonment, torture —and extrajudicial killing by authorities. An unknown number of men, detained due to suspicion of them being gay or bisexual, have died while held in concentration camps . Independent media and human rights groups have reported that gay men are being sent to clandestine camps in Chechnya, described by one eyewitness as "closed prison,
6228-406: Is impossible. Most believe that Socrates left no space for irrational desires, although some claim that Socrates acknowledged the existence of irrational motivations, but denied they play a primary role in decision-making. Socrates's religious nonconformity challenged the views of his times and his critique reshaped religious discourse for the coming centuries. In Ancient Greece, organized religion
6401-558: Is internationally recognized as an icon of queer cinema. The director Rainer Werner Fassbinder had an early influence on queer cinema with films like Querelle (1982). These filmmakers and others pioneered queer Hollywood productions like Brokeback Mountain (2005), which reached an audience of millions. Drag queens are a significant part of the popular culture of gay men and are regularly featured in gay bars . Drag queens use drag clothing and makeup to imitate and often exaggerate female gender signifiers and gender roles as part of
6574-432: Is known about him comes from the accounts of others: mainly the philosopher Plato and the historian Xenophon , who were both his pupils; the Athenian comic dramatist Aristophanes (Socrates's contemporary); and Plato's pupil Aristotle , who was born after Socrates's death. The often contradictory stories from these ancient accounts only serve to complicate scholars' ability to reconstruct Socrates's true thoughts reliably,
6747-411: Is known mainly through the posthumous accounts of classical writers , particularly his students Plato and Xenophon . These accounts are written as dialogues , in which Socrates and his interlocutors examine a subject in the style of question and answer; they gave rise to the Socratic dialogue literary genre. Contradictory accounts of Socrates make a reconstruction of his philosophy nearly impossible,
6920-432: Is meeting with Euthyphro, a man who has accused his own father of murder. When Socrates first hears the details of the story, he comments, "It is not, I think, any random person who could do this [prosecute one's father] correctly, but surely one who is already far progressed in wisdom". When Euthyphro boasts about his understanding of divinity, Socrates responds that it is "most important that I become your student". Socrates
7093-473: Is named—are mainly the Gorgias (467c–8e, where Socrates discusses the actions of a tyrant that do not benefit him) and Meno (77d–8b, where Socrates explains to Meno his view that no one wants bad things, unless they do not know what is good and bad in the first place). Scholars have been puzzled by Socrates's view that akrasia (acting because of one's irrational passions, contrary to one's knowledge or beliefs)
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7266-405: Is not the case with Plato's Socrates. Generally, logoi Sokratikoi cannot help us to reconstruct the historical Socrates even in cases where their narratives overlap, as authors may have influenced each other's accounts. Writers of Athenian comedy, including Aristophanes, also commented on Socrates. Aristophanes's most important comedy with respect to Socrates is The Clouds , in which Socrates
7439-460: Is recognized as one of the most popular and most performed ballets in the world. Ailey remained closeted for much of his life, and he passed from an AIDS related illness at the age of 58. David Hockney (b. 1937), another major artist of the Silent Generation , was an important contributor to the pop art movement of the 1960s and is considered one of the most influential British artists of
7612-415: Is recommended by LGBTQ groups and style guides to describe all people exclusively attracted to members of the same sex, while lesbian refers specifically to female homosexuals, and gay men to male homosexuals. Some scholars argue that the terms "homosexual" and "gay" are problematic when applied to men in ancient cultures since, for example, neither Greeks or Romans possessed any one word covering
7785-439: Is seeking to prove a claim wrong. According to the first line of thought, known as the constructivist approach, Socrates indeed seeks to refute a claim by this method, and the method helps in reaching affirmative statements. The non-constructivist approach holds that Socrates merely wants to establish the inconsistency between the premises and the conclusion of the initial argument. Socrates starts his discussions by prioritizing
7958-525: Is serious when he says he has no knowledge of ethical matters. This opinion is not shared by many other scholars. For Socrates, the pursuit of eudaimonia motivates all human action, directly or indirectly. Virtue and knowledge are linked, in Socrates's view, to eudaimonia , but how closely he considered them to be connected is still debated. Some argue that Socrates thought that virtue and eudaimonia are identical. According to another view, virtue serves as
8131-402: Is something you have heard me frequently mention in different places—namely, the fact that I experience something divine and daimonic, as Meletus has inscribed in his indictment, by way of mockery. It started in my childhood, the occurrence of a particular voice. Whenever it occurs, it always deters me from the course of action I was intending to engage in, but it never gives me positive advice. It
8304-411: Is that Socrates was convicted on religious grounds; the second, that he was accused and convicted for political reasons. Another, more recent, interpretation synthesizes the religious and political theories, arguing that religion and state were not separate in ancient Athens. The argument for religious persecution is supported by the fact that Plato's and Xenophon's accounts of the trial mostly focus on
8477-424: Is the most progressive concerning LGBT rights and recognizing unregistered cohabitation; however, it has faced criticism from academics such as Sarah Schulman and Jason Ritchie for " pinkwashing ." And although same-sex marriage is not legal in the country, there is public support for recognizing and registering same-sex marriages performed in other countries. Male same-sex activity is also punishable by death in
8650-605: Is the only country in Africa where LGBT discrimination is constitutionally forbidden; however, social discrimination against South African gay men persists in rural parts of the country, where high levels of religious tradition continue to fuel prejudice and violence. In the mainland Americas (both North and South ), male homosexuality is legal in every country (except Guyana ). In the Caribbean , however, nine nations have criminal punishment for " buggery " on their statute books. These countries include Barbados , Saint Vincent and
8823-415: Is this that has opposed my practicing politics, and I think its doing so has been absolutely fine." Modern scholarship has variously interpreted this Socratic daimōnion as a rational source of knowledge, an impulse, a dream or even a paranormal experience felt by an ascetic Socrates. Socrates's theory of virtue states that all virtues are essentially one, since they are a form of knowledge. For Socrates,
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#17331157453018996-672: Is true of many other non-Western cultures, it is difficult to determine the extent to which Western notions of sexual orientation apply to Pre-Columbian cultures. Evidence of homoerotic sexual acts between men has been found in many pre- conquest civilizations in Latin America , such as the Aztecs , Mayas , Quechuas , Moches , Zapotecs , the Incas , and the Tupinambá of Brazil. In fact, in Aztec mythology ,
9169-524: Is unclear due to fear of backlash and punishment. Since the early 20th century, gay men, both out and closeted, have worked as some of the world's most influential fashion designers and started some of the most important fashion houses. Cristóbal Balenciaga (b. 1895), who started the Balenciaga brand, was gay but remained private about his sexuality for his entire life. His long-time partner, Franco-Polish millionaire Władzio Jaworowski d'Attainville, set up
9342-416: Is useful in reconstructing the historical Socrates. Other ancient authors who wrote about Socrates were Aeschines of Sphettus , Antisthenes , Aristippus , Bryson, Cebes, Crito , Euclid of Megara , Phaedo and Aristotle, all of whom wrote after Socrates's death. Aristotle was not a contemporary of Socrates; he studied under Plato at the latter's Academy for twenty years. Aristotle treats Socrates without
9515-503: The Iliad . In Ancient Rome , young men's bodies remained a focus of male sexual attention, but relationships were between older free men and slaves or freed youths who took the receptive role in sex. The Hellenophile emperor Hadrian is renowned for his relationship with Antinous , but the Christian emperor Theodosius I decreed a law on 6 August 390, condemning passive males to be burned at
9688-692: The New York Native . Later that year, the CDC reported a cluster of Pneumocystis pneumonia in five gay men in Los Angeles. The next month, The New York Times ran the headline: "Rare Cancer Seen in 41 Homosexuals". The illness was soon termed Gay Related Immunodeficiency (G.R.I.D.), because it was believed to only affect gay men. In June 1982, Larry Kramer founded the Gay Men's Health Crisis to provide food and support to gay men dying in New York City . During
9861-436: The eme-sal dialect, which was traditionally reserved for women, and appear to have engaged in homosexual intercourse. The Sumerian sign for gala was a ligature of the signs for "penis" and "anus". One Sumerian proverb reads: "When the gala wiped off his ass [he said], 'I must not arouse that which belongs to my mistress [i.e., Inanna]. ' " In later Mesopotamian cultures, kurgarrū and assinnu were male servants of
10034-704: The Central African Republic , male homosexuality is not explicitly outlawed, but both have laws which are applied differently for gay men than for straight men. In Mauritania , northern Nigeria , Somaliland , and Somalia , male homosexuality is punishable by death. In Sierra Leone , Tanzania , and Uganda , gay men receive life imprisonment for homosexual acts, though the law is not regularly enforced in Sierra Leone. In Nigeria , legislation has also made it illegal for family members, allies, and friends of gay men to openly express support for homosexuality, and
10207-742: The Jamaican police . In 2013, Amnesty International reported that "Gay men and lesbian women have been beaten, cut, burned, raped and shot on account of their sexuality. ... We are concerned that these reports are just the tip of the iceberg. Many gay men and women in Jamaica are too afraid to go to the authorities and seek help". As a result of this violence, hundreds of gay men from Jamaica sought to emigrate to countries with better human rights records. A 2016 poll from J-Flag showed that 88 percent of those polled disapprove of homosexuality, though since 2018, discriminatory attitudes have decreased slightly. In
10380-662: The Liu Song dynasty by Wang Shunu claimed that homosexuality was as common as heterosexuality in the late 3rd century China. Opposition to male homosexuality in China originates in the medieval Tang dynasty (618–907), attributed to the rising influence of Christian and Islamic values, but did not become fully established until the Westernization efforts of the late Qing dynasty and the Republic of China . The earliest Western documents (in
10553-507: The Met Gala , with the theme titled "Notes on Camp". That same year, the museum presented its full exhibit "Camp: Notes on Fashion", in which it presented numerous "campy" women's dresses. Nevertheless, in drag performances and at gay pride events, many gay men continue to embrace a camp aesthetic. In many forms of popular entertainment, gay men are portrayed stereotypically as promiscuous , flamboyant, flashy, and sassy. Gay men are also rarely
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#173311574530110726-637: The Peloponnesian War and distinguished himself in three campaigns, according to Plato. Another incident that reflects Socrates's respect for the law is the arrest of Leon the Salaminian . As Plato describes in his Apology , Socrates and four others were summoned to the Tholos and told by representatives of the Thirty Tyrants (which began ruling in 404 BC) to arrest Leon for execution. Again Socrates
10899-493: The Sicilian Expedition . Socrates spent his time conversing with citizens, among them powerful members of Athenian society, scrutinizing their beliefs and bringing the contradictions of their ideas to light. Socrates believed he was doing them a favor since, for him, politics was about shaping the moral landscape of the city through philosophy rather than electoral procedures. There is a debate over where Socrates stood in
11072-526: The UAE , Saudi Arabia , Iran , and Qatar . In the Gaza Strip and Yemen , punishment for male homosexuality varies between death and imprisonment depending on the act committed. In 2018, a transnational survey conducted in the region by Pew Research Center found that 80% of people polled believed homosexuality was "morally unacceptable", though others argue that the true number of people who support rights for gay men
11245-577: The aegis of the Officers of the Night court, were prosecuting, fining, and imprisoning a good portion of that population. From the second half of the 13th century, death was the punishment for male homosexuality in most of Europe. The relationships of socially prominent figures, such as King James I and the Duke of Buckingham , served to highlight the issue, including in anonymously authored street pamphlets: "The world
11418-576: The anachronistic introduction of a contemporary construction of sexuality foreign to their times, though other scholars challenge this. The first recorded possible homosexual male couple in history is commonly deemed to be Khnumhotep and Niankhkhnum , an ancient Egyptian couple, who lived around 2400 BCE. The pair are portrayed in a nose-kissing position, the most intimate pose in Egyptian art , surrounded by what appear to be their heirs. The 6th- or 7th-century Ashmolean Parchment AN 1981.940 provides
11591-598: The modern era . He was studied by medieval and Islamic scholars and played an important role in the thought of the Italian Renaissance , particularly within the humanist movement . Interest in him continued unabated, as reflected in the works of Søren Kierkegaard and Friedrich Nietzsche . Depictions of Socrates in art, literature, and popular culture have made him a widely known figure in the Western philosophical tradition. Socrates did not document his teachings. All that
11764-607: The 18 " Middle Eastern " countries and is punishable by death in six. According to scholars, recent popular turns toward Islamic fundamentalism has strongly influenced the extreme violence against gay men. While all same-sex activity is legal in Bahrain , Cyprus , the West Bank , Turkey , Lebanon , Israel , Jordan , and Iraq , male homosexuality is illegal and punishable by imprisonment in Syria , Oman , Qatar , Kuwait , and Egypt . Israel
11937-406: The 20th century, gay men were amongst the Western world's most influential and prolific artists, writers, and dancers. In the United States by mid-century, James Baldwin (b. 1924) was considered one of the best writers of his generation. His work, including Giovanni's Room (1956) dealt openly with homosexuality and bisexuality at a time when sex between men was still illegal throughout much of
12110-562: The 20th century. He has been openly gay for much of his life. Many of the most influential gay and bisexual artists of the Boomer and X generations died at very early ages during the AIDS crises, including Carlos Almaraz (b. 1941), Robert Mapplethorpe (b. 1946), Félix González-Torres (b. 1957), and Keith Haring (b. 1958). Much of the Art of the AIDS Crisis was highly political and critical of
12283-592: The 90's , earned the network a Special Recognition Award at the inaugural GLAAD Media Awards in 1990. In 2009, New York University acquired from Maletta some 6,100 VHS tapes of GCN broadcasts from throughout its 19 years of operation for preservation. Gay men Gay men are male homosexuals . Some bisexual and homoromantic men may dually identify as gay and a number of gay men also identify as queer . Historic terminology for gay men has included inverts and uranians . Gay men continue to face significant discrimination in large parts of
12456-510: The Caribbean, like in other developing countries around the world, homosexual identity is often associated with Westernization , and as a result, homophobia is believed to be an anti-colonial tool. Wayne Marshall wrote that gay men are believed to be "decadent products of the West" and "are thus to be resisted alongside other forms of colonization, cultural or political". Wayne cites the example of
12629-522: The Grenadines , Dominica , Saint Kitts and Nevis , Grenada , Saint Lucia , Antigua and Barbuda , Guyana , and Jamaica . In Jamaica , sexual intercourse between men is legally punishable by imprisonment, though the law's repeal is pending. Sexual intercourse between women is already legal, though lesbians in Jamaica still experience a high level of social stigma. In Jamaica, reports of vigilante violence and torture against gay men have been reported by
12802-517: The Jamaican dancehall hit " Dem Bow " by Shabba Ranks , which calls for the violent murder of gay men alongside a call for the "freedom for Black people". Marshall notes the irony of this ideological position, considering the historical evidence that homophobia was introduced to colonies by European colonists. Nevertheless, Caribbean scholars have noted the importance of opposition to gay men for Jamaican male gender construction. Kingsley Ragashanti Stewart,
12975-463: The Socratic approach to areas of philosophy including epistemology and ethics . The Platonic Socrates lends his name to the concept of the Socratic method , and also to Socratic irony . The Socratic method of questioning, or elenchus , takes shape in dialogue using short questions and answers, epitomized by those Platonic texts in which Socrates and his interlocutors examine various aspects of an issue or an abstract meaning, usually relating to one of
13148-481: The Socratic dialogues are mostly fictional: according to Joel, the dialogues' authors were just mimicking some Socratic traits of dialogue. In the mid-twentieth century, philosophers such as Olof Gigon and Eugène Dupréel , based on Joel's arguments, proposed that the study of Socrates should focus on the various versions of his character and beliefs rather than aiming to reconstruct a historical Socrates. Later, ancient philosophy scholar Gregory Vlastos suggested that
13321-644: The Socratic inconsistency (other than that Socrates is simply being inconsistent). One explanation is that Socrates is being either ironic or modest for pedagogical purposes: he aims to let his interlocutor to think for himself rather than guide him to a prefixed answer to his philosophical questions. Another explanation is that Socrates holds different interpretations of the meaning of "knowledge". Knowledge, for him, might mean systematic understanding of an ethical subject, on which Socrates firmly rejects any kind of mastery; or might refer to lower-level cognition, which Socrates may accept that he possesses. In any case, there
13494-540: The U.S. government and has been described as "afraid, angry, fearful, and defiant". In the aftermath of the HIV/AIDS epidemic, gay men and other queer artists pioneered a new form of experimental filmmaking called New Queer Cinema . Today, gay men such as Mark Bradford , Julio Salgado , and Kehinde Wiley are amongst the most influential artists of their generation. Much of contemporary Western gay art today deals with themes of body, identity, and experience. Outside of
13667-516: The United States as symbols of social decadence by evangelists and organizations such as Focus on the Family . Historically, many films have included negative sub-texts regarding male homosexuality, such as in Alfred Hitchcock 's films, whose villains used implied homosexuality to heighten senses of evil and alienation. In news programming, male homosexuality was rarely directly mentioned, but it
13840-567: The West, art containing themes of gay male sexuality is still considered subversive and taboo. In Singapore , which criminalized all sexual acts between men through Section 377A of the Penal Code until 2022, art by gay men is considered countercultural . Gay men in Singapore historically have been depicted negatively in local mainstream media, and efforts to counter this discrimination from wider Singaporean society has been made difficult because of
14013-511: The Western world. Other major artists of Baldwin's generation, including Robert Rauschenberg (b. 1925) and Jasper Johns (b. 1930), were less open about their sexuality, and even made fun of other young gay artists of their generation, such as Andy Warhol , for being too feminine. In the world of New York dance, Alvin Ailey (b. 1931) fused theater, modern dance, ballet, and jazz with black vernacular, and his choreographic magnum opus Revelations
14186-545: The accusation that Socrates is an atheist. Socrates notes the contradiction between atheism and worshipping false gods. He then claims that he is "God's gift" to the Athenians, since his activities ultimately benefit Athens; thus, in condemning him to death, Athens itself will be the greatest loser. After that, he says that even though no human can reach wisdom, seeking it is the best thing someone can do, implying money and prestige are not as precious as commonly thought. Socrates
14359-410: The accusers could have fuelled their rhetoric using events prior to 403 BC. A fundamental characteristic of Plato's Socrates is the Socratic method, or the method of refutation ( elenchus ). It is most prominent in the early works of Plato, such as Apology , Crito , Gorgias , Republic I , and others. The typical elenchus proceeds as follows. Socrates initiates a discussion about a topic with
14532-452: The adult male and the perceived feminizing effect of being the passive partner, relations between adult men of comparable social status were considered highly problematic, and usually associated with social stigma. This stigma, however, was reserved for only the passive partner in the relationship. According to contemporary opinion, Greek men who took on a passive sexual role after reaching adulthood – at which point they were expected to take
14705-668: The battlefield. He discusses Socrates in four works: the Memorabilia , the Oeconomicus , the Symposium , and the Apology of Socrates . He also mentions a story featuring Socrates in his Anabasis . Oeconomicus recounts a discussion on practical agricultural issues. Like Plato's Apology , Xenophon's Apologia describes the trial of Socrates, but the works diverge substantially and, according to W. K. C. Guthrie , Xenophon's account portrays
14878-436: The bias of Xenophon and Plato, who had an emotional tie with Socrates, and he scrutinizes Socrates's doctrines as a philosopher. Aristotle was familiar with the various written and unwritten stories of Socrates. His role in understanding Socrates is limited. He does not write extensively on Socrates; and, when he does, he is mainly preoccupied with the early dialogues of Plato. There are also general doubts on his reliability on
15051-405: The boundary between the two seems blurred. Xenophon's and Plato's accounts differ in their presentations of Socrates as a person. Xenophon's Socrates is duller, less humorous and less ironic than Plato's. Xenophon's Socrates also lacks the philosophical features of Plato's Socrates—ignorance, the Socratic method or elenchus —and thinks enkrateia (self-control) is of pivotal importance, which
15224-544: The character of Socrates that he presents. One common explanation of this inconsistency is that Plato initially tried to accurately represent the historical Socrates, while later in his writings he was happy to insert his own views into Socrates's words. Under this understanding, there is a distinction between the Socratic Socrates of Plato's earlier works and the Platonic Socrates of Plato's later writings, although
15397-400: The charges of impiety. In those accounts, Socrates is portrayed as making no effort to dispute the fact that he did not believe in the Athenian gods. Against this argument stands the fact that many skeptics and atheist philosophers during this time were not prosecuted. According to the argument for political persecution, Socrates was targeted because he was perceived as a threat to democracy. It
15570-563: The classical novel Dream of the Red Chamber seem as familiar to observers in the present as do equivalent stories of romances between heterosexual people during the same period. Confucianism , being primarily a social and political philosophy, focused little on sexuality, whether homosexual or heterosexual. Ming dynasty literature, such as Bian Er Chai (弁而釵/弁而钗), portray homosexual relationships between men as more enjoyable and more "harmonious" than heterosexual relationships. Writings from
15743-445: The cleaners, he is forced to wear a woman's feather-trimmed robe. When another character asks about his robe, he responds, "Because I just went gay all of a sudden!" Since this was a mainstream film at a time, when the use of the word to refer to cross-dressing (and, by extension, homosexuality) would still be unfamiliar to most film-goers, the line can also be interpreted to mean, "I just decided to do something frivolous." In 1950,
15916-768: The clergy to escape public scrutiny. During the Mexican Inquisition , after a series of denunciations, authorities arrested 123 men in 1658 on suspicion of homosexuality. Although many escaped, the Royal Criminal Court sentenced fourteen men from different social and ethnic backgrounds to death by public burning, in accordance to the law passed by Isabella the Catholic in 1497. The sentences were carried out together on one day, 6 November 1658. The records of these trials and those that occurred in 1660, 1673 and 1687, suggest that Mexico City , like many other large cities at
16089-530: The cognitive power to comprehend what they desire, while diminishing the role of impulses (a view termed motivational intellectualism). In Plato's Protagoras (345c4–e6), Socrates implies that "no one errs willingly", which has become the hallmark of Socratic virtue intellectualism. In Socratic moral philosophy, priority is given to the intellect as being the way to live a good life; Socrates deemphasizes irrational beliefs or passions. Plato's dialogues that support Socrates's intellectual motivism —as this thesis
16262-488: The committee released a report describing "'phenomenal ... male perverts' in expensive frocks and wigs, looking like women". By the 1920s, the balls grew in public visibility. In New York, the events, once called Masquerade and Civic Balls, were called "Faggots Balls" by the general public. The balls, however, also attracted some of the city's top artists and writers, including Charles Henri Ford and Parker Tyler . The men, who co-authored The Young and Evil , described
16435-465: The contemporary teleological intelligent-design argument . He claims that since there are many features in the universe that exhibit "signs of forethought" (e.g., eyelids), a divine creator must have created the universe. He then deduces that the creator should be omniscient and omnipotent and also that it created the universe for the advance of humankind, since humans naturally have many abilities that other animals do not. At times, Socrates speaks of
16608-459: The controversy has not yet ceased. Socrates discusses divinity and the soul mostly in Alcibiades , Euthyphro , and Apology . In Alcibiades Socrates links the human soul to divinity, concluding "Then this part of her resembles God, and whoever looks at this, and comes to know all that is divine, will gain thereby the best knowledge of himself." His discussions on religion always fall under
16781-479: The country is generally recognized for its "cold-blooded" attitudes toward gay men. Nigerian law states that any heterosexual person "who administers, witnesses, abets or aids" male homosexual activity should receive a 10-year jail sentence. In Uganda , Christian fundamentalist organizations from the United States funded the introduction of Kill the Gays legislation to impose the death penalty for gay men. The bill
16954-545: The crisis is known as the "lost generation". At its start, the epidemic was particularly severe in the United States . In 1980, San Francisco resident Ken Horne was reported to the CDC with Kaposi's sarcoma (KS). He was retroactively identified as the first patient of the AIDS epidemic in the US. In 1981, Lawrence Mass became the first journalist in the world to write about the epidemic in
17127-585: The crisis, American media tended to focus on the "raunchiness" of gay culture, and divided gay men in to two archetypes: "victims" (those affected by HIV) and "villains" (who allegedly spread HIV, deliberately). The AIDS pandemic delayed positive representations of gay men until the 1990s , when the first positive representations of gay men began to appear in American media. However, most of these gay men were White, masculine, apolitical and never depicted romantically with other men. This new depiction of gay men catered to heterosexual audiences, and did not reflect
17300-403: The custom, proposed his own penalty: that he should be given free food and housing by the state for the services he rendered to the city, or alternatively, that he be fined one mina of silver (according to him, all he had). The jurors declined his offer and ordered the death penalty. Socrates was charged in a politically tense climate. In 404 BC, the Athenians had been crushed by Spartans at
17473-535: The death penalty by making him drink a cup of hemlock (a poisonous liquid). In return, Socrates warned jurors and Athenians that criticism of them by his many disciples was inescapable, unless they became good men. After a delay caused by Athenian religious ceremonies, Socrates spent his last day in prison. His friends visited him and offered him an opportunity to escape, which he declined. The question of what motivated Athenians to convict Socrates remains controversial among scholars. There are two theories. The first
17646-426: The death rate of homosexuals in concentration camps may have been as high as 60%. Gay men in the camps suffered an unusual degree of cruelty by their captors and were regularly used as the subjects for Nazi medical experiments as scientists tried to find a "cure" for homosexuality. The HIV/AIDS epidemic is considered the deadliest period in modern history for gay men, and the generation of young gay men who died in
17819-562: The decisive naval Battle of Aegospotami , and subsequently, the Spartans laid siege to Athens. They replaced the democratic government with a new, pro-oligarchic government, named the Thirty Tyrants . Because of their tyrannical measures, some Athenians organized to overthrow the Tyrants—and, indeed, they managed to do so briefly—until a Spartan request for aid from the Thirty arrived and a compromise
17992-414: The definition in the first place. The interlocutor may come up with a different definition. That new definition, in turn, comes under the scrutiny of Socratic questioning . With each round of question and answer, Socrates and his interlocutor hope to approach the truth. More often, they continue to reveal their ignorance. Since the interlocutors' definitions most commonly represent the mainstream opinion on
18165-404: The deity Xochipilli was a symbol of gay men and male prostitutes . The Spanish conquistadors expressed horror at discovering sodomy openly practiced among native men and used it as evidence of their supposed inferiority. The conquistadors talked extensively of sodomy among the natives to depict them as savages and hence justify their conquest and forced conversion to Christianity. As
18338-492: The director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases , stated, "One million Americans have already been infected with the virus and that this number will jump to at least 2 million or 3 million within 5 to 10 years." Gay men, trans women , and bisexual men faced the brunt of deaths during the first decade of the crisis. Activists claimed the government was responding to the epidemic with apathy because of
18511-456: The drag ball as "a scene whose celestial flavor and cerulean coloring no angelic painter or nectarish poet has ever conceived ... lit up like high mass." This flourishing of gay life in the 1920s and 30s was part of a period known as the Pansy Craze . More recently, the film Paris is Burning (1990) detailed the drag ball scene of New York City and showcased the lives and experiences of
18684-505: The earliest reference found to date for the word gay as a self-described name for male homosexuals came from Alfred A. Gross, executive secretary for the George W. Henry Foundation, who said in the June 1950 issue of Sir magazine: "I have yet to meet a happy homosexual. They have a way of describing themselves as gay, but the term is a misnomer. Those who are habitues of the bars frequented by others of
18857-494: The early Socratic dialogues of Plato were more compatible with other evidence for a historical Socrates than his later writings, an argument that is based on inconsistencies in Plato's own evolving depiction of Socrates. Vlastos totally disregarded Xenophon's account except when it agreed with Plato's. More recently, Charles H. Kahn has reinforced the skeptical stance on the unsolvable Socratic problem, suggesting that only Plato's Apology has any historical significance. Socrates
19030-465: The early years of the AIDS crisis, gay men were treated pitilessly in hospital quarantine wards, left alone without contact for weeks at a time. During the early years of the epidemic, there was significant misinformation surrounding the illness. Rumors swirled that being in the same room or being touched by a gay man could lead one to contract HIV. It was not until April 1984 that the U.S. Health and Human Services Secretary Margaret Heckler announced in
19203-527: The end of life was knowledge of virtue, and he used to seek for the definition of justice, courage, and each of the parts of virtue, and this was a reasonable approach, since he thought that all virtues were sciences, and that as soon as one knew [for example] justice, he would be just..." Some texts suggest that Socrates had love affairs with Alcibiades and other young persons; others suggest that Socrates's friendship with young boys sought only to improve them and were not sexual. In Gorgias , Socrates claims he
19376-487: The established democratic assemblies and procedures such as voting—since Socrates saw politicians and rhetoricians as using tricks to mislead the public. He never ran for office or suggested any legislation. Rather, he aimed to help the city flourish by "improving" its citizens. As a citizen, he abided by the law. He obeyed the rules and carried out his military duty by fighting wars abroad. His dialogues, however, make little mention of contemporary political decisions, such as
19549-420: The exact dates of their composition are unknown, some were probably written after Socrates's death. As Aristotle first noted, the extent to which the dialogues portray Socrates authentically is a matter of some debate. An honest man, Xenophon was no trained philosopher. He could neither fully conceptualize nor articulate Socrates's arguments. He admired Socrates for his intelligence, patriotism, and courage on
19722-644: The existence of gods is taken for granted; in none of his dialogues does he probe whether gods exist or not. In Apology , a case for Socrates being agnostic can be made, based on his discussion of the great unknown after death, and in Phaedo (the dialogue with his students in his last day) Socrates gives expression to a clear belief in the immortality of the soul. He also believed in oracles, divinations and other messages from gods. These signs did not offer him any positive belief on moral issues; rather, they were predictions of unfavorable future events. In Xenophon's Memorabilia , Socrates constructs an argument close to
19895-575: The existence of which no one officially knows". Some gay men have attempted to flee the region, but have been detained by Russian police and sent back to Chechnya. Reports have emerged of prison officials releasing accused gay men from the camps after securing assurances from their families that their families will kill them (at least one man was reported by a witness as having died after returning to his family). These imprisoned men are kept in extremely cramped conditions, with 30 to 40 people detained in one room (two to three metres big), and few are afforded
20068-521: The fact that most victims of AIDS were gay Black and Hispanic men . However, by the late 1980s it had become undeniable that most of the victims of AIDS were gay men of color , and the media finally came to acknowledge this commonly-known fact. Yet the new coverage maintained the image of White men as heroic leaders in the fight against AIDS; while ignoring the perspectives of the gay men of color. Kohnen attributes this favorable (and unwarranted) representation of White men to white privilege . During
20241-476: The fashion world during the late twentieth and early twenty-first centuries. Tom Ford (b. 1961) founded his eponymous brand Tom Ford in 2005 and has stated that he realized he was gay as a young man visiting Studio 54 in the 1980s. Alexander McQueen (b. 1969), who was also openly gay, founded his own label Alexander McQueen in 1992 and was recognized as a fashion prodigy for his revolutionary designs. McQueen said he realized his sexual orientation when he
20414-513: The form of literary works, art objects, and mythographic materials ) concerning same-sex male relationships are derived from ancient Greece . These relationships were constrained between "normal" men and their young male lovers. Relationships between adult men, however, were still largely considered taboo in Ancient Greek culture. Given the importance in Greek society of cultivating the masculinity of
20587-522: The fund for him to start the house. After d'Attainville died, Balenciaga's following collection was designed entirely in black to mourn his loss. The French fashion designer Christian Dior (b. 1905) was another hugely influential fashion designer of the 20th century. Dior never married nor openly identified as a gay man, however, he was known to frequent the gay cultural scene in Paris and was infamously described by Coco Chanel as never having intimately "known"
20760-410: The god? The trajectory of Socratic thought contrasts with traditional Greek theology, which took lex talionis (the eye for an eye principle) for granted. Socrates thought that goodness is independent from gods, and gods must themselves be pious. Socrates affirms a belief in gods in Plato's Apology , where he says to the jurors that he acknowledges gods more than his accusers. For Plato's Socrates,
20933-601: The goddess Ishtar (Inanna's East Semitic equivalent), who dressed in female clothing and performed war dances in Ishtar's temples. Several Akkadian proverbs seem to suggest that they may have also engaged in homosexual intercourse. In ancient Assyria , male homosexuality was present and common; it was also not prohibited, condemned, nor looked upon as immoral or disordered. Some religious texts contain prayers for divine blessings on homosexual relationships. The Almanac of Incantations contained prayers favoring on an equal basis
21106-453: The gods were inherently wise and just, a perception far from traditional religion at that time. In Euthyphro , the Euthyphro dilemma arises. Socrates questions his interlocutor about the relationship between piety and the will of a powerful god: Is something good because it is the will of this god, or is it the will of this god because it is good? In other words, does piety follow the good, or
21279-477: The history of philosophy. Still, his testimony is vital in understanding Socrates. In a seminal work titled "The Worth of Socrates as a Philosopher" (1818), the philosopher Friedrich Schleiermacher attacked Xenophon's accounts; his attack was widely accepted. Schleiermacher criticized Xenophon for his naïve representation of Socrates. Xenophon was a soldier, argued Schleiermacher, and was therefore not well placed to articulate Socratic ideas. Furthermore, Xenophon
21452-460: The ideals of democratic Athens was a reason why he did not want to escape prison and the death penalty. On the other hand, there is some evidence that Socrates leaned towards oligarchy: most of his friends supported oligarchy, he was contemptuous of the opinion of the many and was critical of the democratic process, and Protagoras shows some anti-democratic elements. A less mainstream argument suggests that Socrates favoured democratic republicanism ,
21625-531: The kind, are about the saddest people I've ever seen." Gay men were one of the primary victims of the Nazi Holocaust . Historically, the earliest legal step towards the Nazi persecution of male homosexuality was 1871's Paragraph 175 , a law passed after the unification of the German Empire . Paragraph 175 read: "An unnatural sex act committed between persons of male sex ... is punishable by imprisonment;
21798-520: The law after the Night of the Long Knives . The 1935 version of Paragraph 175 declared "expressions" of homosexuality as prosecutable crimes. The most important change to the law was the definitional shift of male homosexuality from "An unnatural sex act committed between persons of male sex" to instead "A male who commits a sex offense with another male." This expanded the reach of the law to persecute gay men as
21971-492: The laws and customs of Athens. He learned the basic skills of reading and writing and, like most wealthy Athenians, received extra lessons in various other fields such as gymnastics, poetry and music. He was married twice (which came first is not clear): his marriage to Xanthippe took place when Socrates was in his fifties, and another marriage was with a daughter of Aristides , an Athenian statesman. He had three sons with Xanthippe. Socrates fulfilled his military service during
22144-547: The lens of his rationalism. Socrates, in Euthyphro , reaches a conclusion which takes him far from the age's usual practice: he considers sacrifices to the gods to be useless, especially when they are driven by the hope of receiving a reward in return. Instead, he calls for philosophy and the pursuit of knowledge to be the principal way of worshipping the gods. His rejection of traditional forms of piety, connecting them to self-interest, implied that Athenians should seek religious experience by self-examination. Socrates argued that
22317-589: The loss of civil rights might also be imposed." The law was interpreted in varying ways in Germany until 23 April 1880, when the Reichsgericht ruled that criminal homosexual acts involved either anal , oral , or intercrural sex between two men. Anything less (such as kissing and cuddling) was deemed harmless play. Franz Gürtner , the Reich Justice Minister amended Paragraph 175 to address "loopholes" in
22490-432: The love of a man for a woman, of a woman for a man, and of a man for man. The use of gay to mean a "homosexual" man was first used as an extension of its application to prostitution: a gay boy was a young man or adolescent serving male clients. Similarly, a gay cat was a young man apprenticed to an older hobo and commonly exchanging sex and other services for protection and tutelage. The application to homosexuality
22663-436: The main characters in mainstream films; they frequently play the role of stereotyped supporting characters or are portrayed as either a victim or the villain . Despite the stereotypical depictions of gay men, television shows since the 1990s, such as Queer as Folk , Queer Eye , and Modern Family have promoted broader social acceptance of gay men as "normal people". Nevertheless, gay men are still frequently portrayed in
22836-522: The majority of Orthodox Christians in the Eastern European and former USSR states surveyed believe that homosexuality "should not be accepted by society"; 45% of Orthodox Christians in Greece and 31% in the United States answered the same way. In Southwest Asia and North Africa , gay men face some of the harshest and most hostile laws anywhere in the world. Sex between men is explicitly outlawed in 10 of
23009-478: The meaning of various virtues, questioning their substance; Socrates's quest for a definition was an attempt to clear the atmosphere from their radical skepticism. Some scholars have argued that Socrates does not endorse the priority of definition as a principle, because they have identified cases where he does not do so. Some have argued that this priority of definition comes from Plato rather than Socrates. Philosopher Peter Geach , accepting that Socrates endorses
23182-575: The men, it contained no negative stereotypes. With the emergence of the AIDS epidemic and its explicit associations with gay men, media outlets in the U.S. varied in their coverage, portrayal, and acceptance of gay male communities. The American Family Association , the Coalition for Better Television, and the Moral Majority organized boycotts against advertisers on television programs which showed gay men in
23355-448: The nature of virtues, he thought that in some cases, people can know some ethical propositions. There is a widespread assumption that Socrates was an ironist, mostly based on the depiction of Socrates by Plato and Aristotle. Socrates's irony is so subtle and slightly humorous that it often leaves the reader wondering if Socrates is making an intentional pun. Plato's Euthyphro is filled with Socratic irony. The story begins when Socrates
23528-607: The only example in the Coptic language of a love spell between men. More recently, the European colonization of Africa resulted in the introduction of anti-sodomy laws, and is generally regarded as the central reason why African nations have such stringent laws against gay men today. Three countries or jurisdictions have imposed the death penalty for gay men in Africa. These include Mauritania and several regions in Nigeria and Jubaland. As
23701-467: The parts of his statements which are ironic from those which are not. Gregory Vlastos has identified a more complex pattern of irony in Socrates. In Vlastos's view, Socrates's words have a double meaning, both ironic and not. One example is when he denies having knowledge. Vlastos suggests that Socrates is being ironic when he says he has no knowledge (where "knowledge" means a lower form of cognition); while, according to another sense of "knowledge", Socrates
23874-404: The perceived "social undesirability" of these groups. To address this perceived apathy, activists such as Vito Russo , Larry Kramer , and others, took more militant approaches to AIDS activism, organizing direct action through organizations like ACT UP in order to force pharmaceutical corporations and government agencies to respond to the epidemic with more urgency. ACT UP eventually grew into
24047-436: The polarized Athenian political climate, which was divided between oligarchs and democrats. While there is no clear textual evidence, one widely held theory holds that Socrates leaned towards democracy: he disobeyed the one order that the oligarchic government of the Thirty Tyrants gave him; he respected the laws and political system of Athens (which were formulated by democrats); and, according to this argument, his affinity for
24220-485: The priority of definition, finds the technique fallacious. Αccording to Geach, one may know a proposition even if one cannot define the terms in which the proposition is stated. Plato's Socrates often claims that he is aware of his own lack of knowledge, especially when discussing ethical concepts such as arete (i.e., goodness, courage) since he does not know the nature of such concepts. For example, during his trial, with his life at stake, Socrates says: "I thought Evenus
24393-499: The real Socrates. Socrates died in Athens in 399 BC after a trial for impiety ( asebeia ) and the corruption of the young. He spent his last day in prison among friends and followers who offered him a route to escape, which he refused. He died the next morning, in accordance with his sentence, after drinking poison hemlock . According to the Phaedo , his last words were: “Crito, we owe
24566-416: The reason a person is not good is because they lack knowledge. Since knowledge is united, virtues are united as well. Another famous dictum—"no one errs willingly"—also derives from this theory. In Protagoras , Socrates argues for the unity of virtues using the example of courage: if someone knows what the relevant danger is, they can undertake a risk. Aristotle comments: " ... Socrates the elder thought that
24739-443: The religion-based accusations. First, Socrates had rejected the anthropomorphism of traditional Greek religion by denying that the gods did bad things like humans do. Second, he seemed to believe in a daimonion —an inner voice with, as his accusers suggested, divine origin. Plato's Apology starts with Socrates answering the various rumours against him that have given rise to the indictment. First, Socrates defends himself against
24912-476: The reverse role in pederastic relationships and become the active and dominant member – thereby were feminized or "made a woman" of themselves. There is ample evidence in the theater of Aristophanes that derides these passive men and gives a glimpse of the type of biting social opprobrium and shame ("atimia") heaped upon them by their society. Some scholars argue that there are examples of male homosexual love in ancient literature, such as Achilles and Patroclus in
25085-442: The risk of jail, bans, and censorship by the state. In the United States, Andy Warhol made underground films with queer themes and actors. His work had an international influence in queer film art. The avant-garde director Rosa von Praunheim has made more than 100 films on queer topics since the late 1960s, some of them have been evaluated internationally. Some films are considered milestones in queer cinema. Von Praunheim
25258-522: The rumour that he is an atheist naturalist philosopher , as portrayed in Aristophanes's The Clouds ; or a sophist . Against the allegations of corrupting the youth, Socrates answers that he has never corrupted anyone intentionally, since corrupting someone would carry the risk of being corrupted back in return, and that would be illogical, since corruption is undesirable. On the second charge, Socrates asks for clarification. Meletus responds by repeating
25431-420: The same semantic range as the modern concept of "homosexuality". Furthermore, there were diverse sexual practices that varied in acceptance depending on time and place. Other scholars argue that there are significant similarities between ancient and modern male homosexuals. In cultures influenced by Abrahamic religions , the law and the church established sodomy as a transgression against divine law or
25604-407: The search for definitions. In most cases, Socrates initiates his discourse with an expert on a subject by seeking a definition—by asking, for example, what virtue, goodness, justice, or courage is. To establish a definition, Socrates first gathers clear examples of a virtue and then seeks to establish what they had in common. According to Guthrie, Socrates lived in an era when sophists had challenged
25777-455: The stake. During the Renaissance , wealthy cities in northern Italy — Florence and Venice in particular—were renowned for their widespread practice of same-sex love, engaged in by a considerable part of the male population and constructed along the classical pattern of Greece and Rome. But even as many of the male population were engaging in same-sex relationships, the authorities, under
25950-520: The straight mainstream to gay men's popular culture through drag. The original American series has since developed into the global Drag Race franchise . In the 2020s, a wave of anti-LGBT backlash in the United States resulted in what is known as the Drag panic . As part of this backlash, some U.S. states, such as Tennessee , criminalized the public performance of drag. Camp is a visual aesthetic style often associated with gay men. An English definition of
26123-409: The term "homosexuals", because it was believed to be a more clinical term. The Times also limited its verbal and visual coverage of issues pertaining to gay men. In the 1980s, the AIDS crisis greatly affected the representation of gay men in American media. Melanie Kohnen writes that, initially, the news media portrayed AIDS as a disease that affects mainly urban, White gay men; in spite of
26296-745: The term first appeared in a 1909 edition of the Oxford English Dictionary : "ostentatious, exaggerated, affected, theatrical; effeminate or homosexual; pertaining to, characteristic of, homosexuals". From its original meaning, the term has evolved to signify an inversion of aesthetic attributes such as beauty, value, and taste through exaggeration and irony . Camp is often mistaken with kitsch and has been described as "cheesy". In 1964, Susan Sontag's essay Notes on "Camp" emphasized camp's key elements as: "artifice, frivolity, naïve middle-class pretentiousness, and shocking excess". In recent years, gay men have sought to disassociate themselves from
26469-521: The term. In a 2018 interview, director Ryan Murphy said he believed camp was "a lazy catchall that gets thrown at gay artists in order to marginalize their ambitions, to frame their work as niche" and preferred to describe his visual aesthetic style as " baroque ". As some gay men have moved away from the term, however, mainstream straight society has appropriated it. In 2019, the New York Metropolitan Museum of Art hosted its annual event,
26642-431: The time had an active underworld. In East Asia , same-sex relations between men has been noted since the earliest recorded history. Homosexuality in China , known as the passions of the cut peach and various other euphemisms, has been recorded since approximately 600 BCE. Male homosexuality was mentioned in many famous works of Chinese literature. The instances of same-sex affection and sexual interactions described in
26815-495: The true diversity of the LGBT community. Socrates Socrates ( / ˈ s ɒ k r ə t iː z / , Ancient Greek : Σωκράτης , romanized : Sōkrátēs ; c. 470 – 399 BC) was a Greek philosopher from Athens who is credited as the founder of Western philosophy and as among the first moral philosophers of the ethical tradition of thought. An enigmatic figure, Socrates authored no texts and
26988-451: The truth about Love, which he learned from a 'clever woman'. Classicist Armand D'Angour has made the case that Socrates was in his youth close to Aspasia , and that Diotima , to whom Socrates attributes his understanding of love in Symposium , is based on her; however, it is also possible that Diotima really existed. While Socrates was involved in public political and cultural debates, it
27161-437: The very truth..." Whether Socrates genuinely thought he lacked knowledge or merely feigned a belief in his own ignorance remains a matter of debate. A common interpretation is that he was indeed feigning modesty. According to Norman Gulley, Socrates did this to entice his interlocutors to speak with him. On the other hand, Terence Irwin claims that Socrates's words should be taken literally. Gregory Vlastos argues that there
27334-436: The virtues, and find themselves at an impasse , completely unable to define what they thought they understood. Socrates is known for proclaiming his total ignorance ; he used to say that the only thing he was aware of was his ignorance, seeking to imply that the realization of our ignorance is the first step in philosophizing. Socrates exerted a strong influence on philosophers in later antiquity and has continued to do so in
27507-450: The world , particularly in most of Asia and Africa . In the United States and the western world , many gay men still experience discrimination in their daily lives, though some openly gay men have reached national success and prominence, including Apple CEO Tim Cook and heads of state or government such as Xavier Bettel (Luxembourg), Edgars Rinkēvičs (Latvia), Gabriel Attal (France), and Leo Varadkar (Ireland). The word gay
27680-399: Was a Socratic method. In 1982, the scholar of ancient philosophy Gregory Vlastos claimed that the Socratic method could not be used to establish the truth or falsehood of a proposition. Rather, Vlastos argued, it was a way to show that an interlocutor's beliefs were inconsistent. There have been two main lines of thought regarding this view, depending on whether it is accepted that Socrates
27853-502: Was a dual lover of Alcibiades and philosophy, and his flirtatiousness is evident in Protagoras , Meno (76a–c) and Phaedrus (227c–d). However, the exact nature of his relationship with Alcibiades is not clear; Socrates was known for his self-restraint, while Alcibiades admits in the Symposium that he had tried to seduce Socrates but failed. The Socratic theory of love is mostly deduced from Lysis , where Socrates discusses love at
28026-442: Was also an extension of the word's sexualized connotation of "uninhibited", which implied a willingness to disregard conventional sexual mores . In court in 1889, the prostitute John Saul stated: "I occasionally do odd-jobs for different gay people." Bringing Up Baby (1938) was the first film to use the word gay in an apparent reference to homosexuality. In a scene in which Cary Grant 's character's clothes have been sent to
28199-650: Was attracted to youth, as was common and accepted in ancient Greece, he resisted his passion for young men because, as Plato describes, he was more interested in educating their souls. Socrates did not seek sex from his disciples, as was often the case between older and younger men in Athens. Politically, he did not take sides in the rivalry between the democrats and the oligarchs in Athens; he criticized both. The character of Socrates as exhibited in Apology , Crito , Phaedo and Symposium concurs with other sources to an extent that gives confidence in Plato's depiction of Socrates in these works as being representative of
28372-493: Was biased in his depiction of his former friend and teacher: he believed Socrates was treated unfairly by Athens, and sought to prove his point of view rather than to provide an impartial account. The result, said Schleiermacher, was that Xenophon portrayed Socrates as an uninspiring philosopher. By the early twentieth century, Xenophon's account was largely rejected. The philosopher Karl Joel , basing his arguments on Aristotle's interpretation of logos sokratikos , suggested that
28545-414: Was born in 470 or 469 BC to Sophroniscus and Phaenarete , a stoneworker and a midwife, respectively, in the Athenian deme of Alopece ; therefore, he was an Athenian citizen, having been born to relatively affluent Athenians. He lived close to his father's relatives and inherited, as was customary, part of his father's estate, securing a life reasonably free of financial concerns. His education followed
28718-521: Was fragmented, celebrated in a number of festivals for specific gods, such as the City Dionysia , or in domestic rituals, and there were no sacred texts. Religion intermingled with the daily life of citizens, who performed their personal religious duties mainly with sacrifices to various gods. Whether Socrates was a practicing man of religion or a 'provocateur atheist' has been a point of debate since ancient times; his trial included impiety accusations, and
28891-433: Was given the chance to offer alternative punishments for himself after being found guilty. He could have requested permission to flee Athens and live in exile, but he did not do so. According to Xenophon, Socrates made no proposals, while according to Plato he suggested free meals should be provided for him daily in recognition of his worth to Athens or, more in earnest, that a fine should be imposed on him. The jurors favoured
29064-472: Was often portrayed as a sickness, perversion, or crime. In 1967, CBC released a news segment on homosexuality; however, the segment was simply a compilation of negative stereotypes of gay men. The 1970s showed an increase in gay men's visibility in Western media with the 1972 ABC show That Certain Summer . The show was about a gay man raising a family, and although it did not show any explicit relations between
29237-639: Was ruled unconstitutional by the Ugandan Supreme Court in 2014, but retains support in the country and has been reconsidered for implementation. Of all countries in Sub-Saharan Africa, South Africa has the most liberal attitudes toward gay men. In 2006, South Africa became the fifth country in the world to legalize same-sex marriage, and the Constitution of South Africa guarantees gay men and lesbians full equal rights and protections. South Africa
29410-484: Was six years old. In 2000, McQueen had a marriage ceremony with his partner George Forsyth, a documentary filmmaker, on a yacht in Ibiza . McQueen died by suicide in 2010, shortly after the death of his mother. In recent years, gay men have continued to produce some of the most influential fashion in the world, including by designers such as Jeremy Scott (b. 1975), Jason Wu (b. 1982), and Alexander Wang (b. 1983). In
29583-478: Was sought. When the Spartans left again, however, democrats seized the opportunity to kill the oligarchs and reclaim the government of Athens. The accusations against Socrates were initiated by a poet, Meletus , who asked for the death penalty in accordance with the charge of asebeia . Other accusers were Anytus and Lycon. After a month or two, in late spring or early summer, the trial started and likely went on for most of one day. There were two main sources for
29756-671: Was the sole abstainer, choosing to risk the tyrants' wrath and retribution rather than to participate in what he considered to be a crime. Socrates attracted great interest from the Athenian public and especially the Athenian youth. He was notoriously ugly, having a flat turned-up nose, bulging eyes and a large belly; his friends joked about his appearance. Socrates was indifferent to material pleasures, including his own appearance and personal comfort. He neglected personal hygiene, bathed rarely, walked barefoot , and owned only one ragged coat. He moderated his eating, drinking, and sex, although he did not practice full abstention. Although Socrates
29929-482: Was true that Socrates did not stand for democracy during the reign of the Thirty Tyrants and that most of his pupils were against the democrats. The case for it being a political persecution is usually challenged by the existence of an amnesty that was granted to Athenian citizens in 403 BC to prevent escalation to civil war after the fall of the Thirty. However, as the text from Socrates's trial and other texts reveal,
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