Homosexuality

Many believe that higher Education leads to an increase in tolerance towards individual who are different. There are some empirical findings to support this premise; however the impact of higher education on acceptance of homosexuality has not been adequately explored. Gays and Lesbian in society face many negative attitudes. Homosexual expression in native Africa was also present and took a variety of forms. Anthropologists Stephen Murray and Will Roscoe reported that women in Lesotho engaged in socially sanctioned “long term, erotic relationships” called motsoalle.

The first record of possible homosexual couple in history is commonly regarded as Khnumhotep and Niankhkhnum, an Egyptian male 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. In Homosexual and transgender individuals were also common among other pre-conquest civilizations in Latin America, such as the Aztecs, Mayans, Quechuas, Moches, Zapotecs, and the Tupinamba of Brazil In East Asia, same-sex love has been referred to 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. Homosexuality was mentioned in many famous works of Chinese literature. Homosexuality in Japan, variously known as shudo or nanshoku has been documented for over one thousand years and was an integral part of Buddhist monastic life and the samurai tradition. This same-sex love culture gave rise to strong traditions of painting and literature documenting and celebrating such relationships.

Similarly, in Thailand, Kathoey, or “ladyboys”, have been a feature of Thai society for many centuries, and Thai kings had male as well as female lovers. While Kathoey may encompass simple effeminacy or transvestism, it most commonly is treated in Thai culture as a third gender. They are generally accepted by society, and Thailand has never had legal prohibitions against homosexuality or homosexual behavior. South Asia, The Laws of Manu, the foundational work of Hindu law, mentions a “third sex”, members of which may engage in nontraditional gender expression and homosexual activities.

Europe, In regard of male homosexuality such documents depict a world in which relationships with women and relationships with youths were the essential foundation of a normal man’s love life. Same-sex relationships were a social institution variously constructed over time and from one city to another. Middle East, among some Middle Eastern Muslim cultures, egalitarian or age-structured homosexual practices were widespread and thinly veiled.

The prevailing pattern of same-sex relationships in the temperate and sub-tropical zone stretching from Northern India to the Western Sahara is one in which the relationships were—and are—either gender-structured or age-structured or both. In recent years, egalitarian relationships modeled on the western pattern have become more frequent, though they remain rare. Same-sex intercourse officially carries the death penalty in several Muslim nations: Saudi Arabia, Iran, Mauritania, northern Nigeria, Sudan, and Yemen. Today, governments in the Middle East often ignore, deny the existence of, or criminalize homosexuality.

Homosexuality is illegal in almost all Muslim countries. Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, during his 2007 speech at Columbia University, asserted that there were no gay people in Iran. However, the probable reason is that they keep their sexuality a secret for fear of government sanction or rejection by their families. Israel is considered the most tolerant country in the Middle East and Asia to homosexuals, while the Israeli city Tel Aviv has been named “the gay capital of the Middle East,” and is considered one of the most gay friendly cities in the world.

The annual Pride Parade in support of homosexuality takes place in Tel Aviv. In many societies of Melanesia, especially in Papua New Guinea, same-sex relationships were an integral part of the culture until the middle of the last century. Tel Aviv, “The gay capital of the Middle East”, Tel Aviv is one of the most popular destinations for LGBT tourists internationally, with a large LGBT community. American journalist David Kaufman has described the city as a place “packed with the kind of ‘we’re here, we’re queer’ vibe more typically found in Sydney and San Francisco.

The city hosts its well-known pride parade, the biggest in Asia, attracting over 100,000 people yearly. In January 2008, Tel Aviv’s municipality established the city’s LGBT Community Center, providing all of the municipal and cultural services to the LGBT community under one roof. In December 2008, Tel Aviv began putting together a team of gay athletes for the 2009 World Out games in Copenhagen. In addition, Tel Aviv hosts an annual LGBT Film Festival. Lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender ( LGBT ) people in the Philippines have a dinstinctive culture but limited egal rights. Gays and lesbians are generally tolerated, if not accepted within Filipino society, but there is still widespread discrimination. The most visible member of the Filipino LGBT culture, the BAKLA, are a distinct group in the Philippines. According to the 2002 YOUNG ADULT FERTILITY and SEXUALITY SURVEY, 11% of sexuality active Filipinos between the ages of 15 and 24 have had sex with someone of the same sex. In the Philippines, the term gay is used in reference to any LGBT person.

For Filipino gays, the tagalog phrase, pagladlad ng kapa ( “ unfurling the cape” ) or more commonly just paglaladlad ( “unfurling or unveiling” ) refers to the coming-out process, tibo, t-bird and tomboy are degoratory terms for butch lesbians just as bakla is for effeminategay men. Some lesbians, both butch and femme, use the terms magic or shunggril to refer to themselves. Neutral s;ang terms for gay men include billy boy, badette, bading and paminta ( straight – action gay man). Although legislation supporting same-sex marriage in the Philippines has been proposed several times to the Philippine legislature, none has ever been passed.