ABSTRACT
When we say that early-modern England did not have gay men, what does that mean? What we do not find is a dawning awareness in early adolescence that an individual has a distinct, shameful sexual interest which he must fight against and then accept, probably with the support of a likeminded subcultural network. We don’t find the early-modern young man having awkward relations with girls, or anguished suspicion and revelations in his family, or losing his job if exposed. No one suggests that it is risky to have a strong mother and a weak or absent father; no one tries to change their preference through therapy or religion. No correlation is implied between sexual preference and sensitivity to art and letters.
