ABSTRACT
With the hostility expressed by religion, the law, and medicine to homosexuality, homosexuals generally in the past did not proclaim their sexual preference. Accusations, of course, do not prove homosexuality, since charges of being a sodomist could refer to many other varieties of sexual behavior, and since charges could be leveled for a variety of reasons, often political. In spite of Aristotle’s belief that homosexuality might possibly be habit-forming, pederasty was institutionalized within both the military and educational system of Greece. Magnus Hirschfeld, the great German pioneer in the investigation of homosexuality, visited Philadelphia and Boston as part of his studies. He reported that he could scarcely detect any outward evidence of homosexuality. Literature in fact remains one of the major sources of gaining information about homosexuality, and many writers of the past have included references to homosexuality in their works.
