ABSTRACT
The growing national public awareness of homosexuality and the rise of new social concepts of homosexuality prompted sociologists to study homosexuality. This chapter examines the homosexual man through the lenses of marginality theory and the notion of stigma. It discusses the reasons behind the collapse of the Assimilationism model and offers a search for alternatives. Two major world developments contributed to the troubles faced by the Assimilationist Model: The first was the post independence experience of the so-called 'new nations', the former European colonies in Asia and Africa, newly granted their freedom in the great retreat of colonialism in the extended aftermath of World War II'. Atkinson, Morton and Sue developed a model of identity development for ethnic minorities that describes a process of identity formation through developmental stages. The life of a British-born Cypriot often means a life that is lived within three communities: the gay community, the Cypriot community, and the predominantly white heterosexual mainstream society.
