Over the course of history, many cross-cultural efforts have been made to understand better the form and function of male same-sex behaviour. Initial naming exercises evaluated the sexual actions taken, and categorized these behaviours as expressions of crime, sin and disease. Various historical accounts note that it was in fin-de-siècle Germany and England, however, that several concepts were developed for the first time to encapsulate male same-sex behaviour, and to identify the type of men engaging in such conduct, in a more tolerant way. Operating within the taxonomic impulse of the eighteenth century, sexology — the scientific study of sexualities and sexual preferences that were considered to be unusual, rare, or marginalized — spurred the development of these new concepts. In the aim of better understanding humans through scientifically evaluating, quantifying, and labelling their sexual form and function, sexology moved male same-sex behaviour beyond the notions of crime, sin and disease. This thesis argues that the key works of sexologists Karl Heinrich Ulrichs (1825-1895), Károly Mária Kertbeny (1824-1882), Henry Havelock Ellis (1859-1939) and Magnus Hirschfeld (1868-1935) were instrumental to the theoretical endeavour of reclassifying male same-sex behaviour. These four sexologists operated within the parameters of what Foucault calls scientia sexualis: the machinery needed for producing the truth of sex via confessional testimony. Through their own confessional testimony, and testimony collected from other men with same-sex behaviour, Ulrichs, Kertbeny, Ellis and Hirschfeld deemed same-sex behaviour to be a phenomenon based on congenital conditions and one which manifested itself in the form of an inherent sex/gender misalignment. While this behaviour was uncommon, it was not abnormal due to its biological origin. Same-sex behaviour was simply an anomaly of sorts — one specific and rare form of attraction on a spectrum of possibilities. This rationalization of same-sex behaviour differed greatly from the work of other sexologists of the time who evaluated same-sex behaviour to be symptomatic of crime, sin and disease like degeneration theorist Richard von Krafft-Ebing. In arguing that same-sex behaviour developed naturally prior to birth, Ulrichs, Kertbeny, Ellis and Hirschfeld empowered men with same-sex behaviour to negotiate new identities for themselves outside of crime, sin and disease. This discursive rebranding of same-sex behaviour is an example of what feminist postructuralism labels as reverse discourse. In order to negotiate new identities for themselves and others with congenital same-sex behaviour, Ulrichs, Kertbeny, Ellis and Hirschfeld developed four specific concepts. These terms are: Urning (1865), homosexualität (1869), sexual inversion (1897), and third sex (1914). While these examples of reverse discourse were operationalized within restrictive conceptualizations of gender expression, they moved away from classifying same-sex behaviour as temporary acts to classifying those engaging in this behaviour as a specific species of people. This transition from sexual act to personage has been elaborated upon most famously by Michel Foucault in The History of Sexuality, Volume 1 (1978/1990).

Deux populations de tortues d’Hermann (Testudo hermanni, une espèce à maturité tardive ~10 ans) ont été étudiées sur le continent et sur une île dans la région du lac Prespa en Macédoine. Avant la maturité, la croissance des tortues est lente, puis accélère, entrainant une augmentation des taux de survie annuelle (de 0.30 à 0.70) et des variations de taille. Un potentiel pour une croissance continue, le durcissement de la carapace et un plateau de survie à cinq ans (0.90) induisent de fortes variations interindividuelles des trajectoires de croissance, et donnent une gamme étendue des tailles asymptotiques. Nos données questionnent la notion d’une taille unique à maturité puisqu‘une augmentation progressive des taux de testostérone suggère que la maturité s’établit pour des tailles entre 115 et 140 mm. Dans le genre Testudo les femelles sont plus grandes que les mâles ; les estimations des tailles asymptotiques observées le confirment. Mais sur l’île les plus grandes tortues sont des mâles. Avec ~100 individus/ha et un sexe ratio opérationnel (OSR ♂/♀) de ~11, la coercition exercée par les mâles entraine des blessures cloacales chez les femelles et dégrade leur condition corporelle, augmentant les coûts des accouplements. La survie des mâles (0.97) surpasse celle des femelles (0.84). Les femelles insulaires ne vivent pas longtemps, sont détournées de la reproduction et le faible recrutement biaise encore le sexe ratio, poussant la population vers l’extinction. Les rares femelles souffrent tandis que les mâles frustrés exhibent des comportements homosexuels fréquents, voire exubérants. Ces résultats sont discutés dans un contexte de conservation. / Two populations, island and mainland, of promiscuous sexually coercive Hermann tortoises (Testudo hermanni, a species with delayed maturity ~10 years) from the Prespa Region in Macedonia were scrutinized. Prior maturity, tortoises first grow slowly, thereafter gradually increase growth speed, variation in body size and survival probability (mean annual survival rate: 0.30 to 0.70). Potential for indeterminate growth, progressive hardening of the carapace and a survival plateau at the age of five (0.90) promote inter-individual variations in growth trajectories and a wide range of adult asymptotic sizes. Our data question the classical notion of a given size at maturity; instead progressive raise of testosterone levels suggests that maturity is established in growing males ranging from 115 to 140mm in body length. In the Testudo genus females are larger than males; asymptotic estimates of body size show that the studied populations make no exception. Yet, the largest island tortoises are males. With ~100 individuals/ha and an operational sex ratio (OSR ♂/♀) of ~11, male sexual coercion provokes cloacal injuries to females and reduces their body-condition, increasing female mating costs. Male adult survival (0.97) is greater compared to female survival (0.84). Island females do not live long, are discouraged from reproduction and low recruitment further exacerbates OSR-bias, eventually leading to population extinction. Where females suffer and are underrepresented, frustrated males exhibit frequent same-sex sexual behaviours along with extravagant sexual behaviours. The results are discussed in a conservation framework.