Homosexuality is universal -- as universal as man himself. The practice has been recorded in the literature of most societies. Although homosexuality has at times been accorded a place of special respect, occasionally regarded as the prerogative of a particular class, more frequently it has been subjected to societal punishment. This study analyses the pattern of social relationships among homosexuals under conditions of repression characteristic of American urban society. It is the object of his sexual drive that distinguishes the homosexual from other men. Society condemns such behaviour and subjects the sexual deviant to severe social sanctions. Thus the homosexual finds himself defined as a criminal by the law makers, as a perpetrator of unnatural and ungodly acts by the churches, and a pervert by the ordinary men and women of society. These evaluations of his behaviour create the particular set of social problems which confront the homosexual. The general vulnerability of his position within society imposes the limitations upon his activities and determines to a great extent the type of adjustment which he is able to make to the larger social environment. In an attempt to solve his social problems. the practising homosexual has become involved in a distinctive, separate, and somewhat secret set of social relationships which we shall call “homosexual society”. This distinctive society is a response to the need to communicate with others for the satisfaction of sexual drives under conditions of social repression. The emergence of homosexual society is therefore an adaptation to the limitations and restrictions imposed by the larger heterosexual culture. [...]
| Identifer | oai:union.ndltd.org:LACETR/oai:collectionscanada.gc.ca:QMM.97828 |
| Date | January 1954 |
| Creators | Leznoff, Maurice |
| Publisher | McGill University |
| Source Sets | Library and Archives Canada ETDs Repository / Centre d'archives des thèses électroniques de Bibliothèque et Archives Canada |
| Language | English |
| Detected Language | English |
| Type | Electronic Thesis or Dissertation |
| Format | application/pdf |
| Coverage | Master of Arts (Department of Sociology) |
| Rights | All items in eScholarship@McGill are protected by copyright with all rights reserved unless otherwise indicated. |
| Relation | alephsysno: 003513858, Theses scanned by McGill Library. |
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