Sexual activity with a member of the same sex. There has been considerable debate among psychiatrists as to whether homosexuality should be regarded as a normal sexual variant or as a psycho-pathological development or deviation. Although homosexuality is found in virtually every society and culture, there is no society in which it is the predominant or preferred mode of sexual activity. Various attempts have been made to link homosexuality to hormonal factors, particularly lowered TESTOSTERONE levels, or to ?nd a genetic explanation, but there is no evidence for either. Psychoanalytic theories link homosexuality to early child-rearing in?uences, in particular the close-binding and intimate mother.
The number of homosexual men and women in the UK is unknown. Re-analysis of the Kinsey report suggests that only 3 per cent of adult men have exclusively homosexual leanings and a further 3 per cent have extensive homosexual and heterosexual experience. Homosexuality among women (lesbianism) seems to be less common. Some homosexual men have high rates of sexual activity and multiple partners and, as with heterosexual men and women, this increases the risk of acquiring sexually transmitted diseases, unless appropriate precautionary measures are taken – for example, the use of condoms for penetrative sex, whether vaginal or anal. It was in homosexual males that the virus responsible for AIDS (see AIDS/HIV) was ?rst identi?ed, but the infection now occurs in both sexes.... homosexuality
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