The first recorded appearance of a deep emotional bond between adult men in ancient Greek culture was in the Iliad (800 BC). Homer does not depict the relationship between Achilles and Patroclus as sexual. The ancient Athenians emphasised the supposed age difference between the two by portraying Patroclus with a beard in paintings and pottery, while Achilles is clean-shaven, although Achilles was an almost godlike figure in Greek society. This led to a disagreement about which to perceive as erastes and which eromenos among elites such as Aeschylus and Pausanias [ citation needed], since Homeric tradition made Patroclus out to be older but Achilles stronger. It has been noted, however, that the depictions of characters on pottery do not represent reality and may cater to the beauty standards of ancient Athens. Other ancients such as Xenophon held that Achilles and Patroclus were simply close friends. The roots of Greek pederasty lie in the tribal past of Greece, before the rise of the city-state as a unit of political organization. These tribal communities were organized according to age groups. When it came time for a boy to embrace the age group of the adult and to "become a man", he would leave the tribe in the company of an older man for a period of time that constituted a rite of passage. This older man would educate the youth in the ways of Greek life and the responsibilities of adulthood. [9] [ bettersourceneeded]

Mercedes de Acosta, a successful poet, playwright, and screenwriter, was an out and proud lesbian who bragged that she could have any woman she wanted. After meeting Hollywood icon Greta Garbo in 1931, she knew exactly what woman that was. Cohen, David (1994). Law, Sexuality, and Society: The Enforcement of Morals in Classical Athens. Cambridge University: Cambridge University Press. p.6. ISBN 9780521466424. Some scholars believe that same-sex relationships, especially pederasty, were common only among the aristocracy, and that such relationships were not widely practised by the common people ( demos). One such scholar is Bruce Thornton, who argues that insults directed at pederastic males in the comedies of Aristophanes show the common people's dislike for the practice. [36] Other scholars, such as Victoria Wohl [ de], emphasize that in Athens, same-sex desire was part of the "sexual ideology of the democracy", shared by the elite and the demos, as exemplified by the tyrant-slayers, Harmodius and Aristogeiton. [37] Even those who argue that pederasty was limited to the upper classes generally concede that it was "part of the social structure of the polis". [36] Alexander was overwhelmed by his grief for Hephaestion, so much that Arrian records that Alexander "flung himself on the body of his friend and lay there nearly all day long in tears, and refused to be parted from him until he was dragged away by force by his Companions". [31] Some have suggested that they shared a homosexual relationship together, however historians have challenged that claim, stating instead that Hephaestion was "his closest and dearest friend". [32] Love between adult women [ edit ]Reports pertaining to the prevalence of anal sex among MSM have varied over time, with some percentages higher than others. [6] [12] [13] [14] A large percentage of gay and bisexual men self-report lifetime participation in anal sex. [6] Studies among gay men have indicated that percentages are similar when comparing men who prefer to penetrate their partners to those who prefer to be the receptive partner. [6] [15] Some men who have sex with men, however, believe that being a receptive partner during anal sex questions their masculinity. [16] [17] Non-penetrative sex and masturbation Two men engaged in frot by rubbing their penises together I honestly believe love has no boundaries and as long as your love doesn’t harm anybody, then it should not concern anybody else than those involved. More recent work published by James Davidson and Hubbard have challenged this model, arguing that it is reductionist and have provided evidence to the contrary. [21] Rosenthal, Martha (2012). Human Sexuality: From Cells to Society. Cengage Learning. pp.133–135. ISBN 978-0618755714 . Retrieved September 17, 2012. Considerable controversy has engaged the scholarly world concerning the nature of same-sex relationships among the ancient Greeks described by Thomas Hubbard in the Introduction to Homosexuality in Greece and Rome, A Source Book of Basic Documents, 2007, p.2: "The field of Gay Studies has, virtually since its inception, been divided between 'essentialists' those who believe in an archetypical pattern of same gender attraction that is universal, transhistorical, and transcultural, and "social constructionists", those who hold that patterns of sexual preference manifest themselves with different significance in different societies and that no essential identity exists between practitioners of same-gender love in, for instance, ancient Greece and post industrial Western society. Some social constructionists have even gone so far as to deny that sexual preference was a significant category for the ancients or that any kind of subculture based on sexual object-choice existed in the ancient world", p. 2 (he cites Halperin and Foucault in the social constructionist camp and Boswell and Thorp in the essentialist; cf. E. Stein for a collection of essays, Forms of Desire: Sexual Orientation and the Social Constructionist Controversy, 1992). Hubbard states that "Close examination of a range of ancient texts suggests, however, that some forms of sexual preference were, in fact, considered a distinguishing characteristic of individuals. Many texts even see such preferences as inborn qualities and as "essential aspects of human identity..." ibid. Hubbard utilizes both schools of thought when these seem pertinent to the ancient texts, pp.2–20.

These relationships were not what we would today call homosexual. The older lover would typically have a wife at home and the younger lover would be expected to marry a woman later in life. The pederastic partnership was also heavily hedged about with social rules. Many Greek poets lamented the first growth of a boy's beard because that was the age at which their relationship had to end. Any man who carried on sexual relationships with other adults could expect to find themselves deeply ridiculed. The plays of Aristophanes contain lacerating lampoons of 'men-lovers'. The relationship between them has been interpreted by some authors from Roman times onwards as romantic or homoerotic. The dialogue Erotes ("Affairs of the Heart"), attributed to Lucian, compares the merits and advantages of heteroeroticism and homoeroticism, and Orestes and Pylades are presented as the principal representatives of a loving friendship.

Breyer, Benjamin N.; Smith, James F.; Eisenberg, Michael L.; Ando, Kathryn A.; Rowen, Tami S.; Shindel, Alan W. (July 2010). "The Impact of Sexual Orientation on Sexuality and Sexual Practices in North American Medical Students". The Journal of Sexual Medicine. 7 (7): 2391–2400. doi: 10.1111/j.1743-6109.2010.01794.x. PMC 3607668. PMID 20384941. In 1930, Elbe's gender dysphoria drove her to seek out gender-confirmation surgery in Germany. The procedure was highly experimental at the time -- Lili is one of the first identifiable subjects -- and took four operations over two years. As Elbe's procedure gained press, Danish courts invalidated her marriage to Gottlieb, who remarried and moved to Italy. Calimach, Andrew, Lovers' Legends: The Gay Greek Myths, New Rochelle, Haiduk Press, 2002, ISBN 978-0-9714686-0-3

Cavanaugh, Mariah. “Ancient Greek Pederasty: Education or Exploitation?” Web log. StMU Research Scholars (blog). St. Mary’s University, December 3, 2017. https://stmuscholars.org/ancient-greek-pederasty-education-or-exploitation/#marker-77603-10.a b Joel J. Heidelbaugh (2007). Clinical men's health: evidence in practice. Elsevier Health Sciences. p.273. ISBN 978-1-4160-3000-3 . Retrieved October 14, 2011.