Sexual minority
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A sexual minority is a group whose sexual identity, orientation or practices differ from the majority of the surrounding society. It can also refer to transgender[1], genderqueer (including third gender[2]) or intersex individuals. The term is primarily used to refer to LGB individuals, particularly gay people.[3]
More recently, the catch-all terms GSM ("Gender and Sexual Minorities"),[4] GSRM ("Gender, Sexual, and Romantic Minorities"), and GSD ("Gender and Sexual Diversity")[5] have been proposed.[lower-alpha 1]
Origins
The term was coined most likely in the late 1960s under the influence of Lars Ullerstam's ground breaking book "The Erotic Minorities: A Swedish View" which came strongly in favor of tolerance and empathy to uncommon varieties of sexuality, such as paedophilia and "sex criminals".[6] The term was used as analogous to ethnic minority.[7][8]
Scientists such as Ritch Savin-Williams support using the term in order to accurately describe adolescent youths who may not identify as any common culturally-defined sexual identity label (lesbian, gay, bisexual, et cetera) but who still have attractions towards those of the same anatomical sex as themselves.[9]
Controversy
Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found. Some LGBT people object to using the term sexual minorities in relation to them, and prefer the term LGBT. Reasons for these objections may vary. For example, some LGBT people feel that the term sexual minority needlessly reminds them about discrimination and about being a minority. They want to be not a distinct minority but an integral and respectable part of the society. Some other LGBT people dislike the term for being too inclusive, including swingers, polyamorists, BDSM people and other perceived "sexual strangers". These LGBT people want to make a larger distance between these sexual practices and bisexuality/homosexuality/transgender.
Some transgender people dislike the term sexual minority for yet another reason. They argue that the phenomenon of transsexuality or transgender has nothing to do with sex, sexual practices or sexual orientation, but it relates to the gender, gender dysphoria and gender-variant behavior or feelings. Thus, they feel it is incorrect to classify them as "sexual minority", when, in fact, they are gender-variant minority.
Some conservative groups oppose the use of the term sexual minority for completely different reasons. They think or feel that the term inherently implies some degree of legalisation or protection for those engaged in such sexual practices, much like ethnic minorities are protected from being discriminated or persecuted in modern democratic countries.
Some people dislike the term because it includes minority, when the fact is that not all these categories are really about minorities but actually about minorised groups.
Others referred to as "sexual minorities" include fetishists and practitioners in of BDSM.[9] The term may also include asexuals[10][11] and people who may be strictly heterosexual and whose choice of actual sex acts may be vanilla, but whose choice of partner or partners is atypical, such as swingers (although this is debated),[12] polyamorists[13] or people in other nonmonogamous relationships, people who strongly prefer sex partners of a disparate age[14] or people who engage in mixed race relationships.
Usually, the term sexual minority is applied only to groups who practice consensual sex: for example, it would be unusual to refer to rapists as a sexual minority, but the term would generally include someone whose sexuality gave a major, fetishized role to consensual playing out of a rape fantasy. Also, someone who very occasionally incorporates of consensual kink[13] or same-sex activity into a largely vanilla, heterosexual sex life would not usually be described as a sexual minority.
Lars Ullerstam
Lars Ullerstam was a medical doctor and psychiatrist in Stockholm, capital of Sweden. Ullerstam argued that what most of his contemporaries viewed as paraphilias were in fact part of the normal spectrum of sexuality,[15] (including homosexuality, necrophilia and paedophilia), and avocated for state brothels to be introduced in Sweden.[16]
See also
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Notes
- ↑ See also: Variants of the term "LGBT".
References
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- ↑ Organisation proposes replacing the 'limiting' term LGBT with 'more inclusive' GSD, February 25, 2013
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- ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
- ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
- ↑ 9.0 9.1 Savin-Williams, Ritch C. "A critique of research on sexual-minority youths." Journal of adolescence 24.1 (2001): 5-13.
- ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
- ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
- ↑ Rust, Paula C. "The politics of sexual identity: Sexual attraction and behavior among lesbian and bisexual women." Social Problems 39, no. 4 (1992) p.8 "Sexual minorities are not merely people who engage in "deviant" sexual behavior -- for example, fetishists of various types -- or even those that adopt "deviant" (sexual) identities (e.g. "swingers")."
- ↑ 13.0 13.1 Nichols, Margaret, and M. I. C. H. A. E. L. Shernoff. "Therapy with sexual minorities." Principles and practice of sex therapy 4 (2000): 353-367.
- ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
- ↑ Gränsen för det otillåtna, Åsa Bergenheim, Uppsala universitet (Swedish)
- ↑ I boken beskriver han att många av hans vänner o kollegor hade familjesex, något naturligt för honom. Han var även yrkesverksam i Stockholm. Apoteket borde hålla händerna på täcket, Per Gudmundsom i SvD 22 maj 2008 (Swedish)
