Homophobia: A History Book

The first comprehensive treatment of the history of homophobia--from ancient Athens to the halls of Congress. A tour de force of historical and literary research, Byrne Fone's chronicle of homophobia is the first book to give a complete account of the evolution of hatred toward homosexuals. Delving into literary sources as diverse as Elizabethan poetry, Greek philosophy, and the Victorian novel, as well as historical texts such as papal bulls and trial transcripts, Fone finds that same-sex desire has always been the object of social antipathy and of legal, social, and religious persecution, even during periods of relative tolerance. Fone shows how the biblical story of Sodom became the scriptural source for later prohibitions against homosexuality. He examines changes in sodomy statutes over the centuries to discern subtle shifts in public attitudes and trace the remote origins of our own age's obsessive fear of homosexuality. Fone concludes that homophobia thrives during periods of rapid social and economic change, when traditional notions of gender come under intense scrutiny. A bold and original work of scholarship, Homophobia is certain to become a classic in its field.Read More