Homophile

The word homophile is an alternative to the words homosexual or gay. The homophile movement also refers to the gay rights movement of the 1950s and '60s. "The New Homophiles" refers to an emerging school of Christian writers and thinkers who see homosexual attraction as a gift to be embraced and seek development of Christian teaching.

Etymology

The term homophile is favoured by some because it emphasizes love ("-phile" from Greek φιλία) rather than sex. Coined by the German astrologist, author and psychoanalyst Karl-Günther Heimsoth in his 1924 doctoral dissertation "Hetero- und Homophilie," the term was in common use in the 1950s and 1960s by homosexual organizations and publications; the groups of this period are now known collectively as the homophile movement.

The term homophile began to disappear with the emergence of the Gay Liberation movements of the late 1960s and early 1970s, replaced by a new set of terminology such as gay, lesbian, bisexual, and transgender, although some of the original homophile groups survived until the 1980s, 1990s and even the present day. The Church of England has used the term "homophile" in certain contexts since at least 1991 – e.g., "homophile orientation" and "sexually active homophile relationship".^[1]

In recent years the term "homophile" has also been adopted by anti-gay groups and Christian fundamentalists, particularly in the United States and Poland, as a term of abuse for gay men and lesbians^{[citation needed]} by attempting to imply^{[citation needed]} a link between homosexuality and paedophilia, notionally treating "homophile" as a portmanteau of "homo-sexual" and "paedo-phile". (However, crime statistics and studies on gay parenting have failed to demonstrate any higher prevalence of child abuse by gay or lesbian criminals or parents when compared to heterosexual criminals or parents.^[2])

In almost all languages where the words "homophile" and "homosexual" were both in use (i.e., their cognate equivalents: German Homophil and Homosexuel, Italian omofilo and omosessuale, etc.), "homosexual" won out as the modern conventional neutral term. One exception is Norwegian, where the opposite happened, and "homofil[i]" is the modern conventional neutral term for "homosexual[ity]" in Norwegian. Quoting and translating from the Norwegian (Nynorsk) Wikipedia article "Homofili":

[...] In English and American, "homophilia" was used to some extent; but by the end of the 1960s, it was replaced [in those languages] by "homosexual", "gay", and "lesbian". "Homofili" was first used in Norwegian in a 1951 brochure from the Norwegian branch of the Danish "League of 1948". Norway is one of the few countries (the only country?) where this idea [to use words based on "homophil-" instead of "homosexual-"] is still widespread.^[3]

Homophile Movement (1940-1970)

After the gains made by the homosexual rights movements of the late 19th and early 20th centuries, the vibrant homosexual subcultures of the 20s and 30s became silent as war engulfed Europe. Germany, the traditional home of such movements (Scientific-Humanitarian Committee) and activists (Magnus Hirschfeld, Ernst Burchard, Karl Heinrich Ulrichs or Max Spohr), went from being the best place in Europe to be gay, lesbian or transgender, to the worst, under the Nazis. The Swiss journal Der Kreis ("the circle") was the only homosexual publication in Europe to publish during the Nazi era. Der Kreis was edited by Anna Vock, and later Karl Meier; the group gradually shifted from being female-dominated to male-dominated through the 1930s, as the tone of the magazine simultaneously became less militant.

After the war, organizations began to re-form, such as the Dutch COC in 1946. Other, new organizations arose, including Forbundet af 1948 ("League of 1948"), founded by Axel Axgil in Denmark, with Helmer Fogedgaard publishing an associated magazine called Vennen (The Friend) from January 1949 until 1953. Fogedgaard used the pseudonym "Homophilos," introducing the concept of "homophile" in May 1950, unaware that the word had been presented as an alternative term a few months previously by Jaap van Leeuwen, one of the founders of the Dutch COC. The word soon spread among members of the emerging post-war movement who were happy to emphasize the respectable romantic side of their relationships over genital sexuality.

A Swedish branch of Forbundet af 1948 was formed in 1949 and a Norwegian branch in 1950. The Swedish organization became independent under the name Riksförbundet för sexuellt likaberättigande (RFSL, "Federation for Sexual Equality") in 1950, led by Allan Hellman. The same year in the United States, the Mattachine Society was formed, and other organizations such as ONE, Inc. (1952) and the Daughters of Bilitis (1955) soon followed. By 1954, the monthly sales of ONE's magazine peaked at 16,000. Homophile organizations elsewhere include Arcadie (1954) in France and the British Homosexual Law Reform Society (founded 1958).

These groups are generally considered to have been politically cautious, in comparison to the LGBT movements that both preceded and followed them. Historian Michael Sibalis describes the belief of the French homophile group Arcadie, "that public hostility to homosexuals resulted largely from their outrageous and promiscuous behaviour; homophiles would win the good opinion of the public and the authorities by showing themselves to be discreet, dignified, virtuous and respectable."^[4] However, while few were prepared to come out, they did risk severe persecution, and some figures within the Homophile movement such as the American communist Harry Hay were more radical.

In 1951, the president and vice-president of the Dutch COC initiated an International Congress of European homophile groups, which resulted in the formation of the International Committee for Sexual Equality (ICSE). The ICSE brought together, among other groups, the Forbundet of 1948 (Scandinavia), the Riksförbundet för Sexuellt Likaberättigande (Sweden), Arcadie (France), Der Kreis (Swiss), and, later, ONE (U.S.A.). Historian Leila Rupp describes the ICSE as a classic example of transnational organizing; "It created a network across national borders, nurtured a transnational homophile identity, and engaged in activism designed to change both laws and minds." However, the ICSE failed to last beyond the early 1960s due to poor attendance at meetings, lack of active leaders, and failure of members to pay dues.^[5]

By the mid-1960s, gays, lesbians and transpeople in the United States were forming more visible communities, and this was reflected in the political strategies of American homophile groups. From the mid-1960s, they engaged in picketing and sit-ins, identifying themselves in public space for the first time. Formed in 1964, the San Franciscan Society for Individual Rights (SIR) had a new openness and a more participatory democratic structure. SIR was focused on building community, and sponsored drag shows, dinners, bridge clubs, bowling leagues, softball games, field trips, art classes and meditation groups. In 1966, SIR opened the nation's first gay and lesbian community center, and by 1968 they had over 1000 members, making them the largest homophile organization in the country. The world's first gay bookstore had opened in New York the year before. A 1965 gay picket held in front of Independence Hall in Philadelphia, according to some historians, marked the beginning of the modern gay rights movement. Meanwhile in San Francisco in 1966, transgender street prostitutes in the poor neighborhood of Tenderloin rioted against police harassment at a popular all-night restaurant, Gene Compton's Cafeteria. These and other activities of public resistance to oppression lead to a feeling of Gay Liberation that was soon to give a name to a new movement.

In 1963, homophile organizations in New York City, Philadelphia and Washington, D.C. joined together to form East Coast Homophile Organizations (ECHO) to more closely coordinate their activities. The success of ECHO inspired other homophile groups across the country to explore the idea of forming a national homophile umbrella group. This was done with the formation in 1966 of the North American Conference of Homophile Organizations (NACHO, rhymes with Waco).^[6] NACHO held annual conferences, helped start dozens of local gay groups across the country and issued position papers on a variety of LGBT-related issues. It organized national demonstrations, including a May 1966 action against military discrimination that included the country's first gay motorcade.^[7] Through its legal defense fund, NACHO challenged anti-gay laws and regulations ranging from immigration issues and military service to the legality of serving alcohol to homosexuals.^[8] NACHO disbanded after a contentious 1970 conference at which older members and younger members, radicalized in the wake of the 1969 Stonewall riots, clashed.^[9] Gay Sunshine magazine declared the convention "the battle that ended the homophile movement".^[10]

The Church of England has used the term "homophile" in certain contexts since at least 1991 – e.g., "homophile orientation" and "sexually active homophile relationship".^[11]

In recent years the term "homophile" has also been adopted by anti-gay groups and Christian fundamentalists, particularly in the United States and Poland, as a term of abuse for gay men and lesbians^{[citation needed]} by attempting to imply^{[citation needed]} a link between homosexuality and paedophilia, notionally treating "homophile" as a portmanteau of "homo-sexual" and "paedo-phile". (However, crime statistics and studies on gay parenting have failed to demonstrate any higher prevalence of child abuse by gay or lesbian criminals or parents when compared to heterosexual criminals or parents.^[12])

In almost all languages where the words "homophile" and "homosexual" were both in use (i.e., their cognate equivalents: German Homophil and Homosexuel, Italian omofilo and omosessuale, etc.), "homosexual" won out as the modern conventional neutral term. One exception is Norwegian, where the opposite happened, and "homofil[i]" is the modern conventional neutral term for "homosexual[ity]" in Norwegian. Quoting and translating from the Norwegian (Nynorsk) Wikipedia article "Homofili":

[...] In English and American, "homophilia" was used to some extent; but by the end of the 1960s, it was replaced [in those languages] by "homosexual", "gay", and "lesbian". "Homofili" was first used in Norwegian in a 1951 brochure from the Norwegian branch of the Danish "League of 1948". Norway is one of the few countries (the only country?) where this idea [to use words based on "homophil-" instead of "homosexual-"] is still widespread.^[13]

The New Homophiles (2000-Present)

In 2013, Austin Ruse coined the term "The New Homophiles" to describe a new school of Christian writers and thinkers who see homosexual attraction as a gift to be embraced. Ruse is the current President of the Catholic Family and Human Rights Institute and writes regularly for Crisis Magazine and Breitbart.com. According to Ruse, New Homophiles accept Church teaching regarding the immorality of homosexual acts, but also believe "God made them gay so they want to be known as gay and they want the Church to accept them on those terms. And they believe being gay is part of God’s plan and vocation for them."^[14][15][16]

The New Homophiles are inspired by the work of Aelred of Rievaulx, a twelfth century Cistercian monk, who wrote the treatise, “On Spiritual Friendship.” Aelred has been adopted by many homosexuals, some of whom celebrate his feast day. Others reject this assessment, citing a lack of evidence for Aelred's homosexuality. Author Ron Belgau, who identifies a gay, runs the Aelred-inspired blog Spiritual Friendship, is a member of the Gay Christian Network and a regular contributor to First Thoughts, an online blog for First Things.^[17] Another prominent gay is Chris Damian, who has called on the Catholic Church to "develop" her teaching on homosexuality. Damian counsels gay Christians "to draw yourself more fully into the Church and to discern how this might be a gift in your life and in others’ lives."^[18] Damian joins many other gay Christians, such as Melinda Selmys, Joshua Gonnerman, and Eve Tushnet, on Belgau's Spiritual Friendship blog, which Ruse asserts is a center for New Homophile thought. Elizabeth Scalia, who Ruse characterizes as "the Momma Bear" of New Homophiles, "ponders the need for an exploration of doctrine and theology" on homosexuality at Patheos, a popular Christian blog.^[19] Scalia posits a theory that "our gay brothers and sisters are, in fact, planned, loved-into-being 'necessary others,' and that they are meant to show us something of God from a perspective that we cannot otherwise broach."^[20]

Criticism

Critics of the New Homophiles reject the claim that homosexual orientation is an ontological category which Christians must embrace. Author Terry Nelson characterizes the theory of Aelred's homosexuality as "a novel theory postulated in the mid-twentieth century...those who make this claim are looking at this from our nineteenth–twenty-first century perspective and contemporary understanding of same-sex relations as posited by gay culture today." According to Nelson, New Homophiles play a “doctrinal shell game” where “just about every time a couple of them write anything ‘ground-breaking’ they seem to be challenged by readers as to their orthodoxy. Subsequently they appear to backtrack and present voluminous explanations of what they really meant to say … it seems to me the underlying intention is to normalize homosexuality and to declare gay is good."^[21]

In another piece, author Daniel Mattson claims "New homophiles say homosexuality is a source of good things like empathy, loyalty, and love of beauty. If homosexuality is disordered, this cannot be correct, because privation of good cannot produce good...It is right to have serious concerns about how the thinking of these authors will impact people in the Church, especially the young. It is very unwise to lead young people to believe that homosexuality is in some sense good, or that there are positive gifts of homosexuality, or that anyone should “come out” as being gay. If they are not cautioned against embracing sexual identities other than being male or female, what is to prevent those with a homosexual inclination from taking the logical step and embracing their homosexuality as good, and acting upon it? For if something is good, they would rightly reason that it is good to act upon it."^[22]

Ruse himself questions the validity of the New Homophile position. He writes, "Think of it this way. Your 14-year-old son feels different from the other guys at school. For whatever reason, he always has. He confides this to a counselor who asks him about his sexual orientation. Your son says that maybe the difference he feels is that he is gay. The apparatus kicks in to place him under the gay amber for life. Now, do you want your son to talk to Chris Damian, one of the New Homophiles who has said he would tell that young man to 'Seek to draw yourself more fully into the Church and to discern how this might be a gift in your life and in others’ lives.' Or do you want him to meet Daniel Mattson and Father Paul Scalia who would tell the boy, 'You are not your sexual inclinations. You are not ‘gay.’ What you are is a man and a Son of God.'At first blush there seems to be very little difference between the two, but as you gaze more closely at all that is packed into the New Homophile Proposition, you realize the difference is immense and may be profoundly harmful."^[23]

Organisations and publications

Denmark

• Forbundet af 1948 (1948–?) and Pan (1954–present)
• International Homosexual World Organisation (IHWO), 1952? – first half of 1970s, political since second half of 1960s, founded by Axel and Eigil Axgil, German chapter named: Internationale Homophile Welt-Organisation)

France

• Arcadie (journal, published 1954–1982), and organisation with the same name. Often published with the subtitle "Mouvement homophile de France".

Netherlands

• COC (1946–present) is the earliest homophile organisation. Their first magazine, Vriendschap (Friendship), was published from 1949 to 1964 (available online). They also produced a number of other publications.

Sweden

• RFSL, Riksförbundet för sexuellt likaberättigande — "Federation for Sexual Equality", known since 2007 as the "Swedish Federation for Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual and Transgender Rights" (1950–present)

United Kingdom

• Homosexual Law Reform Society (1958–1970 when it was renamed as the Sexual Law Reform Society). The HLRS was formed as a response to the 1957 Wolfenden report. Most of the members were heterosexual.
• Campaign for Homosexual Equality (1964–present)

United States

• Vice Versa: America's Gayest Magazine (1947–1948), the first lesbian periodical in the United States, was free. Lisa Ben (an anagram of "lesbian"), the 25-year old Los Angeles secretary who created Vice Versa, chose the name "because in those days our kind of life was considered a vice."
• Knights of the Clock (c. 1950–?); first interracial gay organization. Focused on social activities but also worked on employment and housing concerns for interracial couples.
• The Mattachine Society (1950–1987) and the Mattachine Review (1955–1966);^[24] Homosexual Citizen, (published by the Washington chapter, 1966–?)
• The Daughters of Bilitis (1955–present) and The Ladder (1956–1972); Focus (published by the Boston chapter, 1971–1983); Sisters, (National, published in San Francisco, 1971–1975).
• ONE, Inc. (1952–present) and One magazine (1953–1972);^[24] Homophile Studies (1958–1964)
• The League for Civil Education (1960 or 1961–?) and The LCE News (1961–?)
• The Janus Society (1962–1969) and DRUM magazine (1964–1969). A racy gay-male oriented magazine, DRUM reached a circulation of 10,000 by 1966.
• Society for Individual Rights (1964–1976)^[24] and Vector (1965–1977)
• The Homosexual Law Reform Society (1965–1969)
• Phoenix Society for Individual Freedom, Kansas City MO, and The Phoenix: Midwest Homophile Voice, (1966–1972)
• Society Advocating Mutual Equality (SAME) (1966–1968), Rock Island IL, "The Challenger" newsletter
• Homophile Action League (Philadelphia) and the HAL Newsletter (1969–1970)
• Spiritual Friendship, a Christian blog for gay writers seeking development of Church teaching (2013-Present)^[25]

International

• International Committee for Sexual Equality (ICSE) (1951–1963); Formed by the Dutch COC and functioned as an umbrella organization that united many of the above national organizations from Europe and the United States. Published two German language periodicals, ICSE Kurier and ICSE-PRESS.

Animal experimentation

With no relationship to the dominant sense of "homophile", in an 1896 article on vivisection in Proceedings of the American Microscopical Society, Pierre A. Fish used the term "homophile" to refer to advocates of animal vivisection as an alternative to early-stage human experimentation. He used the Latin word "homo" (meaning "human") as the basis of the word— unrelated to the Greek word "homos" (ὁμός, "same") which is the basis of the established and now exclusive sense of "homophile". (See the entry "Homosexuality"’s subsection "Etymology".) To contrast with "homophiles", Fish used the word "zoophiles", to refer to antivivisectionists, with that usage being similarly independent of the established and now exclusive sense of the word— namely, "zoophile" as referring to a person exhibiting a sexual preference for one or more species of non-human animal.^[26] (Main article: "Zoophilia".) Fish's idiosyncratic senses of "homophile" and "zoophile" did not find widespread acceptance, perhaps in part because of the other, striking meanings of the terms.

See also

• Terminology of homosexuality

Notes

References

• Armstrong, Elizabeth A. (2002). Forging Gay Identities: Organizing Sexuality in San Francisco, 1950–1994. Chicago, University of Chicago Press. ISBN 0-226-02694-9.
• Bianco, David (1999). Gay Essentials: Facts For Your Queer Brain. Los Angeles, Alyson Books. ISBN 1-55583-508-2.
• Fletcher, Lynne Yamaguchi (1992). The First Gay Pope and Other Records. Boston, Alyson Publications. ISBN 1-55583-206-7.

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