Sexual minority

Look up sexual minority in Wiktionary, the free dictionary.

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 genderqueer, intersex, transgender^[1] or third gender individuals.^[2] 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. The term was used as analogous to ethnic minority.^[6]

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.^[7]

Controversy

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.^[7] The term may also include asexuals^[8][9] 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),^[10] polyamorists^[11] or people in other nonmonogamous relationships, people who strongly prefer sex partners of a disparate age^[12] 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^[11] 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,^[13] (including homosexuality, necrophilia and paedophilia), and avocated for state brothels to be introduced in Sweden.^[14] Ullerstam was a proponent in those times for legalised sexual relationships between children and adults, including incest between parents and their own children, stating that it also was very common among his friends.^[15]

See also

Notes

References