Homosexuality and Pederasty
The law of Sexual Attraction gives the long-sought-for explanation of sexual
inversion, of sexual inclination towards members of the same sex, whether or
no that be accompanied by aversion from members of the opposite sex.
. . . The men who are sexually attracted by men have outward marks of
effeminacy, just as women of a similar disposition to those of their own sex
exhibit male characters. That this should be so is quite intelligible if we
admit the close parallelism between body and mind, and further light is thrown
upon it by the facts explained in the second chapter of this book; the facts
as to the male or female principle not being uniformly present all over the
same body, but distributed in different amounts in different organs. In all
cases of sexual inversion, there is invariably an anatomical approximation to
the opposite sex.
Such a view is directly opposed to that of those who would maintain that
sexual inversion is an acquired character, and one that has superseded normal
sexual impulses.
. . . That the rudiment of homosexuality, in however weak a form, exists in
every human being, corresponding to the greater or smaller development of the
characters of the opposite sex, is proved conclusively from the fact that in
the adolescent stage, while there is still a considerable amount of
undifferentiated sexuality, and before the internal secretions have exerted
their stimulating force, passionate attachments with a sensual side are the
rule amongst boys as well as amongst girls.
. . . There is no friendship between men that has not an element of sexuality
in it, however little accentuated it may be in the nature of the friendship,
and however painful the idea of the sexual element would be. But it is enough
to remember that there can be no friendship unless there has been some
attraction to draw the men together. Much of the affection, protection, and
nepotism between men is due to the presence of unsuspected sexual
compatibility.
. . . Homosexuality has been observed amongst animals to a considerable
extent. F. Karsch has made a wide, if not complete, compilation from other
authors. Unfortunately, practically no observations were made as to the grades
of maleness or femaleness to be observed in such cases. But we may be
reasonably certain that the law holds good in the animal world. If bulls are
kept apart from cows for a considerable time, homosexual acts occur amongst
them; the most female being first sought, the others later, some perhaps
never. (It is amongst cattle that the greatest number of sexually intermediate
forms have been recorded.) This shows that the tendency was latent in them,
but that at other times the sexual demand was satisfied in normal fashion.
Cattle in captivity behave precisely as prisoners and convicts in these
matters. Animals exhibit not merely onanism (which is known to them as to
human beings), but also homosexuality; and this fact, together with the fact
that sexually intermediate forms are known to occur amongst them, I regard as
strong evidence for my law of sexual attraction.
Inverted sexual attraction, then, is no exception to my law of sexual
attraction, but is merely a special case of it. An individual who is half-man,
half-woman, requires as sexual complement a being similarly equipped with a
share of both sexes in order to fulfil the requirements of the law. This
explains the fact that sexual inverts usually associate only with persons of
similar character, and rarely admit to intimacy those who are normal. The
sexual attraction is mutual, and this explains why sexual inverts so readily
recognise each other.
. . . In spite of all the present-day clamour about the existence of different
rights for different individualities, there is only one law that governs
mankind, just as there is only one logic and not several logics.
. . . My theory appears to me quite incontrovertible and conclusive, and to
afford a complete explanation of the entire set of phenomena. The exposition,
however, must now face a set of facts which appear quite opposed to it, and
which seem absolutely to contradict my reference of sexual inversion to the
existence of sexually intermediate types, and my explanation of the law
governing the attraction of these types for each other. It is probably the
case that my explanation is sufficient for all female sexual inverts, but it
is certainly true that there are men with very little taint of femaleness
about them who yet exert a very strong influence on members of their own sex,
a stronger influence than that of other men who may have more femaleness - an
influence which can be exerted even on very male men, and an influence which,
finally, often appears to be much greater than the influence any woman can
exert on these men. Albert Moll is justified in saying as follows: "There
exist psycho-sexual hermaphrodites who are attracted to members of both sexes,
but who in the case of each sex appear to care only for the characters
peculiar to that sex; and, on the other hand, there are also psychosexual (?)
hermaphrodites who, in the case of each sex, are attracted, not by the
characteristics peculiar to that sex, but by those which are either sexually
indifferent or even antagonistic to the sex in question." Upon this
distinction depends the difference between the two sets of phenomena indicated
in the title of this chapter - Homosexuality and Pederasty. The distinction
may be expressed as follows: The homosexualist is that type of sexual invert
who prefers very female men or very male women, in accordance with the general
law of sexual attraction. The pederast, on the other hand, may be attracted
either by very male men or by very female women, but in the latter case only
in so far as he is not pederastic. Moreover, his inclination for the male sex
is stronger than for the female sex, and is more deeply seated in his nature.
The origin of pederasty is a problem in itself and remains unsolved by this
investigation.
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