HAVELOCK ELLIS, British physician, died (b. 1859); A British sexologist, physician, and social reformer, his Sexual Inversion,
the first English medical text book on homosexuality, co-authored with
John Addington Symonds, described the sexual relations of homosexual men
and boys, something that Ellis did not consider to be a disease,
immoral, or a crime.
The work assumes
that same-sex love transcends age as well as gender taboos, as seven of
the twenty-one examples are of inter-generational relationships. A
bookseller was prosecuted in 1897 for stocking it. Although the term
itself is attributed to Ellis, he writes in 1897, “‘Homosexual’ is a
barbarously hybrid word, and I claim no responsibility for it.” Other
psychologically important concepts developed by Ellis include
auto-eroticism and narcissism, both of which were later taken up by
Sigmund Freud. Alas, he was also a proponent of eugenics.
|8|O|8|O|8|O|8|O|8|O|8|O|8|O|8|
Gay Wisdom for Daily Living from White Crane Institute
"With the
increasing commodification of gay news, views, and culture by powerful
corporate interests, having a strong independent voice in our community
is all the more important. White Crane is one of the last brave
standouts in this bland new world... a triumph over the looming
mediocrity of the mainstream Gay world." - Mark Thompson
Exploring Gay Wisdom & Culture since 1989!
www.whitecraneinstitute.org
|8|O|8|O|8|O|8|O|8|O|8|O|8|O|8|
