同性恋(homosexuality)
对其他同性别者有直接性欲倾向者的人格特质或状态。女同性恋经常被称为lesbianism（来自於爱琴海岛屿Lesbos之名，即莎孚〔Sappho〕教书的地点）。至於gay，虽然可以专指「男同性恋者」，但也经常用於泛指「同性恋者」（homosexual）或「女同性恋者」（lesbian）。在不同的时代与文化背景，同性恋行为可能被认可，也可能被凌虐、惩罚或严禁。在古希腊和罗马时代，成年和青少年男性之间的同性恋并不罕见；而在犹太教-基督教文化和回教文化里，都把同性恋普遍视为罪恶，虽然很多宗教领袖都曾表示他们的教义是禁止同性恋行为，而不是禁止同性恋性向。1970年代以前，美国精神病学会（American Psychiatric Association）仍把同性恋界定为精神疾患的一类，在1973年才将之删除。传统对同性恋的观点（相信同性恋都有固定的类型，例如男同性恋都是娘娘腔，女同性恋都是男人婆）慢慢在式微，这是因为社会逐渐变得无所不谈，个人的性偏好和性生活成为可以公开讨论的事，同性恋聚居地区也开始被他人所接受，同性恋被视为只是人类性慾的变异形式。同性恋倾向来自於遗传和生理因素，以及环境和社会影响，同性恋倾向经常与异性恋感情共同存在，在不同的个人身上呈现不同程度的差异。虽然在21世纪的欧洲和北美，同性恋的社会环境已大幅改善，但在世界其他地区，同性恋受到攻击的事件仍不断发生。
English version：
homosexuality
Quality or state in some human beings characterized by a tendency to direct sexual desire toward another of the same sex. Female homosexuality is frequently referred to as lesbianism (from Lesbos, the Aegean island where Sappho taught). The word “gay” is often used as an alternative for both “homosexual” and “lesbian,” though it may refer specifically to male homosexuality. At different times and in different cultures, homosexual behavior has variously been approved of, tolerated, punished, and banned. Homosexuality was not uncommon in ancient Greece and Rome, particularly between adult and adolescent males. Judeo-Christian and Muslim cultures have generally viewed it as sinful, although many religious leaders have said it is the act, and not the inclination, that their faiths proscribe. Until the early 1970s the American Psychiatric Association had classified homosexuality as a mental illness, but that designation was dropped in 1973. Traditional beliefs about homosexuals (such as that there is a single identifiable homosexual “type” and that gay men are effeminate and gay women aggressive and masculine) have faded as a result of the increased candor with which sexual preference and practices can be discussed and the growing acceptance, particularly in areas with large homosexual populations, of homosexuality as a common variant of human sexuality. Homosexual orientation apparently results from a combination of hereditary or constitutional factors and environmental or social influences, and it tends to coexist with heterosexual feelings in varying degrees in different individuals. Although conditions for homosexuals had generally improved in most of Europe and North America by the turn of the 21st century, elsewhere in the world, violence against gays and lesbians continued.
