變異的性行為

在含義上，此處所使用的少數族群（minority）並非正好是指任何少數人團體，因為像兒童音樂天才或數學天才這樣的人數非常少的許多群體並沒有被稱為少數族群。另一方面，一些人數眾多的群體，甚至在統計上是多數——像在種族隔離之下的南非的黑人公民和世界上許多國家裏的婦女有時為自己要求少數族群地位。

所以，似乎一個社會少數族群在概念上定義的基本要素是社會和政治上的平衡、強人所難的不利條件、否定性的歧視和缺乏權力。不過，只要完全缺乏權力，少數族群就不可能組織起來。被壓迫的個體仍然處於孤立無助狀態，如果他們引起人們的注意，就會一個接著一個被剔除出來並被指控擾亂了社會治安。只有當他們與其他人聯合起來才能形成少數族群，作為一個群體出現在公眾的視野中，並因而成為一支社會力量，至少是一支潛在的社會力量。換一句話說：

• 少數族群是受壓迫個體的群體，他們以某種志同道合為基礎已經發展成某種相互有責任和利益的團結關係，即使已經得到的某種權力在很大程度上仍是象徵性的，但畢竟他們得到了這種權力。這種最初的權利也許相當地有限，但仍然為他們和其他人要求結束對他們的壓迫提供了可能性。

簡而言之，即使多數族群的認可只是另一種侮辱和進一步的抨擊，把自我認同為少數族群，就是向得到多數族群認可中邁進的第一步。所以，我們正在描述一種自相矛盾的現象：被壓迫者至少需要哪怕一丁點兒的權力來證明自己受到了不公正的對待和沒有享有自身的權力。但是，他們的最終目標（這恰恰是第二個自相矛盾的地方）是要作為“正常的”公民加入寬容待人的多數族群，並由此會失去他們的少數族群的地位。雖然如此，他們仍然可以培育自己的“少數族群文化”，因為它隨後會作為一種對社會無威脅的文化現象和民俗文化而被普遍接受。

Sexual Minorities: Introduction 2 - The Majority and its Minorities

A minority in the sense used here is not just any small group, because many very small groups of people like musical child prodigies or mathematical geniuses are not called minorities. On the other hand, some very large groups, indeed, even statistical majorities - like the black citizens of South Africa under apartheid and women in many countries all over the world - have occasionally claimed the status of minorities for themselves.
It seems, therefore, that the defining element in the concept of a social minority is a social or political imbalance, an imposed disadvantage, a negative discrimination, a lack of power. However, as long as the lack of power is total, no minority can constitute itself. The oppressed individuals remain isolated, and if they attract attention, they are picked out one by one and accused of disturbing the social peace. They can form a minority only when they make common cause with others, present themselves to the public as a group, and thus become a social force, at least potentially. In other words:
Minorities are groups of oppressed individuals who, on the basis of some common interest, have developed some solidarity with each other and thus have gained a certain power, even if it still remains largely symbolic. Limited as this initial power may be, it nevertheless allows them and others to demand an end to their oppression.
In short: The self-identification as a minority is the first step on the way to recognition by the majority, even if that recognition consists of nothing but new insults and further attacks. We are dealing therefore with a paradox: The oppressed need at least a little power in order to demonstrate their unjustified lack of power. However, their ultimate goal - and this is a second paradox - is to join a more tolerant majority as “normal” citizens and thus to lose their minority status. Even so, they may still cultivate their “minority culture”, because it is then generally perceived as non-threatening and folkloristic.