變異的性行為

時空境況決定著性少數是否能夠在根本上形成，而且時空境況也決定哪一個性少數有機會得到承認。例如，“同志和拉拉”少數族群在古希臘和古羅馬曾經是想像不到的，因為（那時）同性性接觸決不是一個什麼問題，而是得到認可的。在中世紀的歐洲，同性性接觸要不是相反的理由也是想像不到的，這種相反的理由是：它曾經受到如此嚴厲的責難和起訴，以至於對於任何支持同性性接觸的人來說無異於自取滅亡。現如今，就同性性接觸來說，世界各個地區呈現著不同的景觀：在一些西方國家，“同志和拉拉”少數族群得到了充分的認可，並已經獲得了平等的權利；在其它西方國家，爭取這種民事權利的鬥爭正如火如荼；而在剩下來的西方國家裏，卻舉步維艱。在南非，同性配偶能准予結婚；在烏干達，同性性接觸可能被判處無期徒刑。不僅在非洲，而且在亞洲和美洲，不同的國家有不同的政策。而且，一些政策正處於改變之中，所以難以對此做出簡要的概括。其他的性少數的處境也是如此。在一些西方國家，其中的一些性少數只是最近才逐漸組織起來，它們是：雙性戀者（bisexual）、戀物癖者（fetishist）、施虐受虐癖者（sadomasochist）、換偶者（swinger）、易裝癖者（transvestite）、易性癖者（transsexual）和無性者（asexual）。他們中有多少族群會組織起來並成功地獲得自己的權利，有多少會衰落下去或面臨失敗，則是一個懸而未決的問題。我們同樣也不清楚他們在世界的其它國家是否能夠建立起自己的組織。從人類學上看，性少數的人數並不是一個絕對而恒定的常數，在特定的、有時迅速變換的社會和政治環境下，他們會忽然地顯現和冷不丁地匿跡。顯而易見，這並不意味著人類的性行為會發生改變。畢竟，人類的性行為是一個長期進化的結果，也是自從史前時期在世界各地在不同程度上都已經同樣存在的一種現象。不過，在歷史的進程中，對一些性行為的社會態度已經多次發生了變化。

下面對現今眾所周知的性少數作一個簡要的描述。不過，我們應該謹記的是，可能存在一些性少數身份的重疊現象，而且一些人會把自己認同為數種性少數的成員。

Sexual Minorities: Introduction 6

The circumstances of time and place determine whether a sexual minority can form at all, and they also determine which sexual minority has a chance to be recognized. For example, a “gay and lesbian” minority was unthinkable in ancient Greece and Rome, because homosexual contacts were never an issue but taken for granted. It was also unthinkable in medieval Europe, but for the opposite reason: Homosexual contacts were so severely condemned and prosecuted that it would have been suicidal for anyone to defend them. Today, different parts of the world present different pictures: In some Western countries a “gay and lesbian” minority is well recognized and has won equal rights, in others the civil rights struggle is continuing, and in still others it has hardly begun. In South Africa, couples of the same sex can get married, in Uganda male homosexual contact can be punished by life imprisonment. Different countries have different policies, not only in Africa, but also in Asia and the Americas. Moreover, some of these policies are in the process of changing, so that it is difficult to offer a summary. This is also true of other sexual minorities. Some of them have only recently become organized in some Western countries: Bisexuals, fetishists, sadomasochists, swingers, transvestites, transsexuals, and asexuals. How many of these will grow and succeed in their aims or decline and fail is an open question. It is also unclear whether they can establish themselves in other parts of the world. Sexual minorities are not absolute, stable anthropological constants. They emerge and disappear under certain, sometimes rapidly shifting social and political conditions. Obviously, this does not mean that human sexual behavior changes. After all, it is the result of a very long evolutionary process and has been more or less the same everywhere since time immemorial. However, the social attitudes toward some of this behavior have changed many times in the course of history.
The following sections offer brief descriptions of the sexual minorities that are best known today. We should keep in mind, however, that there may be some overlap, and that some individuals identify themselves as members of several of these minorities.