Ancient Greece & Rome

The earliest documents concerning same-sex pederastic relationships come from Ancient Greece. Such relationships did not replace marriage between man and woman, but occurred before and beside it. A mature man would usually not have a mature male mate (exceptions aside, such as Alexander the Great) but he would be the erastes (lover) to a young eromenos (loved one). Both partners inspired by love symbolized by Eros, the erastes unselfishly provided education, guidance, and appropriate gifts to his eromenos, who became his devoted pupil and assistant. Kenneth. Dover, followed by Michel Foucault and Halperin, assumed that it was considered improper for the eromenos to feel desire, as that would not be masculine, but Dover's claim has been questioned in light of evidence of love poetry which suggests a more emotional connection than earlier researchers liked to acknowledge.

Some research has shown that ancient Greeks believed semen, more specifically sperm, to be the source of knowledge, and that these relationships served to pass wisdom on from the erastes to the eromenos within society.[citation needed] Though many in the GLBT movement assert that Greek pederastic relationships have nothing to do with modern GLBT practices because they involve children, that is countered by critics who point out that relations in antiquity did not involve children but rather young adults.

Ancient China & Japan

Homosexuality has been acknowledged in China since ancient times. Scholar Pan Guangdan (潘光旦) came to the conclusion that nearly every emperor in the Han Dynasty had one or more male sex partners. There are also descriptions of lesbians in some history books. It is believed homosexuality was popular in the Song, Ming and Qing dynasties. Chinese homosexuals did not experience high-profile persecution comparing with that was received by homosexuals in Europe during the Middle Ages.

Same-sex love was celebrated in Chinese art, many examples of which have survived the book burnings of the Cultural Revolution. Though no large statues are known to still exist, many hand scrolls and paintings on silk can be found in private collections.

In Japan several Heian diaries which contain references to homosexual acts exist as well. Some of these also contain references to Emperors involved in homosexual relationships and to "handsome boys retained for sexual purposes" by Emperors. In other literary works can be found references to what Leupp has called "problems of gender identity", such as the story of a youth falling in love with a girl who is actually a cross-dressing male.