Sigmund Freud's views on homosexuality

Sigmund Freud, the founder of psychoanalysis, viewed homosexuality, like all forms of sexuality, as being caused by a combination of biological, social and psychological factors. According to Freud, humans are born with unfocused sexual libidinal drives; he regarded homosexuality as a particular form of variation in the developmental process of the sexual function.

Contrary to common opinion at the time, Freud did not regard homosexuality in any sense as an illness or form of degeneracy. In 1935, when asked by a woman to cure her son's homosexuality, Freud famously rejected her request, saying: "Many highly respectable individuals of ancient and modern times have been homosexuals, several of the greatest men among them" and "It is a great injustice to persecute homosexuality as a crime."

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