The American Psychiatric Association removed homosexuality from its official listing of mental disorders. As Thomists, their argument rests largely upon an account of human goods. Those who are of different races, gender, or class occupy different spaces and communities which seldom overlap. Only an essentialist approach can maintain the project of gay history, and minority histories in general, as a force for liberation. According to Somerville, when there were aggressive attempts to separate and classify bodies as black or whitethere was also the classification of bodies as heterosexual or homosexual. Recently, this term has been used as an umbrella term for a coalition of sexual identities that are culturally marginalized, and at other times, to create discourse surrounding the budding theoretical model that primarily arose through more traditional lesbian and gay studies. Greek gods, such as Zeus, had stories of same-sex exploits attributed to them, as did other key figures in Greek myth and literature, such as Achilles and Hercules.
This binary has created a misdirection of dialogue surrounding power dynamics.
Many gays and lesbians of color attacked this approach, accusing it of re-inscribing an essentially white identity into the heart of gay or lesbian identity Jagose, In contrast certainly to its medieval formulation, most contemporary natural law theorists argue for limited governmental power, and do not believe that the state has an interest in attempting to prevent all moral wrongdoing. The examples and perspective in this article deal primarily with Western culture and do not represent a worldwide view of the subject. Eve Kosofsky Sedwick.
In "Punks, Bulldaggers, and Welfare Queens", Cathy Cohen critiques modern day queer politics, arguing that lack of recognition of LGBTQ people who face other forms of oppression results in many queers not being supported or acknowledged by queer politics.
