Sexual minority  

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This page Sexual minority is part of the queer series.Illustration: Toulouse-Lautrec wearing Jane Avril's Feathered Hat and Boa (ca. 1892), photo Maurice Guibert.
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This page Sexual minority is part of the queer series.
Illustration: Toulouse-Lautrec wearing Jane Avril's Feathered Hat and Boa (ca. 1892), photo Maurice Guibert.

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A sexual minority is a group whose sexual identity, orientation or practices differ from the majority of the surrounding society. The term was coined (most likely in the late 1960s or early 1970s) by analogy to ethnic minority.

Initially the term referred primarily to Lesbians and Gays. It has come to include Bisexuals and transgender people. These four categories (Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual and Transgender) are often grouped together under the rubric LGBT.

Others referred to as "sexual minorities" include fetishists and practitioners of Bondage & Discipline, Domination & Submission, and/or Sadomasochism (collectively referred to as BDSM). The term may also include people who may be strictly heterosexual and whose choice of actual sex acts may be vanilla, but whose choice of partner or partners is unusual, such as swingers, polyamorists or people in other nonmonogamous relationships, or people who strongly prefer sex partners of a disparate age.

Usually, the term sexual minority is applied only to groups who practice consensual sex: for example, it would be unusual to refer to rapists as a sexual minority, but the term would generally include someone whose sexuality gave a major, fetishized role to consensual playing out of a rape fantasy. Also, someone who very occasionally incorporates of kink or same-sex activity into a largely vanilla, heterosexual sex life would not usually be described as a sexual minority.

Sexual minority culture on culture at large

Sexual minority cultures frequently and consistently influence the broader culture at large, including straight culture. Yale sociology professor Joshua Gamson argues that the tabloid talk show genre, popularized by Oprah Winfrey in the 1980s provided much needed, high impact media visibility for sexual minorities and did more to make gay culture mainstream than any other development of the 20th century. Slang frequently originations in subcultures, including sexual minority subcultures, which becomes part of the larger vernacular including words associated with descriptions specific to sexual minorities or not.

Madonna is one of many artists who have borrowed from sexual minority cultures, including her appropriation of vogueing. Recently, the television series Queer Eye for the Straight Guy depicts straight men being given fashion make-overs or decorating tips from gay men.



Unless indicated otherwise, the text in this article is either based on Wikipedia article "Sexual minority" or another language Wikipedia page thereof used under the terms of the GNU Free Documentation License; or on research by Jahsonic and friends. See Art and Popular Culture's copyright notice.

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