Homosexuality is most often defined as a person who experiences sexual attraction to a person of the same sex. For many gays and lesbians, this means more than just sexual attraction. This means being able to maintain a romantic relationship with the person they choose based on their beliefs and for some the right to have this love legally recognized through the institution of marriage. As is the case with many minority groups, the only thing they have in common is being able to live their lives free from hatred and discrimination. Over the years, homosexuality has become an important topic of discussion in our society. Although progress in changing public perceptions of homosexuality has been made over the past thirty years, significant homophobia remains pervasive in society. Homosexuality dates back to ancient times and a brief history shows many of the struggles that gay men and lesbians have faced. over the years. As early as the 1860s, European officials noticed that many people were organizing their lives around sexual pleasure instead of oriented toward the traditional family home. Homosexuals became the targets of these groups of people called “sexual deviants” and sodomy became a criminalized act (Ford 2014). During World War II, the Nazis ordered that any homosexuals found be destroyed or sterilized (Porter 2014). Hundreds of thousands of people were killed in supposedly gay concentration camps (Ford 2014). Nazi soldiers themselves were not immune to gender discrimination when Hitler ordered the killing of his own troops as homosexuals (Porter 2014). Sex discrimination continued after World War II due to laws that prohibited any homosexual from immigrating to another country...... middle of paper ....... "Matthew Shepard and James Byrd , Jr. Hate Crimes Prevention Act of 2009.” Np Civil Rights Homepage, and Web March 13, 2014. Neary, Lynn. “How Ellen DeGeneres helped change the conversation about gays.” 2014. Porter, Jack. “Gay Genocide.” University of Minnesota. October 10, 2014. Rupar, Terri. “Here are the 10 countries where homosexuality can be punished by death.” The Washington Post February 24, 2014, World Views sec.: np Print. Saner, Emine. “Gay rights around the world: the best and worst countries for equality” TheGuardian July 30, 2013: n. Print. Voytinsky, Michael. “Gay Rights: Unnatural Choices.” TheGuardian, November 15. 2010, World News sec.: Np, Print.