Trevor Fisher’s article, “Homosexuality and art,” suggested that Michelangelo could be identified as homosexual because of his documented desire for a young boy. This is an inaccurate statement and a harmful, inaccurate portrayal of homosexuality. First of all, the “boy” in question, Tommaso de Cavalieri, was actually a man in his 20s. Secondly, if de Cavalieri had been a boy, Michelangelo would have been engaging in pederasty – the word used to describe an adult male having sex with a child under age of consent.

Although the overwhelming majority of pedophiles are men who molest female children, no one would ever assume that all heterosexual men are naturally prone to pedophilia. Pederasty and pedophilia have nothing to do with consensual sex between adults, whether heterosexual or homosexual.

Karl Maria Kertbeny coined the term “homosexuality” in 1869 as he worked to overturn the Prussian laws which criminalized sex between consenting male adults. The word encompasses females who have sex with females. It was never intended, and has never been properly used, to describe the sexual abuse of children.

Johnny Rogers

Coordinator

LGBT student services