| In
an 1857 book, a French doctor named B. A. Morel invented a
disease syndrome he called degeneration. Morel believed that
a parent who too much partakes of alcohol, opium, or tobacco will
permanently damage his heredity and his children will suffer
consequences like tuberculosis, mental retardation, and a host of
other diseases. Degeneration, according to Morel, is
cumulative so a family that suffers degeneration can expect to die
out within three or four generations.
Morel had nothing to say about
homosexuality, but less than thirty years after he invented this
imaginary disease, Richard von Krafft-Ebing
wrote that it is an apt description of the cause of
homosexuality. In some circles,
"degenerate" is still used as an anti-gay epithet.
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