In 16th and 17th Century
England, one who practices sodomy. The
term sodomite is not equivalent to the modern term homosexual, because
sodomites were not believed to have a sexuality that differed from that
of non-sodomites. When the category homosexuality
appeared in the West in the 19th Century, sex between men was redefined
as the consequence of a constitutional feature of deviant individuals,
not a momentary sexual sin. Like murderers or arsonists, sodomites
were certainly considered wicked, but unlike homosexuals, they were not
considered different in kind from other people.
