We are all bisexual to begin with. That is a fact of our condition. And we are all responsive to sexual stimuli from our own as well as from the opposite sex. Certain societies at certain times, usually in the interest of maintaining the baby supply, have discouraged homosexuality. Other societies, particularly militaristic ones, have exalted it. But regardless of tribal taboos, homosexuality is a constant fact of the human condition and it is not a sickness, not a sin, not a crime . . . despite the best efforts of our puritan tribe to make it all three. Homosexuality is as natural as heterosexuality. Notice I use the word “natural,” not normal.

- Gore Vidal, writing in Esquire, in September 1969, at a time when homosexuality was still classified as a mental disorder by the American Psychiatric Association. (It was declassified by the APA in 1973.) It is worth noting in passing that he wrote these words in mid-1969, quite likely — and quite coincidentally — prior to the Stonewall riots, which started on June 28 and which are celebrated every year as the formative moment in the gay rights movement. It is fair to say that now, 42 years later, Vidal’s once-radical assessment comes close to the consensus view of all but the puritan fringe, and that it is the prevailing view among young adults and teenagers.