A Vice Contrary to Nation: The Emerging Heteronormative Nationalism of the French Revolution
Humanities
HIS 196I-01: The French Revolution
This paper examines the attitudes towards homosexuality expressed by legal thinkers and politicians of the French Revolution. I found that, although many politicians and legists supported greater legal toleration for homosexuality than had existed before the revolution, they also often presented homosexuality as potentially undermining the interest of the nation in public health and population growth. This demonstrates how even early in their development the discourses of citizenship and nationalism could be conducive to heteronormative social control over sexuality.
