Unspeakable Still
by J. Douglas Johnson
A year ago, I noted in these pages that the word “homosexual” was coined by psychiatrists in 1892. Perhaps the doctors combined two unrelated Greek and Latin words to make the term sound more science-y, or maybe to give the false impression that they hadn’t just made it up.
Nonetheless, before the twentieth century, newspaper accounts, government documents, Black’s Law Dictionary, etc. would refer instead to some variation of “unspeakable acts.”
THIS ARTICLE ONLY AVAILABLE TO SUBSCRIBERS.
FOR QUICK ACCESS:
J. Douglas Johnson is the executive editor of Touchstone and the executive director of the Fellowship of St. James.
A Journal of Mere Christianity—Delivered to Your Door
- Essays on theology, culture, and the Church
- Contributors from across the Christian traditions
Six print issues (one year) of Touchstone, plus full online access and PDF downloads for only $39.95.
Get a one-year full-access subscription to the Touchstone online archives for only $19.95.
bulk subscriptions
Order Touchstone subscriptions in bulk and save $10 per sub! Each subscription includes 6 issues of Touchstone plus full online access to touchstonemag.com—including archives, videos, and pdf downloads of recent issues for only $29.95 each! Great for churches or study groups.
Transactions will be processed on a secure server.
more from the online archives
33.4—July/August 2020
on Boethius's Consolation in a Time of Plague by Thomas Albert Howard
29.4—July/August 2016
Russell Kirk: American Conservative by Bradley J. Birzer by Hunter Baker
31.5—September/October 2018
The Secular State Without the Decalogue by James M. Kushiner
calling all readers
Please Donate
"There are magazines worth reading but few worth saving . . . Touchstone is just such a magazine."
—Alice von Hildebrand
"Here we do not concede one square millimeter of territory to falsehood, folly, contemporary sentimentality, or fashion. We speak the truth, and let God be our judge. . . . Touchstone is the one committedly Christian conservative journal."
—Anthony Esolen, Touchstone senior editor
