Louis Crompton, professor emeritus of English at the University of Nebraska, discusses the rich and terrible history of homosexuality across time and cultures, as described in his recent book, *Homosexuality and Civilization*. Crompton provides a wide-ranging comparative exploration of the place of homosexuality in Western and non-Western cultures, beginning in ancient Greece and expanding through China, Japan, the Islamic world and even Mesoamerica. Why did some cultures tolerate same-sex love while others repressed and persecuted homosexuality? What lessons can contemporary activists for gay, lesbian and bisexual rights draw from history? Is the controversy that surrounds the current debate about same-sex marriage the inevitable product of our cultural heritage?