An analysis of Luiz Delgado's trials for sodomy in both Brazil and Portugal between 1665 and 1692 evince a system of persecution based on threats to social order. Allegedly having young lovers whom he sustained, this man of considerable wealth attracted the attention of authorities because he allowed familiarity with social inferiors. That an adult would allow a young man sometimes to sodomize him and treat him in a familiar fashion unbecoming to the rules of social contact indicated a breakdown in social order.

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Punishment

Despite both the Portuguese and Aragonese tribunals' obsession with homosexual behavior as indicative of social disorder, the sentences applied to the culprits were milder than those for other crimes, especially "judaizing." New Christians, or Conversos, Jews who had been forcibly baptized but secretly practiced the Jewish faith within their homes, were more likely to meet their demise at the stake than men convicted of sodomy.

As the seventeenth century progressed, inquisitors issued milder sentences. Reflecting a greater concern with public scandal, inquisitors preferred to sentence convicted sodomites to exile or the galleys, thus avoiding the necessity of parading them in the auto de fe (or burning of a heretic after pronouncement of judgment). Authorities feared that the public admission of homosexual behavior might persuade others also to engage in it.

A notably diverse country, Brazil is also home to one of the world's most dynamic glbtq political movements.

Although historical sources are comparatively scanty, they do indicate that homosexual behavior occurred throughout the period, and they give insight into its forms and the varying attitudes toward it.

Same-sex sexual practices among the indigenous peoples of Latin America were seen by their Spanish and Portuguese conquerors as evidence of their cultural inferiority and were repressed through both religious and civil means.

Although Mexico has had a long history of homosexual activity that began before the Conquest, its Latin American machismo has problematized the acceptance of glbtq people.

The history of the papacy's attitudes toward same-sex relationships is more complex than the virulently antigay pronouncements of the most recent popes would lead one to believe.

Although challenges remain, Portugal has made progress in recent years toward affording equal opportunity to its glbtq citizens.

Historically, the Roman Catholic Church may be the institution most responsible for the suffering of individuals involved in same-sex sexual relationships.

From a particularly strong application of sodomy laws in the early modern period to a liberalization of sexual mores since the 1980s, Spanish society has displayed an ambivalent and complex relationship to sexual minorities.

Burned at the stake by the Roman Catholic Church, Italian philosopher Giordano Bruno has been seen as a martyr to religious intolerance; only recently has he also been recognized as a queer hero.

Sculptor, goldsmith, memoirist, and flamboyant pederast, Benvenuto Cellini is one of the greatest artists in the history of Western art.

Although condemned to death by the Inquisition for her cross-dressing, almost five hundred years later Joan of Arc was canonized by the Church as a saint.