system
Given the following post, respond as if you're commenting on Reddit:
human
[Lotr] Were gays ok?

How was being gay viewed in middle earth? In gondor? Rohan? Shire?
gpt
Previous civilizations - including those in the ancient times - did not see the world around them in the same way we do. Homosexuality and heterosexuality as rigid categories are an invention of the 19th century. "Being gay" wasn't viewed any way at all, since the concept just didn't exist. However, since strong views on masculinity existed amonst humans in Middle Earth and many ancient cultures in history looked down on *male recievers of anal penetration*, human populations in Middle Earth might very well have looked down upon being the passive partner in a homosexual relationship. As in "that guy takes it in the ass like a woman, he is no man!"

We know even less about non-human populations. Power and submission are integral parts of human sexuality. The submission to another man's power is what brought the shame in being the reciever in male homosexual intercourse. These power-dynamics need not be there in e.g. elven sexuality. Thus the elves might not have any problem at all with men recieving anal penetration.