unknown and untried in the ancient world. It seems demeaning to suggest that until very recently in the history of the world there were no examples of warm, loving, committed homosexual relationships.
No one is saying they didn't exist. what they ARE saying is that, at that time and in that culture, loving homosexual relationships were most-likely either overlooked or condemned based on the majority of what they saw, which was exploitative and predatory. Kind of like how a lot of non-affirming christians today see ALL LGBT as what the news portrays--drag queens, excessive lewd actions/portrayals, etc.
