Cultures may regard myths as containing psychological or archetypal truths. Myths are generally believed to be literally true within the society that created them and deemed erroneous or fictitious elsewhere. The status of mythology varies by culture. Queer manifestations of sexuality, though repressed socially, squeeze their way into the myths, legends and lore of the land.ĭevdutt Pattanaik, The Man who was a Woman and other Queer Tales of Hindu Lore Devdutt Pattanaik argues that myths "capture the collective unconsciousness of a people", and that this means they reflect deep-rooted beliefs Ībout variant sexualities that may be at odds with repressive social mores. Myths often include being gay, bisexual, or transgender as symbols for sacred or mythic experiences. The application of gender studies and queer theory to non-Western mythic tradition is less developed, but has grown since the end of the twentieth century. The presence of LGBT themes in mythologies has become the subject of intense study. Many mythologies ascribe homosexuality and gender fluidity in humans to the action of gods or of other supernatural interventions. These myths are considered by some modern queer scholars to be forms of lesbian, gay, bisexual, or transgender (LGBT) expression, and modern conceptions of sexuality and gender have been retroactively applied to them. LGBT themes in mythology occur in mythologies and religious narratives that include stories of romantic affection or sexuality between figures of the same sex or that feature divine actions that result in changes in gender.