Harvard University is creating an endowed professorship in lesbian, gay, bisexual and transsexual studies, the first of its kind in the United States and reflecting a rise in sex-related academia nationwide.

The Ivy¹ League school will invite visiting scholars to teach on sexuality and issues related to sexual minorities for one semester each, a Harvard official said on Wednesday.

While other universities have course offerings and degree programs in sexuality studies, Harvard's healthy endowment allows the professorship on the subject to be funded in perpetuity, the first university in the country to do so.

The Harvard Gay & Lesbian Caucus² raised $1.5 million to fund the role, to be known as the "F.O. Matthiessen Visiting Professorship of Gender³ and Sexuality", named after American studies scholar and literary critic, F.O. Matthiessen.

Matthiessen, who died in 1950, chaired an undergraduate program in history and literature at Harvard, where he kept his homosexuality largely secret.

Harvard gave undergraduates the option in 2003 of concentrating on lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender issues as an academic field, according to the university.

Academic programs related to sex, sexuality and sexual orientation⁴ are sprouting⁵ on American campuses -- from Yale University to the University of California Berkeley and the University of Minnesota.

"It's not so much that we've been able to raise this money, it's that Harvard and the faculty⁶ at Harvard have accepted this perpetual endowment for gay and lesbian studies," said Mitchell Adams of the Harvard Board of Overseers, one of two governing boards at the Cambridge, Massachusetts.

The position indicates growing acceptance of the lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender community, Adams added.

Candace Gingrich, a youth outreach manager at gay-rights advocates the Human Rights Campaign, said the new role gives students in the lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender (LGBT) community something to aspire⁷ to.

"Any time a university as renowned⁸ as Harvard feels it is important and sees it is important to have an endowed professorship in LGBT studies is recognition that it is an important issue," said Gingrich, sister of former Republican Speaker of the House of Representatives, Newt Gingrich.

哈佛大学将设立首个研究男女同性恋、双性恋、变性问题的讲座教授职位，这在美国首开先河，反映出性研究在全国范围内升温。

常青藤盟校哈佛大学的一位官员于本周三称，他们将邀请访问学者讲授性课题，以及与少数“性”群体相关的课题，每人授课一个学期。

在性研究领域，有些学校设立了相关课程和学位，而哈佛大学的健康基金则为性研究教授职位提供了永久的资金支持，这在美国还是首例。

哈佛大学同性恋者协会为该职位募集了150万美元资金，该职位以美国研究学者兼文学批评家F.O.马蒂森的名字命名，全称为“F.O.马蒂森性别与性行为学科客座教授。”

马蒂森于1950年去世，生前在哈佛大学主管一个历史与文学学士学科。在哈佛大学期间，他的同性恋身份几乎不为人所知。

哈佛大学称，自2003年开始，本科生就可以在女同性恋、男同性恋、双性恋、变性等几个课题中任选其一，作为自己的学术研究领域。

与性、性行为以及性取向有关的学术研究在美国大学里悄然兴起，其中包括耶鲁大学、加州大学伯克利分校、明尼苏达州大学。

哈佛大学的管理机构之一、马萨诸塞州剑桥市哈佛大学监事委员会的米切尔•亚当斯说：“这并不只是因为我们能筹到钱了，而是因为哈佛大学和哈佛大学的教员们已经能够接受为同性恋研究提供永久的资金支持了。”

亚当斯补充道，这一职位的设立表明，人们越来越能接受男女同性恋、双性恋和变性群体了。

同性恋权利倡导组织“人权运动”的一个青年分支机构的主管坎迪斯•金里奇称，男女同性恋、双性恋、变性（LGBT）群体的学生对新职位寄予了厚望。

前众议院共和党发言人纽特•金里奇的妹妹坎迪斯•金里奇说：“不管在什么时候，像哈佛这么有名的大学觉得设立LGBT研究的讲座教授很重要，都是对这一课题重要性的认可。”

Vocabulary:

endowed professorship：An endowed professorship (or endowed chair) is a position permanently⁹ paid for with the revenue from an endowment fund specifically set up for that purpose.（用捐赠基金设立的教授职位，通常以捐赠基金的名称命名，也称为讲座教授。）

sprout：萌芽，萌发