In John D'Emilio, Capitalism and Gay Identity he suggests that the emergence of the modern homosexual identity is connected with capitalism. The free-labor system specifically allowed large numbers of men and women to call themselves gay, to see themselves as part of a community of similar men and women, and to organize politically on the basis of that identity. D'Emilio also states that the importance of the family as an economic unit was diminished by the expansion of the system of free labor.
As wage-labor spread, some were able to free themselves from economic dependency on the family, and able to set up alternative kinds of households. Over time, the family gradually lost its status as a unit of production.
In conclusion, this reduction of the economic importance of the family made it possible for sexuality to be freed from the obligations of procreation. D'Emilio also mentioned that the increase in the institution of wage labor, managed to diminish the family's importance as an economic unit, and transformed the family into what is now an affective unit providing sexual and emotional satisfaction and happiness.
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