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The use of the notion of « homosexual community » has been common for many decades in North American and European countries. From an initially descriptive category, the « homosexual community » has gradually evolved into a « political fiction ». Despite the evidence that there is no such thing as a « homosexual community » that is both homogeneous and easily delimitable or even separable from the rest of society, the designation of a supposed homosexual group through this expression has very « real » political effects, both in terms of political representation and self-representation among at least some of the individuals potentially affected. A historical thread here sheds light on the main issues involved in the use of the notion of « homosexual community » and allows us to follow their ultimately international development. The motives and purposes of this designation operation differ according to the context and whether the « community » is invoked positively or stigmatized, but this operation aims everywhere to produce, now on a transnational scale, a public category whose supposed consistency often comes up against the diversity of social and political experiences.