Education

Click on the questions, and see the answers below:

About Sexual Orientation
What is sexual orientation? What causes it? Is it a choice? Can therapy change it? What about "conversion therapy"? And "reparative therapy"? How can a therapist help?
About Homosexuality in General
Is it a mental illness? Can homosexuals be good parents? Why do they tell others? why is it difficult for GLBT? How do I overcome prejudice? Why is education important? Do all gay men have AIDS? Where can I learn more?

What Is Sexual Orientation?

Sexual Orientation is an enduring emotional, romantic, sexual or affectional attraction to another person. In lay terms, that means that homosexuals can form romantic, emotional bonds and are attracted sexually to same-gender partners.

Sexual orientation is easily distinguished from other components of sexuality including biological sex, gender identity (the psychological sense of being male or female) and the social gender role (adherence to cultural norms for feminine and masculine behavior).

Sexual orientation spans a continuum ranging from exclusive homosexuality on one end to exclusive heterosexuality on the other. Therefore, it includes various forms of bisexuality in the middle of the range. Bisexual persons can experience sexual, emotional and affectional attraction to both their own sex and the opposite sex.

People whose sexual orientation falls on the homosexual end of the scale are attracted predominantly to others of the same-gender, whereas those whose sexual orientation falls on the heterosexual side are attracted predominantly to persons of the opposite sex. Persons with a homosexual orientation are sometimes referred to as gay (both men and women) or as lesbian (women only).

Sexual orientation is different from sexual behavior because it refers to feelings and self-concept. Persons may or may not express their sexual orientation in their behaviors. Expression of one's sexual orientation does not change sexual orientation per se.

As our knowledge about sexual orientation has increased in the last few decades, it has become important to distinguish between sexual orientation and sexual preference because of the societal biases that the term "preference" carries. Referring to homosexuality or bisexuality as a "preference" implies that the individual can operate from a narrowly defined set of heterosexual behaviors but simply chooses to engage in homosexual behavior. Research and personal experience have shown consistently that sexual orientation is a component of one's sexuality and cannot be changed at one's will or "preference." End of Page