Category: Gender, Identity, and Sexual Orientation
Homosexuality
What is homosexuality? Homosexuality (from the Greek affix “homo,” meaning “same”) is a sexual orientation in which a person, male or female, is sexually attracted to people of the same sex1. People who identify as homosexual may have emotional, sexual, and romantic relationships with people of the same sex3. Typically, a homosexual male identifies as…
Gender Dysphoria
Although traditionally, the words ‘sex’ and ‘gender’ have been used interchangeably, it is important to note that there is a significant difference between the meanings of the two. The term sex is used to describe a person’s biology. It can include gonads, sex chromosomes, sex hormones, internal reproductive organs, and external genitalia.3 Gender refers to a society’s…
Bisexuality
What is Bisexuality? Historically bisexuality has been defined as a category of sexual orientation distinct from homosexuality and heterosexuality, due to the experience of romantic and sexual attraction to both males and females. However, because of a growing awareness of the binary (the idea that there are only two genders) this definition is increasingly criticized…