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Definition of Sexual Orientation
Terminology and Definitions
What Causes Sexual Orientation?
Can Sexual Orientation Be Changed?
Is Homosexualilty a Mental Illness or Emotional Problem?
On Coming Out
Consideration For Professionals
References
SEXUAL ORIENTATION
DEFINITION
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Defining Sexual Orientation:
According to Gonsiorek [1] sexual orientation is a classic example of categorizing people and at the same time a concept often misunderstood and controversial. Sometimes definitions are influenced by cultural and political debates and biases. A useful definition of Sexual Orientation should not require for the person to be sexually active in order to be categorized as having a specific sexual orientation. One of the dangers in a definition requiring a person to be sexual active in order to be defined in a specific category is that the focus is predominantly placed on sexual behaviour. If sexual behaviour is the criteria, then many people that are not actively living a certain lifestyle will not be accommodated in that specific category. A definition should distinguish between orientation and identity. “Orientation” refers to definitions applied to others for scientific and scholarly purposes, where is “Identity” refers to what people call themselves – e.g. gay, lesbian, etc. According to Germond and De Grunchy [2] sexual orientation is the instinctive sexual attraction to a gender. Sexual orientation exists along a continuum that ranges from exclusive homosexuality to exclusive heterosexuality and includes various forms of bisexuality (a grey area between the two extremes) [3][4].
Reiter [5] defines a Homosexual as[2]: “An adult whose fantasies, attachments and longings are predominantly for persons of the same gender, who may or may not express those longings in overt behaviour, and whose orientation may or may not be accompanied by a homosexual identity.”
With Reiter’s definition of a homosexual person, one can extend the definition to be used as a foundation to define a heterosexual and bisexual person. A heterosexual person [2] would thus be those whose fantasies, attachments and longings are predominantly for persons of the opposite gender, who may or may not express those longings in overt behaviour, and whose orientation may or may not be accompanied by a heterosexual identity. Furthermore a bisexual person [2] would be those whose fantasies, attachments and longings for persons of both genders, who may or may not express those longings in overt behaviour, and whose orientation may or may not be accompanied by bisexual identity.
