Sexual Orientation
Sexual orientation is who someone is sexually attracted to. Gender identity is who someone is - German Lopez

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Sexual fluidity and the diversity of sexual orientation
Who are you today? Who were you a decade ago? For many of us, shifts in our lives — relationships, jobs, friendships, where we live, what we believe — are the only constant. Yet it's a common misconception that sexual orientation develops at an early age and then remains stable throughout one's life. Rather, changes in sexual orientation are a common thread in many people's lives. People may experience changes in who they are attracted to, who they have sex with, and which labels they use to describe their sexual orientation. Such changes in sexual orientation are called sexual fluidity.
Resources
Myth #2: Sexual orientation is linked to gender identity
Equal rights battles and advocacy efforts have brought together gay, lesbian, bisexual, transgender, questioning, and genderqueer people over the past several decades. But that doesn’t mean that the basis for these identities is the same — in fact, sexual orientation and gender identity are very different. Sexual orientation is who someone is sexually attracted to. Gender identity is who someone is. They are, as trans woman and former Olympian athlete Caitlyn Jenner explained to ABC News’s Diane Sawyer, “apples and oranges.”
Sexual Minorities Are Fearful Of Coming Out To Health Providers
People with nontraditional sexual identities and lifestyles — for example, nonheterosexuals, people in consensually nonmonogamous (CNM) relationships, or people engaging in kink, fetish, or BDSM (bondage, discipline, domination and submission, sadism and masochism) — often have unique health needs.
Why You Should Be Suspicious of That Study Claiming A.I. Can Detect a Person’s Sexual Orientation
Recently, the A.I. community was left largely stunned when a study released by two Stanford researchers claimed that artificial intelligence could essentially detect a person’s gay or straight sexual orientation. For those of us who have been working on issues of bias in A.I., it was a moment that we had long foreseen: Someone would attempt to apply A.I. technology to categorize human identity, reducing the rich complexity of our daily lives, activities, and personalities to a couple of simplistic variables.
A massive study confirms no one ‘gay gene’ controls sexual preference
It's a complicated question we've yet to really answer.
All About Sexual Orientation
Sexual orientation is one of the major classifications of identity. We hear it discussed in everyday conversation and gone are the days that sexual orientation fits neatly into a dichotomy.
Ancient texts depict all kinds of people, not just straight and cis ones
A few figures from ancient Mediterranean mythology are sometimes held up as LGBTQ ancestors – such as the Greek gods Apollo and Zeus, who both loved other men. But in a mythology course I taught in the fall of 2021, I found myself highlighting a number of other stories about same-sex attraction and gender variance beyond a strict male-female binary. For example, spells from Egypt show that there were women who tried to get other women to fall in love with them.
Does Sexual Orientation Matter When It Comes to Health?
People who identify as gay, lesbian or bisexual are more likely to smoke and drink than those who identify as straight, according to data from the National Center for Health Statistics on Tuesday. But they are more likely to exercise, too.
Embracing Your Sexual Orientation
Sexual orientation and gender identity are integral aspects of ourselves and should never lead to discrimination or abuse. During adolescence, relationships tend to come and go, and romantic partners frequently enter the picture. The thrill of flirting and meeting new people can be exciting, but it can also be quite stressful—especially if you're not sure who you're attracted to. There are several classifications of sexual orientation, but the most common are as follows...
Gender Identity Vs. Sexual Orientation
I’ve heard gender identity described as “who you are” and sexual orientation as “who you want to have sex with”. I agree with this, but there’s a lot more to it.
If You’re Not Sure You’re ‘Allowed’ to Identify as Bisexual, Read This
Bisexuality can look like primarily being attracted to and/or dating one gender, while also having interest in others. It can look like making a conscious choice to date one group of people over another, despite broader attraction. It can look perfectly portioned with equal experience across genders. Or, like with my own experience, bisexuality can look like shifting external behavior with a static orientation.
Sex and gender both shape your health, in different ways
When you think about gender, what comes to mind? Is it anatomy or the way someone dresses or acts? Do you think of gender as binary — male or female? Do you think it predicts sexual orientation?
Sexual Orientation
Noun. The desire one has for emotional, romantic, and/or sexual relationships with others based on their gender expression, gender identity, and/or sex. Many people choose to label their sexual orientation, while others do not.
Sexual Orientation and Gender Identity Definitions
An inherent or immutable enduring emotional, romantic or sexual attraction to other people. Note: an individual’s sexual orientation is independent of their gender identity.
Stop Saying “Sexual Preference”
You may mean well, but it makes you sound ignorant.
The science of sexual orientation
Can genes explain sexuality? Should we even try to know?
The sexual orientation talk your teen really wants to have
In a world where straightness is often treated as the default, your family can affirm the beautiful and complex possibilities of attraction for your teen. You can create a culture at home that’s affirming of all sexual orientations.
Turns Out, Sexual Orientation and Sexual Behavior Are Not the Same
A straight woman is one who only hooks up with men and a lesbian is one who only sleeps with women, right? Well, not exactly. According to a new study on 2,823 adolescent girls forthcoming in the Journal of Adolescent Health, how someone identifies can't tell you everything about their sexual behavior. In fact, among sexually active girls ages 13 to 18, four in five who identified as bisexual recently had a male sexual partner — but what's more surprising is that one in five who identified as lesbian did as well. "Our findings highlight that sexual orientation labels and sexual behavior don't always align — especially during the teen years...
“Born That Way” No More: The New Science of Sexual Orientation
The study contained two key findings. First, it found that the effect of the genes we inherit from our parents (known as “heritability”) on same-sex orientation was very weak, at only .32 on a scale from 0 (none) to 1 (total) heritability. This means that a person’s developmental environment—which includes diet, family, friends, neighborhood, religion, and a host of other life conditions—is twice as influential on the probability of developing same-sex behavior or orientation as a person’s genes are. Second, rebutting decades of widespread belief, the study established that “there is certainly no single genetic determinant (sometimes referred to as the ‘gay gene’ in the media)” that causes same-sex sexual behavior. On the contrary, “the variants involved are numerous and spread across the genome.” Each of these genetic variants increases a person’s propensity for same-sex behavior by an infinitesimally small amount. In scientific terms, same-sex orientation and behavior are highly polygenetic.
Sexual fluidity and the diversity of sexual orientation
While anyone can experience changes in their sexual orientation, sexually fluidity is more common in younger people and among people who are LGBTQ+ (lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, queer, and additional identities).
The Trevor Project
The Trevor Project provides lifesaving and life-affirming services to LGBTQ+ young people.
ECHR Sexual Orientation Blog
Blogging by Paul Johnson, Professor of Sociology at the University of York.
The science behind a more meaningful understanding of sexual orientation
The academy found that a multitude of scientific studies have shown sexual orientation is biologically determined. There is not a single gene or environmental factor that is responsible for this – but rather a set of complex interactions between the two that determines one’s sexual orientation.

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