Sexual orientation

Sexual orientation describes the enduring pattern of a person's romantic and sexual attraction to others. The modern vocabulary developed across the late 19th and 20th centuries and continues to expand, and people are described by the gender or genders to whom they are attracted, or by the absence of such attraction.

Sexual orientation is a widely studied aspect of human identity rather than a single proprietary test; it describes self-reported patterns of attraction and is treated by major health bodies as a normal dimension of human diversity. (Modern usage developed from late-19th-century sexology through 20th- and 21st-century LGBTQ+ communities)

Groups

• Heterosexual (Straight) — Attraction primarily to people of a different gender, typically men attracted to women or women attracted to men.
• Gay — Attraction to people of the same gender, often referring to men but also used broadly for same-gender attraction.
• Lesbian — A woman who is primarily attracted to other women.
• Bisexual — Attraction to more than one gender.
• Pansexual — Attraction to people regardless of their gender.
• Asexual — Experiencing little or no sexual attraction to others.
• Demisexual — Experiencing sexual attraction only after forming a strong emotional bond.
• Queer — A flexible umbrella term embracing a range of sexual orientations and gender identities outside heterosexual and cisgender norms, often chosen as a personal self-identifier.
• Questioning — Currently exploring one's sexual orientation and not yet settled on a label.

Related topics

• Kinsey scale
• Romantic orientation
• How your orientation feels
• How open you are about it
• Klein Sexual Orientation Grid

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