According to Medical News Today, there are over 25 different sexualities. However, we will focus on only five. These are asexuality, heterosexuality, homosexuality, bisexuality and pansexuality.
But first: What does sexuality actually mean?
Sexuality describes a person's desire to have sex or enter into a relationship with other people.
Asexuality (Ace)
This is an umbrella term that describes people who do not experience sexual attraction. It is a spectrum that includes, but is not limited to, people who are repelled by sexual behaviour, people who rarely experience sexual attraction, people who engage in sexual behaviour, and many more.
Heterosexuality
Heterosexuals are people who are sexually attracted to people of the opposite sex. We refer to them as hetereosexual.
Homosexuality
Homosexuals are people who are sexually attracted to people of their own sex. In society, homosexuals are often referred to as "gay" (men) and "lesbian" (women).
Bisexual
Bisexuals are people of any gender who are attracted to both their own gender and to other genders. When you say bisexual, you usually mean someone who is attracted to both cis men and cis women. (Cis means identifying with the gender ascribed to one at birth).
Pansexual
Pansexuals are people of any gender who are attracted to both their own gender and to other genders. Usually when people say pansexual, they mean that they are attracted to cis-men, cis-women, trans-men, trans-women and non-binary people.
Here are some more things to think about when talking about sexual orientation:
- Sexual orientation is fluid and sexual identity can change
- Sexual orientations are a spectrum
- Gender expression is not synonymous with sexual orientation
- The terms are incomplete and should be used as guidelines
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