Sexual Orientation. A person’s enduring pattern of romantic, emotional, or sexual attraction to others. It’s made up of three main components: sexual attraction, sexual identity, and sexual behavior.
Sexual orientation is different from gender identity, which is a person’s innermost concept of themselves. Gender identity can be the same or different from a person’s sex assigned at birth.
Some terms used to describe sexual orientation include:
- Straight or heterosexual: Attracted to people of the opposite sex or gender
- Gay: Attracted to people of the same sex or gender
- Lesbian: A woman who is attracted to women
- Bisexual or bi: Attracted to both men and women
- Pansexual: Attracted to any gender or sex
People’s sexual orientation and identity can change over time, and there’s no need to feel pressured to choose a label. Many people experience changes in who they’re attracted to and how they identify, and this is called fluidity.
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