Sexual orientation

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Sexual orientation is forms of sexual attraction to people. There are many different groups. Some examples are: attraction to a different gender (heterosexuality), attraction to the same gender (homosexuality), attraction to more than one gender (bisexuality),^[1][2][3] and no attraction any gender (asexuality).^[4][5]

The groups are part of sexual identity.^[3] Some people use something such as pansexual or polysexual.^[3][6] Other people use nothing at all. Androphilia and gynephilia are an alternative to the gender binary in homosexual and heterosexual. Androphilia is attraction to a man or masculinity (any quality or behavior linked to a man). Gynephilia is attraction to a woman or femininity.^[7] Sexual preference overlaps with sexual orientation but is different.^[8] A bisexual person may like one gender more than another.^[9] Sexual preference may also give the idea of a degree of choice.^[8][10][11] The scientific consensus (position in the community of scientists) is that sexual orientation is not a choice.^[12][13][14]

Scientists do not know the exact cause of sexual orientation. There is some evidence of genes involved, however the main theory is related to hormones when a baby is growing inside the mother.^[15] For males, there is better proof of a biological cause of sexual orientation than social causes.^[15][16][17] In women, there is some evidence that social factors may play a small role.^[15]

Sexual orientation is important in biology, psychology, anthropology, history, and law.^[18]

1. ↑ "Answers to Your Questions About Sexual Orientation and Homosexuality". PsycEXTRA Dataset. 1997. doi:10.1037/e302122004-001. Retrieved 2020-05-17.
2. ↑ Golia, Julie A. (2016). Sexual Orientation. American National Biography Online. Oxford University Press. doi:10.1093/anb/9780198606697.article.1603938.
3. ↑ ^{3.0 3.1 3.2} "Supplemental Material for Bisexual Prejudice Among Lesbian and Gay People: Examining the Roles of Gender and Perceived Sexual Orientation". Psychology of Sexual Orientation and Gender Diversity. 2018. doi:10.1037/sgd0000283.supp. ISSN 2329-0382.
4. ↑ Sex and society. Marshall Cavendish Corporation. New York: Marshall Cavendish. 2010. ISBN 978-0-7614-7905-5. OCLC 312443631.{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: others (link)
5. ↑ Bogaert, Anthony F. (2015). "Asexuality: what it is and why it matters". Journal of Sex Research. 52 (4): 362–379. doi:10.1080/00224499.2015.1015713. ISSN 1559-8519. PMID 25897566. S2CID 23720993.
6. ↑ Firestein, Beth A. (2007). Becoming visible: counseling bisexuals across the lifespan. New York: Columbia University Press. ISBN 978-0-231-13724-9. OCLC 76937265.
7. ↑ Schmidt, Johanna (2010). Migrating Genders: Westernisation, Migration, and Samoan Fa'afafine. Farnham, Surrey, England: Ashgate. ISBN 978-1-4094-0274-9. OCLC 649908924.
8. ↑ ^{8.0 8.1} "Avoiding Heterosexual Bias in Language". PsycEXTRA Dataset. doi:10.1037/e304012004-001. Retrieved 2020-05-17.
9. ↑ Rosario, Margaret; Schrimshaw, Eric W.; Hunter, Joyce; Braun, Lisa (2006). "Sexual identity development among gay, lesbian, and bisexual youths: consistency and change over time". Journal of Sex Research. 43 (1): 46–58. doi:10.1080/00224490609552298. ISSN 0022-4499. PMC 3215279. PMID 16817067.
10. ↑ Friedman, Lawrence Meir (1990). The republic of choice: law, authority, and culture. Cambridge, Massachusetts. ISBN 0-674-76260-6. OCLC 19778746.{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: location missing publisher (link)
11. ↑ Heuer, Gottfried (2011). Sexual revolutions: psychoanalysis, history and the father. New York, NY: Routledge. ISBN 978-0-203-83471-8. OCLC 705930609.
12. ↑ Frankowski, Barbara L. (2004). "Sexual orientation and adolescents". Pediatrics. 113 (6): 1827–1832. doi:10.1542/peds.113.6.1827. ISSN 1098-4275. PMID 15173519. S2CID 25770969.
13. ↑ Kersey-Matusiak, Gloria (2013). Delivering culturally competent nursing care. New York: Springer Pub. Co. ISBN 978-0-8261-9382-7. OCLC 823727701.
14. ↑ Lamanna, Mary Ann; Riedmann, Agnes; Stewart, Susan D. (2014). Marriages, Families, and Relationships: Making Choices in a Diverse Society. Cengage Learning. ISBN 978-1-305-17689-8.
15. ↑ ^{15.0 15.1 15.2} Cite error: The named reference Bailey_2016 was used but no text was provided for refs named (see the help page).
16. ↑ LeVay, Simon (2017). Gay, straight, and the reason why : the science of sexual orientation. Oxford University Press. ISBN 978-0-19-029737-4. OCLC 970821946.
17. ↑ Balthazart, Jacques (2011). The biology of homosexuality. New York: Oxford University Press. ISBN 978-0-19-983882-0. OCLC 727705003.
18. ↑ Cruz, David B. (2002). "Disestablishing Sex and Gender". California Law Review. 90 (4): 997–1086. doi:10.2307/3481325. ISSN 0008-1221. JSTOR 3481325.