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Sexual Orientation

Sexual orientation refers to one's emotional, romantic, and sexual attraction to another person and is generally assumed to be heterosexual, or straight, meaning that one is attracted to members of the opposite sex. However, various studies suggest that between 5% and 10% of the population may be homosexual, meaning that these people are emotionally, romantically, and sexually attracted to members of the same sex. This topic is pertinent to educators, administrators, school psychologists, and others who work with children and youth because adolescents often begin to become aware of their sexual orientation before, during, and after puberty. Additionally, homosexual youth, including college-age young adults, often cope with bullying, assaults, and even murder in some cases, as well as shame, depression, and low self-esteem because of internalized negative societal views regarding homosexuality (i.e., internalized homophobia); these youth are two to three times more likely to attempt suicide than their heterosexual peers. This entry examines several topics related to sexual orientation, including common terminology, self-disclosure (i.e., coming out), possible causes, and other information.

Common Terminology: Gay, Lesbian, Bisexual, and Transgender

Although the word gay is often used synonymously with homosexual, gay generally refers specifically to gay men, whereas the word lesbian refers to a woman who is attracted to another woman. Use of the words gay and lesbian is generally thought to be preferable, rather than homosexual, the former of which are thought to be more personable, whereas the latter is considered more clinical and diagnostic, thus implying pathology to be treated and cured, although homosexuality was removed from the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders in 1973.

Additionally, bisexuality refers to both men and women who are equally attracted to members of both sexes. Alfred Kinsey and his colleagues noted that sexual orientation exists on a continuum with homosexuality at one end and heterosexuality at the other end, but that many people were in the middle (i.e., bisexual). The Kinsey Scale is well-known and used by researchers today, even though it dates back to1948. Although the transgender community has unique challenges and needs, it is part of the GLBT community, a common acronym referring to gay, lesbian, bisexual, and transgender, sometimes also referred to as queer, a previously pejorative term reclaimed by some in the GLBT community as a word of empowerment.

Coming Out: A Process

Coming out of the closet is a common phrase that refers to the process by which a GLBT person becomes aware of his or her sexual orientation and begins to disclose it to trusted friends and family members. Vivienne Cass, an Australian psychologist, was one of the first to put forth a developmental model of homosexual identity formation, as have others. These models tend to be stage oriented and generally follow a similar linear process whereby GLBT identity begins, sometimes as early as elementary school ages, with an awareness that something is different. Gradually, this difference becomes understood as having to do with attraction (e.g., an adolescent boy develops a crush on another boy, rather than a girl). These attractions may be in direct conflict with societal norms, religious values, and many overt and covert messages (e.g., only “sissy” boys like other boys). Thus, many GLBT people will go into the closet as they become aware of their sexual orientation, hiding it, while presenting themselves as heterosexual, even, in some cases, to the point of engaging in heterosexual marriage and having children.

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