Sexual Orientation

The History of the Idea of “Sexual Orientation”

When the term sexual orientation was first coined in an anonymous German pamphlet in 1869, it referred to a particular type of man who was oriented toward sex with other men. Although homosexuality existed prior to the argument presented in the pamphlet, it was not widely held that “homosexual” was an identity category similar to race or sex. Instead, same-sex activity was either not conceived of at all or was seen as something any person was capable, depending on the culture. The term lesbian is believed to have originated in 1890, but not as an identity category. It was, rather, an adjective for a type of erotic stimulation in which some women engaged. By the 1920s, the word became commonly used as an identity category, especially in Western cultures.

This reconceptualization of homosexuality was largely accepted by mental health communities in Europe and the United States and was processed as a mental disorder for men. Women's sexuality was largely ignored, as females were not seen as having any kind of sexual orientation-even though gender identity disorders, conceived of as biological females unnaturally behaving as men, were recognized. The idea of female sexuality began to change in the 1920s in many parts of the world, and notions that women have sexual orientations, whether they are negatively or positively accepted, continue to advance today.

While a variety of cultural events around the world have continued to advance the rights of non-straight individuals, perhaps one of the most significant advances in sexual identity understanding came when the American Psychological Association removed homosexuality from its list of disorders in 1973. This action was encouraged, in part, by studies from Dr. Alfred Kinsey demonstrating that same-sex sexual behavior was more common than previously believed. Dr. Kinsey's findings had worldwide implications and mild effects on public policy in the United States, which is still viewed by many European countries as old-fashioned in its sexual beliefs.

...