Sexuality

Sexuality
    A simple definition of sexuality would be who you’re sexually and/or romantically attracted to. These two attractions are different from each other, and both branch off into whole other branches of sexuality and sexual orientation. For example, you could be sexually attracted to boys, yet romantically attracted to girls. This means that when it comes to sexual desire, you would rather have sex with boys, not girls. Of course, this doesn’t mean you don’t want a healthy, romantic relationship with girls; you would just rather abstain from girls, and go with boys. This is totally fine, since everyone has their preferences. Some commonly known sexualities include:

Pansexuality/Omnisexuality: This refers to people attracted to others of any gender identity, including cisgender, transgender, and genderqueer people. Their attraction is not limited to only one or two genders, but rather all.

Bisexuality: This is when an individual is attracted to both men and women. When someone refers to themselves as bisexual, it does not mean they’re both gay and straight. They’re not “basically gay”; they’re a whole other sexuality, and calling them gay when they don’t identify as such is considered offensive.

Homosexuality: When an individual is attracted to people of the same gender. For example, a girl who is sexually attracted to other girls is commonly called a lesbian. A more commonly used word for this sexuality would be gay.

Heterosexuality: Most people know this sexuality; when one is attracted to people of the opposite gender. A more commonly used word for this sexuality is straight.

Asexuality: Someone who isn’t sexually attracted to anyone. The term asexual is merely and umbrella, and there are so many more parts to it. Just like any sexuality, it’s a broad spectrum, and each individual identifying as asexual may differ. Some don’t want to have sex with anybody at any time, some want to have a close bond first, some don’t even want romance (the term for this would be aromantic), simply platonic friendship.

These are broad subjects, and each have its own subdivisions of attraction. Some examples of romantic attractions would be homoromantic, heteroromantic, biromantic, aromantic etc. Each of these terms refers to who you’re romantically attracted to. Maybe you don’t want to use these terms, and that’s fine. Maybe you don’t want to tell anyone either, and that’s fine too. Only you can decide what to do with your sexuality; let everyone know, keep it hidden, whatever feels right for you.
Sometimes, it’s not easy for someone to come out as gay, bi, etc. As lots know, there is a ginormous amount of stigma, stereotypes, and prejudice against sexualities that aren’t heterosexual. There’s tons and tons of discrimination; people have even been killed because of their sexualities. With this amount of hate, it makes sense that some people just want to stay hidden, because sometimes it’s dangerous for them to say anything. The truth is, one can’t change who they’re attracted to and who they like. It’s not a choice whether someone wants to have sex with girls or boys. Trying to change this part of someone is completely pointless, because it’s not about how they were raised or what kind of things they do or hobbies they like; it’s just a matter of that person, and how they just are. It’s like making fun of someone because of their race; they can’t help it if they’re black, white, asian, or anything else. They just are, and it’s not anyone’s fault.
They should be teaching this in Health classes. They should be assuring young teens and kids that it’s okay to be gay, bi, straight, ace, pan. It doesn’t matter if they’re straight or not, because it doesn’t make them any more human than anyone else on the planet. Just imagine: your peers, family, and half the world hate you because of one little thing that you can’t control. Just remember that no one can tell you who you are. Only you can decide for yourself. Not your parents, not your friends, not your classmate or your teacher. There is only one person who knows you best, and that is yourself.
For more info:
https://www.plannedparenthood.org/teens/lgbtq/all-about-lgbtq
Here’s a video in case you’re still confused about sexual preference:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hvoH2wU9IfA


Author: Sophia (gr8)

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