Human sexuality

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Bisexuality - the least common
and most misunderstood of
the three sexual orientations.

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Overview:

Bisexuality is difficult for some people to understand. Many of us are taught to look at almost everything in the universe as a duality: male and female, light and dark, hot and cold, moral and immoral, etc. This is often carried over into human sexual orientation. Many view it as existing in two forms: heterosexuality and homosexuality. However human sexuality is more complex than that. One cannot squeeze the full range of human sexual feelings and behaviors into only two classifications. A minimum of three is really needed to represent human sexual attractions and activities: heterosexual, homosexual and bisexual. Some have suggested five or seven classifications.

Unfortunately, there is no consensus on the precise meaning of terms like homosexuality, bisexuality and heterosexuality. People differ on whether the terms are defined in terms of the gender to which a person is sexually attracted, or in terms of the gender with whom a person is sexually active. That is definition according to sexual orientation or sexual behavior.

Decades ago many individuals believed that only two sexual orientations existed: heterosexuality and homosexuality. They thought that everyone claiming a bisexual orientation was really gay or lesbian but had not fully come to terms with their sexual identity. However, bisexuality is now acknowledged by almost everyone as a distinct sexual orientation, and also as the least common.

Topics covered in this section:

• The root causes and resolutions of three major religious/secular conflicts:

  • Introduction,
  • abortion access,
  • homosexuality and bisexuality, and
  • transgender individuals, transsexuals, & gender identity.
  
  
• Part 1: Quotations. Definitions of terms related to bisexuality as used by various groups.
  
  
• Part 2: Review & summary of terms. How bisexuals are misunderstood.
  
  
• Part 3: Does male bisexuality exist? Controversies over "choice."
  
  
• Discrimination:
  • 2016-SEP: Iowa couple accused of bigotry & hatred.
    
    
  • 2014 to 2016: Discrimination against the LGBT community in Northern Ireland
    
    
• 2016-SEP-DEC: Iowa couple accused of bigotry & hatred
  
  
• 2017-JAN Comparing current discrimination against LGBTs and inter-racial couples in the past. National Geographic's issue on gender

Copyright © 2001 to 2018 by Ontario Consultants on Religious Tolerance
Originally written: 2001-JAN-19
Latest update: 2018-MAY-10
Author: B.A. Robinson

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