About heterosexuality, homosexuality & bisexuality
What "sexual orientation" and "homosexuality"
mean in referring to a protected class in law
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What exactly does the term "sexual orientation" mean?
There are two conflicting definitions in common usage:
State legislatures, gays, lesbians, mainline and liberal religious
groups, mental health practitioners, human sexuality researchers and
others generally define "sexual orientation" in terms of the sex of the
individual that an older teen or adult finds sexually, emotionally, and spiritually
attractive:
A heterosexual is attracted to members of the opposite sex.
A homosexual is attracted to members of the same sex.
A bisexual is attracted to both men and women.
Sexual orientation thus defines a person's feelings; it is considered
part of their personal makeup.
Some mental health professionals have more precise definitions which
include the sex that an individual focuses their amorous thoughts, their erotic
desires, their sexual fantasies and their feelings.
Sometimes asexuality is added as a fourth option; this covers
individuals who have no feelings of sexual attraction. Everyone has a
sexual orientation. They may be sexually active or celibate.
Some religious and social conservatives define "sexual orientation"
much broader in terms of:
The sex, and/or
The age, and/or
The species, and/or
The state
of the individual that a person finds sexually, emotionally, and
spiritually attractive. They define sexual orientation as including one or
more of the following terms:
A heterosexual is attracted to members of the opposite sex.
A homosexual is attracted to members of the same sex.
A bisexual is attracted to both males and females.
A pedophile is attracted to pre-pubescent children.
A ephebophile is attracted to young people about the age of
puberty. 6
A hebephile is attracted to post-pubertal adolescents (14 to 17
years of age).
A necrophile is attracted to dead bodies.
A zoophile (a.k.a. "zoo") is an individual, almost always male,
who in involved in bestiality or zoophilia: sexual
activities or fantasies involving non-humans.
Etc.
Also included may be individuals who engage in or fantasize about a
variety of paraphilias. "Paraphilia" means "beyond love" in
Greek. The category includes dozen sexual desires and activities that
lie outside the cultural norm and only involve a minority of adults.
Examples are sadomasochism, exhibitionism, voyeurism, emetophilia,
klismaphilia, etc. See Jahsonic.com for definitions of these paraphilias. 1
Some quotations from religious an social conservatives who have
apparently taken this broad interpretation of sexual orientation:
Judith Reisman, writing in the Fundamentalist Christian news
service WorldNetDaily in the year 2000 referred to "...federal
'sexual orientation' legislation protects all 'orientations' which
would include 'affectional' pedophiles, pederasts, sadists,
zoophiles, coprophiles, necrophiles, and the like."
2
In their essay "Sexual Orientation: Fixed or Changeable?,
The Traditional Values Coalition writes: "There are
literally dozens of groups of individuals who engage in bizarre
sexual behaviors and who have mental conditions known as paraphilias
or behaviors known as fetishes. These include Coprophagia....
Klismaphilia... Pederasty... Sadomasochism... Diaper fetishes...
Necrophilia... All of these behaviors could be considered to be
'sexual orientations' -- and many of the individuals who engage in
these behaviors are working to have their peculiar sexual behaviors
declared to be normal in psychiatry and in the culture at
large....Pedophilia and Sadomasochism are just two of many sexual
orientations that may eventually be normalized in our society."
3
The Fort Worth Star-Telegram reported
that: "Cheryl Surber stood before the City Council and
passionately urged members to kill an effort to have sexual
orientation covered by the city’s anti- discrimination ordinances.
Such an ordinance, Surber said, would force Fort Worth employers to
ask all employees, 'Are you a homosexual, heterosexual, bisexual,
asexual, transsexual, transvestite, pedophile, rapist or celibate'?"
4
Scott Lively of NewsWithViews wrote: "
'Sexual orientation' is a highly ambiguous term loaded with
hidden false assumptions. An 'orientation' describes the perspective
of a subject toward an object. A sexual orientation therefore
describes a person (subject) by the object toward which they are
sexually attracted: a homosexual is someone oriented toward someone
of the same sex, a bisexual toward both sexes, a pedophile toward
children, a sado-masochist toward giving or receiving pain, etc.. By
definition, there are an unlimited number of potential sexual
orientations." 5
What do the terms "homosexuality" and "bisexuality" mean?
Again, there are two conflicting definitions in common usage:
Gays, lesbians, mainline and liberal religious
groups, mental health practitioners, human sexuality researchers and
others generally define "homosexuality" as feelings of
sexual, emotional, and spiritual attraction to members of the same
sex. A bisexual is a person who is attracted to both men and women.
Everyone, whether heterosexual, bisexual or homosexual, can decide to be
celibate, or be sexually active. Homosexuality, bisexuality and
heterosexuality is part of what a person is.
Religious and social conservatives generally define "homosexuality"
as a state of being sexually active with members of the same sex.
Homosexuality is what a person does. The term "bisexuality" is largely
ignored.
This lack of agreement on the meanings of words makes dialogue and debate
very difficult.
A person who is sexually attracted to members of the same sex, but
who is not sexually active is considered a homosexual by the first
definition, but not by the second.
A person who is attracted to both men and women is considered a
bisexual by the first definition. If they confine their sexual activity
to members of the:
opposite sex, they are considered a heterosexual by the second
definition.
same sex, they are considered a homosexual by the second
definition.
A person who is attracted to members of the same sex, was once
sexually active and is now celibate is considered a homosexual by the
first definition but an ex-gay by the second.
A person who is attracted to both men and women, was once sexually
active with members of the same sex is considered a bisexual by the
first definition, but an ex-gay by the second.