Definitions of the term "sexual orientation"

By the "Just the facts coalition," and
The American Psychiatric Association

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Fact sheet by the "Just the Facts Coalition:"

In 1998, a conservative political group organized a conference near Columbus OH to promote reparative therapy in public schools. The goal was to convert students with a bisexual or homosexual orientation into heterosexuals. Some staff from the Gay, Lesbian and Straight Education Network (GLSEN) attended the conference and were disturbed at its content. One month later, Kate Frankfurt, Director of Advocacy for GLSEN shared information about the conference with leaders of a number of national education, health and mental health organisations. The end result was an essay titled "Just the Facts About Sexual Orientation & Youth: A Primer for Principals, Educators and School Personnel."

The primer was prepared and endorsed by:

It says in part:

"Sexual orientation is one component of a person's identity, which is made up of many other components, such as culture, ethnicity, gender, and personality traits. Sexual orientation is an enduring emotional, romantic, sexual, or affectional attraction that a person feels toward another person. Sexual orientation falls along a continuum. In other words, someone does not have to be exclusively homosexual or heterosexual, but can feel varying degrees of attraction for both genders. Sexual orientation develops across a person's lifetime—different people realize at different points in their lives that they are heterosexual, gay, lesbian, or bisexual."

"Sexual behavior does not necessarily equate to sexual orientation. Many adolescents -- as well as many adults -- may identify themselves as homosexual or bisexual without having had any sexual experience. Other young people have had sexual experiences with a person of the same gender, but do not consider themselves to be gay, lesbian, or bisexual. This is particularly relevant during adolescence because it is a time for experimentation—a hallmark of this developmental period." ₁

Sexual orientation according to the American Psychiatric Association:

The American Psychiatric Association has written a series of essays for the general public called "Healthy Minds. Healthy Lives." One helpful essay in the series is on "Gay, Lesbian and Bisexual Issues." It states in part:

Note that this definition applies to persons who are:

Virtually all religious liberals, Humanists, secularists -- as well as those therapists, counselors, gays, lesbians and bisexuals who are not religious conservatives -- would probably accept this definition of "sexual orientation."

"Sexual orientation is a component of sexuality that is characterized by enduring emotional, romantic, sexual and/or affectional attractions to individuals of a particular gender. Thus, sexual orientation refers to more than just certain behaviors. Persons may or may not express their sexual orientation in their behaviors. Some people may engage in sexual behaviors with persons of the same gender but not identify themselves as gay. On the other hand, homosexual intimate relationships, like their heterosexual counterparts, do not always include sexually overt behavior. Three sexual orientations are commonly recognized: homosexual, attraction to individuals of one's own gender; heterosexual, attraction to individuals of the opposite gender; and bisexual, attractions to individuals of both genders." ₃

References used:

The following information sources were used to prepare and update the above essay. The hyperlinks are not necessarily still active today.

1. "Just the Facts About Sexual Orientation & Youth: A Primer for Principals, Educators and School Personnel," APA Online, at: http://www.apa.org/
2. "Gay, Lesbian and Bisexual Issues," American Psychiatric Association, undated, at: http://www.healthyminds.org/
3. "Testimony of the American Psychological Association," 1997-OCT-23, at: http://www.apa.org/

Copyright © 2007 by Ontario Consultants on Religious Tolerance
Original posting: 2007-JUN-05
Latest update: 2007-OCT-11
Author: B.A. Robinson