Sexual Orientation

Sexual Orientation

    Sexual orientation (noun):
    Refers to each person's capacity for profound emotional, affectional and sexual attraction to, and intimate and sexual relations with, persons of a different gender, the same gender or more than one gender. (Cap 567) The most visible sexual orientations include, but are not limited to, homosexuality, bisexuality or heterosexuality.

    Lesbian (adjective):
    A woman emotionally and/or sexually attracted to other women.

    Gay (adjective):
    A person who is emotionally and/or sexually attracted to people of the same gender. Traditionally, it refers to men, but other people who are attracted to the same gender or multiple genders may also define themselves as gay. So "gay" is sometimes also used as a blanket term to cover lesbian women and bisexual people as well as gay men.

    Homosexual (adjective):
    A term used to describe someone who has an emotional romantic and/or sexual orientation towards someone of the same gender. The term "gay" is now more generally used.

    Bisexual (adjective):
    A person who is emotionally and/or sexually attracted to people of more than one gender.

    Heterosexual (adjective):
    A term used to describe someone who has an emotional romantic and/or sexual orientation towards someone of another gender. The term "straight" is sometimes colloquially used.