Editing Sexual orientation (section)

{{Short description|Pattern of romantic or sexual attraction}}
{{redirect|Sexual preference|the book|Sexual Preference (book){{!}}''Sexual Preference'' (book)}}
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{{sexual orientation}}
'''Sexual orientation''' is an enduring personal pattern of [[Romance (love)|romantic]] attraction or [[sexual attraction]] (or a combination of these) to persons of the opposite [[sex]] or [[gender]], the same sex or gender, or to both sexes or more than one gender.<!-- NOTE: "Sex" and "gender" are not always the same thing; for example, "sex" may refer to "biological sex" (being male or female), while "gender" may refer to a person's identity of being a man or a woman; therefore, like the Heterosexuality, Homosexuality and Bisexuality articles, we have included both in the lead. Also, see the third source for this paragraph.--> Patterns are generally categorized under [[heterosexuality]], [[homosexuality]], and [[bisexuality]],<ref name="AmPsycholAssn-whatis">{{cite web|title=Sexual Orientation & Homosexuality|publisher=[[American Psychological Association]]|date=2020|access-date=February 6, 2020|url=https://www.apa.org/topics/lgbt/orientation|archive-date=February 16, 2019|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190216213126/https://www.apa.org/topics/lgbt/orientation|url-status=live}}</ref><ref name="AmPsychiAssn-Sexual orientation">{{Cite web|title=Sexual Orientation|publisher=[[American Psychiatric Association]]|access-date=January 1, 2013|url=http://www.healthyminds.org/More-Info-For/GayLesbianBisexuals.aspx|archive-date=July 22, 2011|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110722080052/http://www.healthyminds.org/More-Info-For/GayLesbianBisexuals.aspx}}</ref><ref name="AmPsycholAssn-definitions">{{cite web |date=2015 |title=Definitions Related to Sexual Orientation and Gender Diversity in APA Documents |url=https://www.apa.org/pi/lgbt/resources/sexuality-definitions.pdf |url-status= |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210122054116/https://www.apa.org/pi/lgbt/resources/sexuality-definitions.pdf |archive-date=January 22, 2021 |access-date=February 6, 2020 |publisher=[[American Psychological Association]] |page=6 |quote=Sexual orientation refers to the sex of those to whom one is sexually and romantically attracted. [...] [It is] one's enduring sexual attraction to male partners, female partners, or both. Sexual orientation may be heterosexual, same-sex (gay or lesbian), or bisexual. [...] A person may be attracted to men, women, both, neither, or to people who are genderqueer, androgynous, or have other gender identities. Individuals may identify as lesbian, gay, heterosexual, bisexual, queer, pansexual, or asexual, among others. [...] Categories of sexual orientation typically have included attraction to members of one's own sex (gay men or lesbians), attraction to members of the other sex (heterosexuals), and attraction to members of both sexes (bisexuals). While these categories continue to be widely used, research has suggested that sexual orientation does not always appear in such definable categories and instead occurs on a continuum [...]. Some people identify as pansexual or queer in terms of their sexual orientation, which means they define their sexual orientation outside of the gender binary of 'male' and 'female' only.}}</ref> while [[asexuality]] (experiencing no sexual attraction to others) is sometimes<!-- NOTE: "Sometimes" is correct. Sources are clear about how sexual orientation is typically conceptualized. It is typically conceptualized as heterosexuality, homosexuality, and bisexuality. Asexuality, although termed (and treated as) a sexual orientation in some sources, is debated as one among researchers. And to some of them, it is a lack of a sexual orientation.--> identified as the fourth category.<ref name="Sex and society">{{cite book|title=Sex and Society|volume=2|pages=82–83|isbn=978-0-7614-7905-5|publisher=[[Marshall Cavendish]]|year=2009|editor=Marshall Cavendish Corporation|contribution=Asexuality|access-date=February 2, 2013|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=aVDZchwkIMEC&pg=PA82|archive-date=October 16, 2015|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20151016040824/https://books.google.com/books?id=aVDZchwkIMEC&pg=PA82|url-status=live}}</ref><ref name="Bogaert">{{cite journal|vauthors=Bogaert, AF|title= Asexuality: What It Is and Why It Matters|journal=[[The Journal of Sex Research]]|volume= 52|date=April 2015 |pmid=25897566|doi=10.1080/00224499.2015.1015713|issue=4|pages=362–379|s2cid= 23720993}}</ref>

These categories are aspects of the more nuanced nature of [[sexual identity]] and terminology.<ref name="AmPsycholAssn-definitions"/> For example, people may use other [[Label (sociology)|labels]], such as ''[[Pansexuality|pansexual]]'' or ''[[Polysexuality|polysexual]]'',<ref name="AmPsycholAssn-definitions"/><ref name="Firestein">{{cite book| first = Beth A.| last = Firestein| title = Becoming Visible: Counseling Bisexuals Across the Lifespan| publisher = [[Columbia University Press]]| page = 9| year = 2007| access-date = October 3, 2012| isbn = 978-0-231-13724-9| url = https://books.google.com/books?id=1pCKkZmBU1EC&pg=PA9| archive-date = February 4, 2021| archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20210204020834/https://books.google.com/books?id=1pCKkZmBU1EC&pg=PA9| url-status = live}}</ref> or none at all.<ref name="AmPsycholAssn-whatis" /> According to the [[American Psychological Association]], sexual orientation "also refers to a person's sense of identity based on those attractions, related behaviors, and membership in a community of others who share those attractions".<ref name="AmPsycholAssn-whatis" /><ref name="Calif-amici">{{cite web|url=http://www.courts.ca.gov/documents/Amer_Psychological_Assn_Amicus_Curiae_Brief.pdf|page=30|title=Case No. S147999 in the Supreme Court of the State of California, In re Marriage Cases Judicial Council Coordination Proceeding No. 4365(...) – APA California Amicus Brief&nbsp;— As Filed|others=p. 33 n. 60 (p. 55 per Adobe Acrobat Reader);citation per ''id.'', Brief, p. 6 n. 4 (p. 28 per Adobe Acrobat Reader).|access-date=March 13, 2013|archive-date=January 18, 2012|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120118184353/http://www.courts.ca.gov/documents/Amer_Psychological_Assn_Amicus_Curiae_Brief.pdf|url-status=live}}</ref> [[Androphilia and gynephilia|''Androphilia'' and ''gynephilia'']] are terms used in [[behavioral science]] to describe sexual orientation as an alternative to a [[gender binary]] conceptualization. ''Androphilia'' describes sexual attraction to [[masculinity]]; ''gynephilia'' describes the sexual attraction to [[femininity]].<ref name="schmidt2010">Schmidt J (2010). Migrating Genders: Westernisation, Migration, and Samoan Fa'afafine, p. 45 Ashgate Publishing, Ltd., {{ISBN|978-1-4094-0273-2}}</ref> The term ''sexual preference'' largely overlaps with sexual orientation, but is generally distinguished in psychological research.<ref name="Preference">{{cite news |title=Avoiding Heterosexual Bias in Language |publisher=[[American Psychological Association]] |url=http://www.colby.edu/psychology/APA/Gender.pdf |url-status= |access-date=July 19, 2011 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120813022744/http://www.colby.edu/psychology/APA/Gender.pdf |archive-date=August 13, 2012}}</ref> A person who identifies as bisexual, for example, may sexually prefer one sex over the other. ''Sexual preference'' may also suggest a degree of voluntary choice,<ref name="Preference" /><ref>{{cite book |title=The republic of choice: law, authority, and culture |last=Friedman |first=Lawrence Meir |year=1990 |publisher=Harvard University Press |isbn=978-0-674-76260-2 |page=92 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=Z6iYwTFY5mIC&pg=PA92 |access-date=8 January 2012 |archive-date=17 February 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220217114727/https://books.google.com/books?id=Z6iYwTFY5mIC&pg=PA92 |url-status=live }}</ref><ref>{{cite book |title=Sexual revolutions: psychoanalysis, history and the father |last=Heuer |first=Gottfried |year=2011 |publisher=Taylor & Francis |isbn=978-0-415-57043-5 |page=49 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=d3s_vH5YV-gC&pg=PA49 |access-date=8 January 2011 |archive-date=17 February 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220217114728/https://books.google.com/books?id=d3s_vH5YV-gC&pg=PA49 |url-status=live }}</ref> whereas sexual orientation is not a choice.<ref name="pediatrics2004">{{cite journal |author=Frankowski BL |author2=American Academy of Pediatrics Committee on Adolescence |date=June 2004 |title=Sexual orientation and adolescents |url=https://publications.aap.org/pediatrics/article-abstract/113/6/1827/64422/Sexual-Orientation-and-Adolescents?redirectedFrom=fulltext |url-status=dead |journal=[[Pediatrics (journal)|Pediatrics]] |volume=113 |issue=6 |pages=1827–32 |doi=10.1542/peds.113.6.1827 |pmid=15173519 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130320020943/http://pediatrics.aappublications.org/content/113/6/1827.long |archive-date=2013-03-20 |access-date= |doi-access=|url-access=subscription }}</ref><ref name="Kersey-Matusiak">{{cite book|author=Gloria Kersey-Matusiak|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=X8O_wGedAYoC&pg=PA169|title=Delivering Culturally Competent Nursing Care|publisher=[[Springer Publishing Company]]|year=2012|isbn=978-0-8261-9381-0|page=169|quote=Most health and mental health organizations do not view sexual orientation as a 'choice.'|access-date=February 10, 2016|archive-date=November 30, 2016|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20161130123356/https://books.google.com/books?id=X8O_wGedAYoC&pg=PA169|url-status=live}}</ref><ref name="Lamanna">{{cite book|last1=Lamanna|first1=Mary Ann|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=fofaAgAAQBAJ&pg=PA82|title=Marriages, Families, and Relationships: Making Choices in a Diverse Society|last2=Riedmann|first2=Agnes|last3=Stewart|first3=Susan D|publisher=[[Cengage Learning]]|year=2014|isbn=978-1-305-17689-8|page=82|quote=The reason some individuals develop a gay sexual identity has not been definitively established &nbsp;– nor do we yet understand the development of heterosexuality. The American Psychological Association (APA) takes the position that a variety of factors impact a person's sexuality. The most recent literature from the APA says that sexual orientation is not a choice that can be changed at will, and that sexual orientation is most likely the result of a complex interaction of environmental, cognitive and biological factors...is shaped at an early age...[and evidence suggests] biological, including genetic or inborn hormonal factors, play a significant role in a person's sexuality (American Psychological Association 2010).|access-date=February 11, 2016|archive-date=November 30, 2016|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20161130141623/https://books.google.com/books?id=fofaAgAAQBAJ&pg=PA82|url-status=live}}</ref>

Although no single theory on the cause of sexual orientation has yet gained widespread support, scientists favor [[Biology and sexual orientation|biological theories]].<ref name="Bailey" /><ref name="pediatrics2004" /><ref name=":2">{{Cite journal |last1=Bogaert |first1=Anthony F. |last2=Skorska |first2=Malvina N. |date=2020-03-01 |title=A short review of biological research on the development of sexual orientation |journal=Hormones and Behavior |volume=119 |pages=104659 |doi=10.1016/j.yhbeh.2019.104659 |issn=0018-506X |pmid=31911036 |doi-access=free}}</ref> There is considerably more evidence supporting nonsocial, biological causes of sexual orientation than social ones, especially for males.<ref name="Bailey" /><ref name="LeVay" /><ref name="Balthazart2">{{cite book |last=Balthazart |first=Jacques |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=3fjGjlcVINkC |title=The Biology of Homosexuality |date=2012 |publisher=Oxford University Press |isbn=9780199838820 |access-date=27 July 2019 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210126132532/https://books.google.com/books?id=3fjGjlcVINkC |archive-date=26 January 2021 |url-status=live}}</ref> A major hypothesis implicates the [[Prenatal development|prenatal environment]], specifically the organizational effects of hormones on the fetal brain.<ref name="Bailey" /><ref name=":2" /> There is no substantive evidence which suggests parenting or early childhood experiences play a role in developing a sexual orientation.<ref name="Bailey" /><ref name="rcp20072">{{cite web |title=Submission to the Church of England's Listening Exercise on Human Sexuality |url=http://www.rcpsych.ac.uk/workinpsychiatry/specialinterestgroups/gaylesbian/submissiontothecofe.aspx |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20151016040825/http://www.rcpsych.ac.uk/workinpsychiatry/specialinterestgroups/gaylesbian/submissiontothecofe.aspx |archive-date=16 October 2015 |access-date=13 June 2013 |publisher=The Royal College of Psychiatrists}}</ref> Across cultures, most people are heterosexual, with a minority of people having a homosexual or bisexual orientation.<ref name="Bailey" /><ref name="LeVay">{{cite book |last=LeVay |first=Simon |url=https://archive.org/details/gaystraightreaso0000leva_e5c2/mode/1up?view=theater |title=Gay, Straight, and the Reason Why: The Science of Sexual Orientation |date=2017 |publisher=Oxford University Press |isbn=9780199752966 |ol=26246092M |access-date= |url-access=registration |via=[[Open Library]] |ol-access=free}}</ref>{{rp|8}}<ref name="Balthazart">{{cite book |last=Balthazart |first=Jacques |url=https://archive.org/details/biologyofhomosex0000balt/mode/1up |title=The Biology of Homosexuality |date=2012 |publisher=Oxford University Press |isbn=9780199838820 |ol=16142775W |url-access=registration |via=[[Open Library]] |ol-access=free}}</ref>{{rp|9–10}} A person's sexual orientation can be anywhere on [[heterosexual-homosexual continuum|a continuum]], from exclusive attraction to the opposite sex to exclusive attraction to the same sex.<ref name="AmPsycholAssn-whatis" />

Sexual orientation is studied primarily within [[biology]], [[anthropology]], and [[psychology]] (including [[sexology]]), but it is also a subject area in [[sociology]], [[history]] (including [[social constructionism|social constructionist]] perspectives), and [[law]].<ref name=Cruz>{{cite journal|last1=Cruz|first1=David B.|title=Controlling Desires: Sexual Orientation Conversion and the Limits of Knowledge and Law|journal=Southern California Law Review|date=1999|volume=72|issue=5|pages=1297–400|pmid=12731502|url=http://www-bcf.usc.edu/~usclrev/pdf/072502.pdf|access-date=2015-05-21|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170919071205/http://www-bcf.usc.edu/~usclrev/pdf/072502.pdf|archive-date=2017-09-19|url-status=dead}}</ref>