A person's erotic and emotional orientation toward members of his or her own gender or members of the other gender (J. Shibley Hyde and J. DeLamater).

Distinct preference for sexual partners of a particular gender in the presence of clear alternatives.

CROSS-CULTURAL DATA
* SAME-SEX BEHAVIOR IS UNIVERSAL; BUT NOT "HOMOSEXUAL ROLE"
* EXPRESSION OF HOMOSEXUAL SOCIAL ROLE, WHEN PRESENT, IS ENORMOUSLY VARIABLE - 400+ types
* SOCIAL VALUE OF SAME-SEX BEHAVIOR AND "HOMOSEXUAL" SOCIAL ROLE IS VARIABLE

Terms
Sex - sexual behaviour
Gender - being male or female
Gender identity - the male's association with the male role and the female's association with the female role. Sexual identity - one's self label or self-identification as heterosexual, homosexual or bisexual.

Heterosexism: A belief in the superiority of heterosexuality; policies and practices which serve to elevate heterosexuality and subordinate homosexuality and bisexuality.

Homophobia:
1. Fear, dislike or hatred of Gays/Lesbians/Bisexuals.
2. Discrimination against GLB.

Antigay prejudice: Negative attitudes and behaviours towards GLB
GLB may also have antigay prejudice.

What is "homosexuality"?
a style of erotic attachment?
an illness? an indication of illness?
a quality of the self?
a type of personality?
a lifestyle?

A homosexual orientation refers to an erotic attraction to, and interest in forming romantic relationships with members of one's own sex. The term homosexual denotes sexual interest in members of one's own gender and refers to both men and women. Homosexual males are often referred to as gay males. Homosexual women are also called lesbians or gay women. The term bisexuality refers to an orientation in which one is sexually attracted to, and interested in forming romantic relationships with, both males and females.

Determining a person's sexual orientation might seem to be a clear-cut task. Some people are exclusively gay and limit their sexual activities to partners of their own gender. Others are strictly heterosexual and limit their sexual activity to partners of the other gender. Many people fall somewhere in between, however. Many men have had brief periods of their lives when they had sexual experiences with persons of the opposite sex. They however consider themselves as heterosexual. These instances many have been as an adolescent, or as an inmate in prison.

Gay males and lesbians too may engage in male-female sexual activity while maintaining a gay sexual identity. Some gay men and women are married, but harbour desire for members of their own sex, and fulfill these in extramarital affaires. Some, often women, only come to an awareness of their homosexual inclinations later in life.

Bisexual people are attracted to both males and females. They report that they can maintain erotic interests in , and romantic relationships with, members of both genders. Depending on how one defines bisexuality, perhaps 1% to 4% of the population is bisexual. Less would have a bisexual identity. One survey found the percentage to be 0.8%of the men and 0.9% of the women) (Laumann et al., 1994).

Ford and Beach (1951) found that in nearly two thirds of the preliterate societies they studied, male to male sexual interactions were viewed as normal and deemed socially acceptable for some people, especially as certain times of life, e.g. during rites of passage.

Little is known about female-female sexual activity in non-western cultures. Evidence for female-to-female sexual behaviour was found by Ford and Beachinn in only 17 out of the 76 societies he studied. This cross-cultural evidence is consistent with data from our own culture. Here too, males are more likely to develop sexual interest in, or romantic relationships with, members of their own sex. (Katz, 1995; Laumann et al., 1994).

Negative attitudes towards gay persons however pervade our western society. Homosexual behaviour is often perceived as disgusting, or wrong, or unacceptable.

Homophobia is the name given for a cluster of negative feelings and attitudes towards gay people, including intolerance, hatred and fear. There is some evidence that homophobic men are threatened by the possibility of discovering male-male impulses in themselves.

Homophobia takes many forms, including:
Use of derogatory names (such as queer, faggot, and dyke)
Telling disparaging jokes
Barring gay people from housing, employment, or social opportunities.
Taunting
Gay bashing (physical abuse)

Homophobic attitudes may be embedded within a cluster of stereotypical gender role attitudes towards the family (Kerns and Fine, 1994).

Biological Perspectives

Is sexual orientation an inborn trait that is transmitted genetically, like eye color or height? Does it reflect hormonal influences? Biological perspectives focus on the role of genetics and hormonal influences in shaping sexual orientation.

Genetics and Sexual Orientation.

Considerable evidence exists that gay male and lesbian sexual orientations run in families (Bailey et al., 1993; Pillard, 1990). In one study, for example, 22% of the brothers of a sample of 51 predominantly gay men were either gay or bisexual themselves. This is nearly four times the proportion expected in the general population (Pillard & Weinrich, 1986). Although such evidence is consistent with a genetic explanation, families also share a common environment.

Twin studies also shed light on the possible role of heredity (Rose, 1995). Monozygotic (MZ) twins, or identical twins, develop from a single fertilized ovum and share 100% of their heredity. Dizygotic (DZ) twins, or fraternal twins, develop from two fertilized ova. Like other brothers and sisters, DZ twins share only 50% of their heredity. Thus if a gay male or lesbian sexual orientation were transmitted genetically, it should be found about twice as often among identical twins of gay people as among fraternal twins. Since MZ and DZ twins who are reared together share similar environmental influences, differences in the degree of concordance for a given trait between the types of twin pairs are further indicative of genetic origins.

Several studies have identified gay men who had either identical (MZ) or fraternal (DZ) twin brothers in order to examine the prevalences of a gay male sexual orientation in their twin brothers (Rose, 1995). Consistent with a genetic explanation, MZ twins do appear to have a higher concordance rate for a gay male sexual orientation than DZ twins. Bailey and Pillard (1991) reported a 52% concordance rate among MZ twin pairs versus a 22% rate among DZ twin pairs in their sample. In another study, researchers reported a concordance rate for a gay sexual orientation of 66% in MZ twins, as compared to 30% among DZ twins (Whitam et al., 1993). But bear in mind that MZ twins are more likely to be dressed alike and treated alike than DZ twins. Thus, their greater concordance for a gay sexual orientation may at least in part reflect environmental factors. The greater concordance between MZ twins may only signify that MZ twins are likely to react more similarly than DZ twins to the same environmental influences (Bancroft, 1990).

Researchers at the National Cancer Institute have found evidence linking a region on the X sex chromosome to a gay male sexual orientation (Hamer et al., 1993). The researchers cautioned that they had not found a particular gene linked to sexual orientation, just a general location of where the gene may be found. Nor do scientists know how such a gene, or combination of genes, might account for sexual orientation.

Sexologist John Money (1994) agrees that genetic factors may play a role in the development of sexual orientation. However, genetic factors do not fully govern sexual orientation. Most researchers believe that sexual orientation is affected by a complex interplay of biological and psychosocial influences (Barlow & Durand, 1995).

Hormonal Influences and Sexual Orientation

Sex hormones strongly influence the mating behaviour of other species (Crews, 1994). Researchers have thus looked into possible hormonal factors in determining sexual orientation in humans.Testosterone is essential to male sexual differentiation. Thus, the levels of testosteron and its by-products in the blood and urine have been suspected as a possible influence of sexual orientation, at least in males. Research has failed to connect sexual orientation in either gender with differences in the levels of either male or female sex hormones in adulthood (Friedman & Downey, 1994). In adulthood, testosterone appears to have activating effects. That is, it affects the intensity of sexual desire, but not the preference for partners of the same or the other gender (Whalen et al., 1990).

What of the possible prenatal effects of sex hormones? Experiments have been performed in which pregnant rats were given antiandrogen drugs that block the effects of testosterone. When the drugs were given during critical periods in which the fetuses' brains were becoming sexually differentiated, male offspring were likely to show feminine mating patterns as adults (Ellis & Ames, 1987). The adult males became receptive to mounting attempts by other males and failed to mount females.

Do prenatal sex hormones play a similar role in determining sexual orientation in people? There is suggestive evidence. For example, Meyer-Bahlburg and his colleagues (1995) interviewed groups of women exposed prenatally to DES--a synthetic estrogen. They found that these women were more likely to be rated as lesbian or bisexual than women who were not exposed to DES. We do know that the genitals of gay people differentiate prenatally in accord with their chromosomal gender (Whalen et al., 1990). It remains possible that imbalances in prenatal sex hormones may cause brain tissue to be sexually differentiated in one direction even though the genitals are differentiated in the other (Collaer & Hines, 1995).

The Structure of the Brain

Evidence suggests that there may be structural differences between the brains of heterosexual and gay men. In 1991, Simon LeVay, a neurobiologist at the Salk Institute in La Jolla, California, carried out autopsies on the brains of 35 AIDS victims--19 gay men and 16 (presumably) heterosexual men. He found that a segment of the hypothalamus in the brains of the gay men was less than half the size of the same segment in the heterosexual men. The same brain segment was larger in the brain tissues of heterosexual men than in brain tissues obtained from a comparison group of 6 presumably heterosexual women. No significant differences in size were found between the brain tissues of the gay men and the women, however.

LeVay's findings are intriguing, but they are preliminary. We do not know, for example, whether the structural differences found by LeVay are innate. Nor should LeVay's findings be taken to mean that biology is destiny. As Richard Nakamura, a scientist with the National Institute of Mental Health, commented, "This [LeVay's findings] shouldn't be taken to mean that you're automatically [gayl if you have a structure of one size versus a structure of another size" (Angler, 1991).

Psychological Perspectives

Do family relationships play a role in the origins of sexual orientation? What are the effects of childhood sexual experiences? Psychoanalytic theory and leaming theory provide two of the major psychological approaches to understanding ~he origins of sexual orientation.

Psychoanalytic Views

Sigmund Freud, the originator of psychoanalytic theory, believed that children enter the world polymorphously perverse. That is, prior to internalizing social inhibitions, children are open to all forms of sexual stimulation. However, through proper resolution of the Oedipus complex, a boy will forsake his incestuous desires for his mother and come to identify with his father. As a result, his erotic attraction to his mother will eventually be transferred, or displaced, onto more appropriate female partners. A girl, through proper resolution of her Electra complex, will identify with her mother and seek erotic stimulation from men when she becomes sexually mature.

In Freud's view, a gay male or lesbian sexual orientation results from failure to successfully resolve the Oedipus complex by identifying with the parent of the same gender. In men, faulty resolution of the Oedipus complex is most likely to result from the so-called classic pattern of an emotionally "close-binding" mother and a "detached-hostile" father. A boy reared in such a family may come to identify with his mother and even to "transform himself into her" (Freud, 1922/1959, p. 40). He may thus become effeminate and develop sexual interests in men.

Freud believed that the mechanism of unresolved castration anxiety plays a role in a gay male sexual orientation. By the time the Oedipus complex takes effect, the boy will have learned from self-stimulation that he can obtain sexual pleasure from his penis. In his youthful fantasies, he associates this pleasure with mental images of his mother. He is also likely to have learned that females do not possess a penis. Somewhere along the line the psychoanalyst theorizes that the boy may also have been warned that his penis will be removed if he plays with himself. From all this, the boy may surmise that females--including his mother--once had penises, but that they were removed.

During the threes of the Oedipus complex, the boy unconsciously comes to fear that his father, his rival in love for the mother, will retaliate by removing the organ that the boy has come to associate with sexual pleasure. His fear causes him to repress his sexual desire for his mother and to identify with the potential aggressor--his father. The boy thus overcomes his castration anxiety and is headed along the path of adult heterosexuality.

If the Oedipus complex is not successfully resolved, castration anxiety may persist. When sexually mature, the man will not be able to tolerate sex with women. Their lack of a penis will arouse unconscious castration anxiety within himself. According to psych-analytic theory, the boy may unconsciously associate the vagina with teeth, or other sharp instruments, and be unable to perform sexually with a woman.

The Electra complex in little girls follows a somewhat different course. Freud believed that little girls become envious of boys' penises, since they lack their own. This concept of penis envy was one of Freud's most controversial beliefs. In Freud's view, jealousy leads little girls to resent their mothers, whom they blame for their anatomic "deficiency," and to turn from their mothers to their fathers as sexual objects. They now desire to possess the father, because the father's penis provides what they lack. But incestuous desires bring the girl into competition with her mother. Motivated by fear that her mother will withdraw her love if the desires persist, the girl normally represses them and identifies with her mother. She then develops traditional feminine interests and eventually seeks erotic stimulation from men. She supplants her childhood desire for a penis with a desire to marry a man and bear children. The baby, emitted from between her legs, serves as the ultimate penis substitute.

A girl who does not resolve her penis envy in childhood may "manifest homosexuality, exhibit markedly masculine traits in the conduct of her later life, choose a masculine vocation, and so on" (Freud, 1922/1959, p. 50). The residue of this unresolved complex is continued penis envy, the striving to become a man by acting like a man and seeking sexual satisfaction with women: lesbianism.

In Freud's view, a gay male or lesbian sexual orientation is one result of assuming the gender role normally taken up by the other gender. The gay male is expected to be effeminate; the lesbian, masculine. But, as noted in research into gender-typed behaviour and sexual orientation, this stereotypical view of gay people is far from universal. Nor do the behaviors stereotypical of the other gender found in some adult gay men or women necessarily derive from Oedipal problems. Biological and other psychosocial factors may be involved.

A nagging problem of Freudian theory is that many of its concepts, such as castration anxiety and penis envy, are believed to operate at an unconscious level. As such, they lie beyond the scope of scientific observation and measurement. We cannot learn whether boys experience castration anxiety by asking them, since the theory claims that repression will keep such anxieties out of awareness. Nor can we directly learn about penis envy by interviewing girls.

Source: Essentials of Human Sexuality: . Rathus S.A.,. Nevid Jeffrey S, Finchner-Rathus L, Allyn and Bacon, 1998.

Gender Non Conformity During Childhood

One way to a homosexual orientation: "Feminine boys" (Bailey, Miller and Willerman, 1993) cross dressing, "girls" toys, sex play with boys, liking for the company of girls, etc.

Preference for receptive anal intercourse have strongest non conformity (Weinrich, 1992). Not all homosexuals, Bell(1981) found about half having masculine interests, compared to three-four heterosexual men. Female 1/5 vs. 1/3 very feminine.

Retrospective, persons with gay identity, Green followed boys from early childhood. More likely to become gay.

Ross(1980) explained it as self-fulfilling prophecy. Cultural aspect.

Early sexual experiences

Sample of 11.000. Van Wyk and Geist, (1984). Sex play to orgasm.

Those who have arousing or uncomfortable experiences develop differently. Early sexual contact seems to be a predictor of homosexual attraction.

Is same-sex sexual behavior a "natural" biological variant?
* observed in all human cultures
* observed in many species of animals in their normal habitat, all the higher primates is not associated with fatality or sterility (no violation of natural selection)

The socio-biology of sexual orientation
Evolution of Sexual Behaviour
* reproductive = coitus when female is ovulating
* non reproductive = everything else masturbation; paraphernalia; anal, oral, manual-sex; coitus before puberty, after menopause, when the female is sterile, using B.C., not ovulating, when male is sterile, not ejaculating, same-sex behaviour