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A person's sexual orientation refers to heterosexual, bisexual or homosexual desire. Use of the term usually implies that such desire is inherent and unchangeable (compare sexual preference). A person can be attracted primarily to persons of their own gender (homosexuality), primarily to persons of the other gender (heterosexuality), or about equally to both genders (bisexuality). A very small percentage of people are not attracted to anyone (asexuality).

A rarely seen related term is affectional orientation which emphasizes elements of romance and affection.

The term, like sexual preference, is used to distinguish between an individual's desires and their actions. A person's sexual orientation is held to remain stable even if the person does not engage in sexual acts. Thus we may speak of a heterosexual virgin or a homosexual celibate. Historically, no such distinction was made -- a person was considered homosexual, for example, if and only if they had homosexual sex.

Research

According to two controversial studies, Sexual Behavior in the Human Male (1948) and Sexual Behavior in the Human Female (1953) by Dr. Alfred C. Kinsey, when asked to rate themselves on a continuum from completely heterosexual to completely homosexual, and when the individuals behavior as well as their identify is analyzed, the majority of people appear to be at least somewhat bisexual, i.e., most people have some attraction to either sex, although usually one sex is preferred. According to Kinsey, only a minority (5-10%) can be considered fully heterosexual or homosexual. Conversely, only an even smaller minority can be considered "fully" bisexual. See Kinsey Reports.

Most modern scientific surveys find that nearly all people report a mostly heterosexual orientation and that 3 to 7 percent of the total US population identifies as homosexual (source: , extrapolated from page 24 -- this figure can be as high as 12% for some large cities and as low as 1% percent for rural areas). Almost all of these studies have found that homosexual males occur roughly at twice the rate as homosexual females. Estimates for the percentage of the population that identify as bisexual vary widely based on the type of questions asked. Some studies only consider a person "bisexual" if they are nearly equally attracted to both sexes, and others consider a person "bisexual" if they are at all attracted to the same sex (for otherwise mostly heterosexual persons) or to the opposite sex (for otherwise mostly homosexual persons). (need to find the current estimates and ranges for the percent of the population that identifies as bisexual)

A very small percentage of people are not attracted to anyone (asexuality).

Religious viewpoints

Much religious teaching maintains that sexual behavior should conform to moral and religious codes. Traditionally, Christianity has considered homosexuality to be morally wrong. In recent years, most major Christian denominations have begun to differentiate between homosexuality as a sexual orientation and homosexual sex acts. Increasingly, some characterize the sexual orientation as not sinful in and of itself, but as a temptation or challenge to be overcome.

Most denominations continue to believe that homosexual sex is immoral and a sin. The Catholic Church prescribes chastity for homosexuals, as do many other major denominations. See Religion and homosexuality for a discussion of this subject in depth.

Recent Approaches: sexual orientation as a "construction"

Many people in Western societies today speak of "sexual orientation " as a unified and actual thing. Over the past thirty years anthropologists, historians, and literary critics have pointed out that it in fact comprises a variety of different things, including a specific object of erotic desire, and forms of erotic fulfilment (i.e. sexual behaviors). Many scholars have argued that "sexual orientation" and specific sexual orientations are historical and social constructions. In 1976 the historian Michel Foucault argued that homosexuality as a concept did not exist as such in the 18th century; that people instead spoke of "sodomy" (which involved specific erotic acts regardless of the sex of the actors) as a crime that was often ignored but sometimes punished severely. He further argued that it was in the 19th century that "homosexuality" came into existence as practicioners of emerging sciences as well as arts sought to classify and analyze different forms of sexual "perversion." Finally, Foucault argues that it was this emerging discourse that allowed some to claim that homosexuality is natural, and therefore a legitimate "sexual orientation."

Foucault's suggestions about Western sexuality led other historians and anthropologists to abandon the 19th century project of classifying different forms of "sexual" behavior or "sexual" orientation" to a new project that asks "what is "sexuality" and how do people in different places and at different times understand their bodies and desires? For example, they have argued that the famous case of some Melanesian societies in which adult men and pre-pubescent and adolescent boys engage in oral sex is not comparable to similar acts in the United States or Europe; that Melanesians do not understand or explain such acts in terms of sexual desire or as a sexual behavior, and that it in fact reflects a culture with a very different notion of sex, sexuality, and gender. Some historians have made similar claims about so-called homosexuality in ancient Greece; that behaviors that appear to be homosexual in modern Western societies may have been understood by ancient Greeks in entirely different ways.

Two Major Viewpoints

At stake in these new views are two different points. One is the claim that human sexuality is extraordinarily plastic, and that specific notions about the body and sexuality are socially constructed. The other is the fundamentally anthropological claim of cultural relativism: that human behavior should be interpreted in the context of its cultural environment, and that the language of one culture is often inappropriate for describing practices or beliefs in another culture. A number of contemporary scholars who have come to reject Foucault's specific arguments about Western sexuality nevertheless have accepted these basic theoretical and methodological points.

The other is that sexual orientation is set in early childhood and perhaps even earlier. Studies of homosexual identical twins have determined that when one twin is homosexual that there is a 40 to 60 percent chance that the other twin will aslo be homosexual. In fraternal twins the figure is 15 to 30 percent. For same sex non-twin siblings the figure is 5 to 10 percent, or roughly the background level (ranges are from a combination of & ). For many, these data strongly indicate a significant biological influence on sexual orientation.

See: causes of sexual orientation, sexual behavior, bisexuality, reparative therapy, Homosexuality, Heterosexuality