Sexual Identity And Development : The Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, And Transgender

Appleby, G A., & Anastas, J.W. (1998). Not just a passing phase: Social work with gay, lesbian and bisexual people (pp. 3–43, 44-75). New York: Columbia University Press.

Consider the frustrations of bisexual and/or transgender individuals when the LGBTQ community’s experiences are defined largely by the experiences of gay and lesbian individuals (LGBT Advisory Committee, 2011). Self-identified bisexuals make up the largest single population within the LGBTQ community in the U.S. (Egan, Edelman, & Sherrill, 2008; Herbenick et al., 2010; Mosher, Chandra, & Jones, 2005). However, both research on the LGBTQ community and funding for LGBTQ organizations tend to focus exclusively on gay and lesbian individuals, rendering bisexual individuals invisible and sidelining or eclipsing their particular needs (Miller, André, Ebin, & Bessonova, 2007). This invisibility has serious consequences for bisexual individuals’ sense of belonging within the LGBTQ community (LGBT Advisory Committee,

Bisexual people tend to date and have preferences based on society’s terms and categories. Being bisexual can be an exemplifying experience when determining your sexuality for the first time. But being in one of the most marginalized communities within the LGBTQ it can be very hard to navigate relationships from both sides of the spectrum. “Being bisexual can be a marginalizing experience in both queer and hetero spaces” (Rogers 1). Relationships are hard, relationships are harder navigating with a non-monosexual orientation.

little literature on bisexual nature, so they were more likely to be “unsure” of their

Chapter 11, of the textbook “Understanding Social Problems,” by Linda M. Mooney, David Knox, and Caroline Schacht jockeys issues related to sexual orientation. This chapter openly deliberates the struggle for equality for non-heterosexuals and their fight for equal rights and recognition. This paper will briefly summarize this chapter.

The term “minority sexuality” refers to any type of attraction that differs from heterosexuality and includes homosexuality and bisexuality. Homosexuality refers to the attraction of a person towards a member of the same gender; it commonly includes people who define themselves as gay or lesbian. Bisexuality refers to the attraction of a person who can/does feel attracted to multiple genders. There are many terms used to describe an individual’s romantic attraction or sexual attraction, however for the sake of simplicity in this paper, only the above mentioned terms will be referenced. Another term will appear in this essay, heteronormativity. It is a name used to describe the societal assumption that people are straight until explicitly stated otherwise, that an individual is inherently attracted to a person of the opposite gender and they

While stakeholders noted some gains in providing social support for lesbian, gay and (to a lesser extent) bisexual aged care consumers, a number suggested that a stronger focus on gender diversity and intersex status is required. In particular, improving the knowledge and confidence of aged care staff in working with transgender and intersex people, including their specific health-related issues, was considered necessary. Improving knowledge around other specific relevant health issues (such as the management of HIV) was also considered necessary.

Sexual health is a very broad and wide topic that has many subjects that are still controversial to some to this day. Chapter four not only focused on the physical side of sexual health, covering topics such as the female and male anatomy and the process of menstruation, but also the social and emotional sides of it, like the difference between gender and gender identity, sexual orientation, , and issues relating to homophobia and hate crimes. These chapters helped me learn how to properly recognize people’s gender identities and to respect them based off of the retained information from the outlines. Identifying as a bisexual woman, I am fairly fortunate with the overwhelming acceptance from the majority of people I have met in my life. I presumably will never know how it feels to not be able to explain who you are to people, and having to find an excuse for being yourself. Learning about gender dysphoria and the disagreeing feelings about one’s gender that arises from it made me question what it might be like to be someone who has these feelings and the conflicts it internally arises. Gender identity and expression being two separate ideas was also something I was originally very perplexed by, but then learned to understand and appreciate, because there is no

The final sample was composed of 6879.56 girls from grade 8 to 12 (Riskind, Tornello, Younger & Patterson, 2011, p. 1958). From this final sample, approximately 2386 surveys were missing data about partner gender and sexual identity, so they excluded those girls from the “analyses on a pairwise basis” (Riskind, Tornello, Younger & Patterson, 2011, p. 1958). The authors with the results were able to confirm their first hypothesis and rejected their second hypothesis (Riskind, Tornello, Younger & Patterson, 2011, p. 1959-1960). First of all, results show that people with heterosexual or lesbian sexual identity were older than people who considered themselves as bisexual (Riskind, Tornello, Younger & Patterson, 2011, p. 1960). Another finding was that the majority of heterosexual girls answered that they only experienced sexual exchanges with male partner while lesbian (40%) and bisexual (58%) reported that they had sexual intercourse with both genders (Riskind, Tornello, Younger & Patterson, 2011, 1960). However, 68 % of girls who reported sexual intercourse with only females answered and labeled themselves as heterosexual (Riskind, Tornello, Younger & Patterson, 2011, p.

Another issue with research pertaining to sexual identity is the assumption of there being binary categories, such as gay/straight, male/female, etc. Research in this area is generally dichotomized (e.g. male/female, gay/straight), which can foster rigid identity assumptions, foster homogeneous understanding of research particiapnts and results, foster a divide between ‘normal’ and ‘deviant’ behavior, as well as mask inherent variation in different groups and populations (Johnson & Repta, 2012). Bringing greater awareness to the complexity of sexual and gender identity could have transformative effects on how research is conducted. Some scholars in the social work field have begun to acknowledge and recognize the increasing evidence that sexual and gender identity are not binary categories, as well that categories might not even be an accurate way of understanding these phenomena (Burdge, 2007; Roche & Gringeri, 2010). While an understanding that the binary model is flawed has gained some traction in social work research, the majority of researchers continue to ignore and disregard this possibility, consequently reinforcing this erroneous dichotomous paradigm (Rassi, 2011). It has also been noted that critiques from postmodern, poststructural, and queer theory perspectives, as well as from individuals or groups (e.g. transgender, bisexual, intersex) who do not “fit neatly” into binary categories continue to remain essentially absent within social work

Most children and youth find that the development of sexuality and gender identity is an extremely challenging process. For intersex youth, this issue is even more complex. On top of the emotional, psychological, social and physical challenges of puberty, intersex children are often at the mercy of their physicians to provide thorough, honest information and to guide their decisions. Traditionally, doctors have treated intersex children with a “concealment-centered” approach—one that devalues the significance of this medical condition sometimes to the point of deceiving their patients. Socially, many people have a hard time being told that sex is not black and white. Young people need to be able to discuss these issues with an educated support network.

The majority, and nearly entirety, of research on bisexual people was published after 1990 and initial authors like Loraine Hutchins, Lani Ka’ahumanu and Sue George collected anecdotal evidence and conducted surveys to analyze and bring awareness to bisexual issues. These early authors considered the unique challenges and stigmas bisexuals faced which later led later authors to look at the impacts of these social

Although Gender Identity Disorder (GID) and homosexuality has been in the American Psychiatric Association’s (APA) Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders (DSM) for many years, I was personally unaware of the controversy that surrounded it. I realized that I needed to educate myself in the issues and changes that have occurred in the DSM regarding GID and homosexuality over the years.

Bisexual individuals are quite separated from the LGBT community due to invisibility and lack of acceptance, which causes bisexuals to have differing political goals and priorities. Charles Anthony Smith, Shawn Schulenberg, and Eric Baldwin explain the ways in which the bisexual community is made invisible within LGBT politics. Lesbians, gay men, and trans identities have been the faces of the LGBT movement while bisexual identities are distinct from the movement. Bisexual politics differ immensely from lesbian, gay, and trans politics. Bisexual identity seems so invisible within the movement for this reason. Donald P. Haider-Markel and Patrick R. Miller breakdown the idea that the LGBT movement is a unified movement and they conducted a

June’s gender identity is male and he is attracted to females, which means that he is heterosexual instead of homosexual or a lesbian, since gender identity rather than one’s assigned sex is the main consideration involved in sexual orientation. However, some people around June think “she” is a lesbian as “she” only dates women without the awareness of what is June’s gender identity. Even though June himself did not regard it as a concern, that would be something that clinician wants to keep an eye on and address it if