The sexual orientation (or sexual orientation) is the nature of a person with regard to love, infatuation and sexual desires. If you are only attracted to people of the opposite sex, you are heterosexual. If you only like people of the same sex, then you are homosexual. It may also be that you are attracted to both boys and girls. This is called bisexuality. It is not immediately clear to everyone what sexual preference he or she has. And not everyone dares to tell this to their parents or friends, for fear of being rejected.
The discovery of your own feelings
Most young people will first feel sexually attracted to another person between the ages of 12 and 14. It is not necessarily the case that if you have once felt attracted to someone of the same sex, that you are immediately homosexual or bisexual. This may also have been just a phase. Most young people know what their sexual preference is around the age of seventeen.
Confusion
Falling in love with someone of the same sex can bring a lot of uncertainty. Are you gay or lesbian now? How is it possible that you are different from your peers? What will your friends think? And how are you going to tell your parents about this? All kinds of questions run through your head. Maybe you feel guilty about what you feel. Maybe you aren’t even sure what you feel. It is therefore not surprising that this phase in your life can cause a lot of confusion.
Homosexuality and bisexuality in figures
A lot of research has been done into homosexuality. This reveals a number of percentages. Did you know:
- 28% of gay young people come out of the closet before the age of sixteen?
- 18% of adults have had sex with someone of the same sex?
- 13% of women have ever felt attracted to another woman?
- 12.5% of men have ever felt attracted to another man?
- 6.5% of adults call themselves gay, lesbian or bisexual?
So you can see that such thoughts and feelings occur regularly.
Is homosexuality a choice?
Opinions are divided on whether homosexuality is a choice or not. Some people believe that homosexuality is a disease or a conscious choice. Other people think that people have become gay during their lives and that this may have something to do with their upbringing. Another group of people is convinced that homosexuality is inborn. So far there is no scientific evidence of exactly how homosexuality arises, but it is clear that it is not a choice.
The coming out
The coming out, also called coming out, is a self-chosen moment when someone chooses to openly reveal his or her sexual orientation. This can be very exciting, because you do not know in advance how those around you will react if they hear that you are gay or bisexual. Maybe you fear that you won’t be accepted by your family and friends or you think they will forever view you differently. It could also be that people around you have suspected this for a long time and that this is only confirmed by your coming out. You could carefully and subtly gauge in advance what people around you think about homosexuality. Perhaps this lowers the threshold for telling them.
