Romantic and sexual orientation: Difference between revisions

'''Romantic and sexual orientation''' are enduring personal qualities that incline people to feel romantic and sexual attraction to certain kinds of people. Sometimes terms for sexual orientation are also used to include romantic orientation, the tendency to feel romantic attraction to certain kinds of people. Other times, orientation labels differentiate between romantic and sexual attraction. Some of the most widely known labels for attraction, such as "lesbian," also imply the user's gender. Words for attraction experienced by nonbinary people or attraction to nonbinary people have been proposed, but are not as wide-spread yet. By some interpretations, every orientation includes attraction to some nonbinary people.<ref name="KravitzM">{{Cite web |title=Does Liking a Nonbinary Person Make You Bi or Pan? Not Necessarily. |last=M. |first=Kravitz |work=Medium |date=29 June 2020 |access-date=25 August 2020 |url= https://medium.com/an-injustice/does-liking-a-nonbinary-person-make-you-bi-or-pan-not-necessarily-359241923561}}</ref>) This wiki article includes many terms for romantic and sexual orientation that may include nonbinary people, and explains how they may.  

Asexuality is a sexual orientation in which a person usually does not feel sexual attraction to anyone.<ref name="Sex and society">{{cite book|editor=Marshall Cavendish|title=Sex and Society|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=aVDZchwkIMEC&pg=PA82|accessdate=July 27, 2013|volume=2|year=2010|publisher=Marshall Cavendish|isbn=978-0-7614-7906-2|pages=82–83|contribution=Asexuality}}</ref><ref name="Bogaert 2015">{{cite journal|vauthors=Bogaert, AF|s2cid= 23720993 |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}}</ref> They may have little or no interest in sexual activity.<ref name="Crooks">{{cite book|author1=Robert L. Crooks |author2=Karla Baur|title=Our Sexuality|isbn=978-1305887428|publisher=[[Cengage Learning]]|year=2016|page=300|accessdate=January 4, 2017|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=isIaCgAAQBAJ&pg=PT300}}</ref><ref name="Helm">{{cite book|author=Katherine M. Helm|title=Hooking Up: The Psychology of Sex and Dating|isbn=978-1610699518|publisher=[[ABC-CLIO]]|year=2015|page=32|accessdate=January 4, 2017|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=O3K9CgAAQBAJ&pg=PA32}}</ref><ref name="Kelly">{{cite book|last = Kelly| first = Gary F.|title = Sexuality Today: The Human Perspective|edition=7|year = 2004| publisher = [[McGraw-Hill]] |isbn= 978-0-07-255835-7|page = 401|chapter  = Chapter 12 |postscript = Asexuality is a condition characterized by a low interest in sex.}}</ref> This is an enduring characteristic.<ref name="apahelp">{{cite web|title=Sexual orientation, homosexuality and bisexuality|publisher=[[American Psychological Association]]|accessdate=March 30, 2013|url=http://www.apa.org/helpcenter/sexual-orientation.aspx}}</ref> Asexuality is not the same as celibacy, in which a person may feel sexual attraction, but intentionally chooses not to have sex, because asexuals do not desire sex in the first place.<ref name="Halter">{{cite book|author=Margaret Jordan Halter |author2=Elizabeth M. Varcarolis|title=Varcarolis' Foundations of Psychiatric Mental Health Nursing|isbn=978-1-4557-5358-1|publisher=[[Elsevier Health Sciences]]|year=2013|page=382|accessdate=May 7, 2014|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=mZ15AAAAQBAJ&pg=PA382#v=onepage}}</ref><ref name="DePaulo">{{cite magazine|first=Bella|last=DePaulo|title=ASEXUALS: Who Are They and Why Are They Important?|magazine=[[Psychology Today]]|date=September 26, 2011|accessdate=December 13, 2011|url=http://www.psychologytoday.com/blog/living-single/200912/asexuals-who-are-they-and-why-are-they-important}}</ref>  Asexuality sometimes means aromanticism, too, so a person does not feel sexual or romantic attraction. In other cases, people use asexuality to mean something distinct from aromanticism, to say that they feel romantic attraction, but not sexual attraction.<ref name="Richards and Barker">{{cite book|author=Christina Richards |author2=Meg Barker|title=Sexuality and Gender for Mental Health Professionals: A Practical Guide|isbn=978-1-4462-9313-3|publisher=[[Sage Publications|SAGE]]|year=2013|pages=124–127|accessdate=July 3, 2014|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=uSiXAgAAQBAJ&pg=PT124}}</ref> Some asexual people enjoy taking part in sexual and/or romantic relationships, even though they do not feel an instinctive need to do so.<ref name="Prause">{{cite journal|last=Prause |first=Nicole |author2=Cynthia A. Graham |s2cid=12034925 |date=August 2004 |url=http://www.kinseyinstitute.org/publications/PDF/PrauseGrahamPDF.pdf |title=Asexuality: Classification and Characterization |journal=[[Archives of Sexual Behavior]] |volume=36 |pages=341–356 |accessdate=August 31, 2007 |doi=10.1007/s10508-006-9142-3 |pmid=17345167 |issue=3 |archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20070927014407/http://www.kinseyinstitute.org/publications/PDF/PrauseGrahamPDF.pdf |archivedate=September 27, 2007 |url-status=dead }}</ref> Many asexuals see asexuality as a queer identity, and under the umbrella of [[MOGII|marginalized orientations, gender identities, and intersex (MOGII)]], because they experience discrimination for their orientation, like lesbian, gay, and bisexual people. Asexuality is also an umbrella term, which can include other kinds of sexual orientations in the asexual spectrum, such as aromanticism, and gray-asexuality (''partly'' lacking sexual attraction).<ref>{{Cite journal|last=Scherrer|first=Kristin|title=Coming to an Asexual Identity: Negotiating Identity, Negotiating Desire|journal=Sexualities|volume=11|issue=5|pages=621–641|doi=10.1177/1363460708094269|pmid=20593009|pmc=2893352|year=2008}}</ref><ref>Jillian Cottle, "Hallelujah, it's raining labels." [http://jilliancottle.com/hallelujah-its-raining-labels]</ref>