Romantic and sexual orientation: Difference between revisions

Also called being straight, heterosexuality is a romantic and sexual orientation in which a person tends to feel sexual attraction only to people of a different gender identity than their own. For example, women who usually feel attracted only to men. This is heterosexuality even if one or both of the people are [[transgender]], because this is based on [[gender identity]] rather than [[sex]]. Heterosexuality is often defined as attraction between persons of opposite gender<ref>http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Heterosexuality</ref>. However, the idea "opposite gender" only makes sense within the [[gender binary]], which sees all people as being either of only two genders, and that those two genders are supposedly opposites to each other. What "heterosexuality" means when [[nonbinary]] identities are taken into account is not agreed upon. By its etymology, it could imply "other" or "different" gender<ref>http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Heterosexuality#Etymology</ref>. In that case, a heterosexual nonbinary person could mean one who feels attraction to one gender other than nonbinary, to both binary genders, or to all genders other than their exact own. Nevertheless, heterosexuality is often assumed to refer to attraction between men and women only, even when nonbinary identities are acknowledged. This can cause distress to nonbinary people in a relationship and their partners as they struggle to find a labels for themselves. The question of whether a nonbinary person can identify as heterosexual-- and how exactly that person defines their heterosexuality-- is up to that individual person.