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Sexual identity is a way which a person describes himself or herself as being male or female, socially and biologically. To understand what sexual identity is, one must know the definitions of sex and gender. Sex refers to a person based on their anatomy (external genitalia, chromosomes, and internal reproductive system). Sexual identity can also be defined as sexual self-schemas. Sexual self schema derive from past experience, affect current experiences, and facilitate the processing of sexual information. They proposed that sexual self-schema result from inferences about one’s sexuality based on observations of one’s own (a) sexual behavior, (b) sexual emotions and arousal, and (c) sexual attitudes and beliefs. The gender schema, or gender identity, has been defined as a cognitive generalization about one’s own sexual aspects.

An example of sexual identity would be, a woman who is sexualy interested in women but sees herself as a woman. Her sexual identity would be female because she identifies as a female but her sexual orientation would be same sex because she is a woman who is sexual attracted to women, that is to say, gynephilic.

Sexual identity related to sexual orientation

While gender identity may be considered part of one's self image, an important part of sexual identity is sexual orientation, in other words, how one views and negotiates relationships. The term sexual orientation refers to which sex a person is attracted, physically and sexually. Different sexual orientations include being heterosexual (straight), homosexual (gay or lesbian), bisexual (sexually attracted to both sexes), and asexual (no sexual attraction to either sex). (UTD, 2011). Many also classify themselves as bi-curious.

Sexual orientation covers sexual desires, feelings, practices and identification.

Sexual identity refers to the complex relationship between sex and gender referring to a person’s experience of self expression in relation to social categories of masculinity or femininity (gender). A person’s sexual identity may differ from the sex they were assigned.

The specific terms people use and identify with in matters of sexuality and gender identity vary widely from culture to culture.

Coming out

Coming out is generally understood as an important part of identity development of LGB individuals, allowing them to develop an authentic and stable sense of self (Ragins, 2004), cultivate a positive sexual minority identity (Wells & Kline, 1987), and mitigate the negative psychological effects of identity management (e.g., Cain, 1991). Disclosure more generally yields an array of mental and physical health benefits (see Penne baker & Chung, in press, for a review). Yet, many individuals decide to conceal their LGB identity for various societal and personal reasons. Indeed, there appears to be a paradoxical relation between concealment and wellness: Concealing is a strategy that individuals often use to avoid stigmatization or negative regard, yet concealment may relate to higher stress over time (Miller & Major, 2000). Concealment is an especially common coping strategy among LGB adolescents (Hetrick & Martin, 1987; Safren & Pantalone, 2006), but studies suggest that concealment is also common in adulthood. Concealment of an LGB identity can come with costs such as lower relationship satisfaction in same-sex couples (Mohr & Fassinger, 2006), fewer job promotions and more negative job attitudes (functioning costs; Ragins, Singh, & Cornwell, 2007), as well as distress and suicidal (mental health costs; Morris, Waldo, & Rothblum, 2001). Experimental work has also found that heterosexual and homosexual individuals asked to conceal their sexual orientation perform significantly worse on cognitive and physical tasks when compared to those who were not asked to conceal (Critcher & Ferguson, 2011).

The coming out process is different for everyone and depends on the persons personality, gender, socioeconomic status ect. Many cultural influences come into play when deciding if one should come out to family and friends. According to Eli Coleman there are five steps typical to the coming out process. Step one is known as pre-coming out. This is the stage in which one may not even be sexual but they understand the stigmas of sexuality. This stage usually begins around age 3 when the child has no notion of their own sexuality. This stage then continues into young adulthood. Children may hide their feelings from their friends, family and even themselves. This is when most people move into step two. Step two is coming out. This stage is achieved when the individual acknowledges their homosexuality. Once the feeling is acknowledged, the individual then decides who to tell. The reaction of the confidant is very important in self-esteem development. Step three is known as exploration. This is the stage in which the first sexual homosexual experiences occur. Because this stage usually occurs later than the heterosexual sexual developmental stages, it can cause great anxiety and confusion. Step four is first relationships. This is when one looks for more than just a sexual experience. It can be difficult for those in a homosexual relationship to function in a predominantly heterosexual society. The last stage is known as integration. This is the final stage in the coming out process and lasts for the remainder of the individuals life. This stage usually occurs 10–14 years after the first stage. In this stage some choose to enter committed long term relationships and others do not. Many rally for homosexual rights in our society.

Studying LGB youth, D’Augelli (2006) reported that only 23% were completely out to everyone in their life, indicating selective disclosure. A study of LGB individuals over age 60 similarly found that only 38% came out to 75% or more of people who knew them (D’Augelli & Grossman, 2001). Thus, individuals across the life span vary in how much they come out to different people. The variables that impact one’s level of disclosure, and also whether being selective (i.e., evidencing more variability at a within-person level) has costs to the LGB individual. In the current study, we focus on the main domains in which LGB individuals might disclose their sexual orientation: friends, family, work, school, and religious community, assess the impact of within-person variability in disclosure overall, and the effects of context on the relations between disclosure and well-being. According to studies Coming out is seen to be the healthy choice for LBG of all ages but some people still choose to conceal their sexual identity or sexual orientation.

Not coming out and why?

There were 1,223 reported hate crimes motivated by sexual orientation in 2009, according to FBI data. The NCAVP reports 22 murders of LGBT individuals in 2009, there could be drastic inaccuracies in national hate crime statistics. Not all law enforcement agencies report hate crimes to the FBI as such.

Many people live life in the “closet” (do not revile their sexual orientation or sexual identity). One of the top reason people stay in the closet is homophobia. Previous empirical work has supported the claim that parents’ homophobic attitudes can influence their children’s homophobia (O’Bryan, Fishbein, & Ritchey, 2004). The present studies further explore this connection and the underlying mechanisms. Together these studies indicate that children are affected by their perceptions of their parents’ attitudes and that this relation involves, at least in part, the child’s self-concept and dynamics of threat and defense. Another common reason is lack of support from the parent(s) according to Weinstein, et al. When orientation is assessed categorically, about one in 10 people identifies as gay, lesbian, or bisexual. Parents are often least accepting; the majority of mothers and fathers respond with at least some degree of negativity to their children’s same-sex attractions. This threat of being stigmatized or rejected by parents and important others likely contributes to the variable rates of self-disclosure of non heterosexual individuals, with less than one in four gay individuals fully disclosing their sexual orientation to everyone in their life. In contexts marked by autonomy support, self-disclosure becomes more likely, as the environment represents a safer forum for self-expression. For example, Legate, Ryan, and Weinstein (2011) recently conducted a within-person study of lesbian, gay, and bisexual individuals, finding that individuals tended to be more “out” concerning their sexual orientation in social contexts (e.g., workplaces, friendships, religious communities) that they perceived as more autonomy supportive and to be less “out” in contexts experienced as less autonomy supportive places like the home.

Formation of sexual identity

Formation of sexual identity is a category that has been argued about for years. According to One of the earliest theoretical models of heterosexuality comes from Sigmund Freud. Weeks (1985) described the evolution of Freud's theory of sexuality as follows. According to Freud everyone heterosexual and homosexual go through formation of their sexual identies Freud ultimately felt that a sexual identity was a precarious construct, always threatened by repressed desires. Sexual identity formation begins shortly after birth, as the child progresses through psychosexual stages. Freud felt that a key component of sexuality was the early assumption of the child that all humans are genitally alike, with a penis. When faced with people without penises, boys could develop castration anxiety and girls could develop penis envy. These emotions paved the way for the oedipal complex of the phallic stage, whereby the child learns to repress sexual desire for the mother and to identify with the same-sex parent. If the conflict is successfully resolved, at maturity the individual will select partners of the other gender. Freud thought that humans were born "polymorphous perverse" or capable of sexual attractions to anyone (or thing), and only by a complex and traumatic psychic family drama, did heterosexual identity emerge.

Lack of awareness of public health

Historically, public health researchers have not recognized LGBT persons as a population with distinct health issues outside a framework of sexual deviance or STD. This focus on diseases that are of relevance to LGBT individuals developed into the recognition that LGBT populations are diverse communities with disparate health concerns. Before the 1980s, most studies that addressed LGBT populations focused on the etiology of homosexuality or on mental disorders because homosexuality was classified as such until 1973. During the public health study, there were methods being tried out. The National Library of Medicine contains 3,822,822 citations of articles based on studies with human subjects. The goal for this method was to figure out how many of these articles pertained to LGBT. One of the goals were to focus on the race/ethnicity of the study population. Much of this information was not coded because data was either missing or poorly delineated.

Children's sexual identity

Freud postulated that awareness of genital difference does not affect children until the Oedipal stage – around 4 to 5 years old – when boys become competitive with their fathers for their mothers' attention and girls turn more toward their fathers. They also concluded that children make the discovery of genital difference between the ages of 15 to 19 months, and that this has an impact on their play, their relationship with their own bodies, their relationship with their parents. Dr. Roiphe wrote in his book that as their research proceeded they became increasingly convinced that they had been engaged in tracing the development of the sense of sexual identity from its vague beginnings during the earliest weeks and months to a definite conscious awareness of specific gender and genital erotic feelings and fantasies by the end of the second year.

Sexual orientation and gender

Each of us has a gender and gender identity. Our gender identity is our deepest feelings about our gender. We express our gender identity in the way that we act masculine, feminine, neither, or both. Some of us are transgender — which means that our biological sex and our gender identity do not match up. The more you understand biological sex, gender, gender identity, and sexual orientation, the more you may understand yourself and how you relate to other people. Because sex and gender are so complex, you may have many questions. You may wonder about your own sexual orientation or gender identity, or you may wonder about someone you know. You may have questions about how society views sex and gender — including homophobia, sexism, and transphobia.

How many Americans are lesbian, gay, bisexual, and/or transgender?

Increasingly researchers and research centers (e.g., UCLA’s Williams Institute) have collected data using samples that are representative of the entire country, looking specifically at sexual orientation and gender identity. Looking across several large, nationally representative surveys, The Williams Institute noted that approximately 3.8% of the US population identifies as lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender. That translates into about 9 million Americans, which is approximately the size of population of New Jersey. In general, most people adopt a sexual identity that “matches” their sexual orientation: most heterosexually-oriented people identify as “heterosexual” or “straight”, most homosexually-oriented people identify as “lesbian” or “gay.” However, there is a sizable number of people for whom sexual orientation does not coincide with their sexual identity. We can define sexual identity as the label that people adopt to signify to others who they are as a sexual being, particularly regarding sexual orientation. Freud Richard C. Friedman, in Male Homosexuality published in 1990, writing from a psychoanalytic perspective, argues that sexual desire begins later than the writings of Sigmund Freud indicate, not in infancy but between the ages of 5 and 10 and is not focused on a parent figure but on peers. As a consequence, he reasons, male homosexuals are not abnormal, never having been sexually attracted to their mothers anyways.

LGBT support groups

A helpful tool for many people questioning their sexual identity are support groups. There are many different types of support groups that one can choose from. There are online anonymous support groups, there is individual therapy, group therapy and local support groups one can attend.

See also

• Gender role
• List of transgender-related topics
• Sex differences in humans

References

1. ^ LGBT Resources – Definition of Terms | Gender Equity Resource Center. Geneq.berkeley.edu (2010-01-21). Retrieved on 2012-05-05.
2. ^ Elder, William B.; Brooks, Gary R.; Morrow, Susan L. (2012). "Sexual self-schemas of heterosexual men". Psychology of Men & Masculinity. 13 (2): 166. doi:10.1037/a0024835.
3. Bem. S.L. (1974). "The Measurement of Psychological Androgyny" (PDF). Journal of consulting and clinical psychology. 42 (2): 155–62. doi:10.1037/h0036215. PMID 4823550.
4. Amnesty international, Sexual Orientation and Gender Identity
5. ^ Weinstein, N; Ryan, WS; Dehaan, CR; Przybylski, AK; Legate, N; Ryan, RM (2012). "Parental autonomy support and discrepancies between implicit and explicit sexual identities: Dynamics of self-acceptance and defense". Journal of personality and social psychology. 102 (4): 815–32. doi:10.1037/a0026854. PMID 22288529.
6. Five Stages of Coming Out. Pflag-olympia.org. Retrieved on 2012-05-05.
7. Number of hate crimes against LGBT people increasing. Newsytype.com (2011-07-13). Retrieved on 2012-05-05.
8. Legate, N., Ryan, R. M., & Weinstein, N. (2012) (2012) Is coming out always a "good thing"? exploring the relations of autonomy support, outness, and wellness for lesbian, gay, and bisexual individuals.
9. Cass, Vivienne (1984). "Homosexual Identity Formation: Testing a Theoretical Model". The Journal of Sex Research. 20, (2): 143–167. doi:10.1080/00224498409551214. JSTOR 3812348.{{cite journal}}: CS1 maint: extra punctuation (link)
10. Business high beam , (1995) Accounts of Sexual Identity Formation in Heterosexual Students
11. Feinstein, Brian A.; Davila, Joanne; Yoneda, Athena (2012). "Self-concept and self-stigma in lesbians and gay men". Psychology and Sexuality. 3 (2): 161. doi:10.1080/19419899.2011.592543.
12. Hevesi, Dennis (January 31, 2011). "Expert on children's sexual identity Galenson dies at 94". {{cite journal}}: Cite journal requires |journal= (help)
13. "Sexual Orientation & Gender". Planned Parenthood. {{cite web}}: Unknown parameter |utmcmd= ignored (help)
14. Grollman, Eric (July 25, 2011). "How Many Americans Are Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, And Transgender?". {{cite journal}}: Cite journal requires |journal= (help)
15. Grollman, Eric (September 28, 2010). "What is "sexual identity" is it the same as sexual orientation?". {{cite journal}}: Cite journal requires |journal= (help)CS1 maint: date and year (link)
16. Friedman, Richard C. (1990). Male Homosexuality. New Haven: Yale University Press. p. 312. ISBN 0-300-04745-2.
17. Goode, Erica (1998-12-12). "On Gay Issue, Psychoanalysis Treats Itself". - The New York Times. Retrieved 2009-04-16.
18. Online Support Groups For Lesbian & Gay. DailyStrength. Retrieved on 2012-05-05.

• Gender
• Self
• Biology of gender