Are ‘gay’ and ‘homosexual’ the same? Here’s what we found. - The Washgton Post

Contents:

• WHY ARE PEOPLE GAY? GAY BY CHOICE OR IS BEG GAY GEIC?
• LBIAN, GAY, BISEXUAL, TRANSGENR, AND QUEER MUNY
• CAN SOMEONE BE HOMOSEXUAL AND NOT GAY?
• ARE HOMOPHOBIC PEOPLE REALLY GAY AND NOT ACCEPTG IT?
• IS A LBIAN, GAY OR BISEXUAL INTY MORE COMMON TODAY?
• HOW TO ACCEPT THAT YOU ARE GAY
• ARE ‘GAY’ AND ‘HOMOSEXUAL’ THE SAME? HERE’S WHAT WE FOUND.
• GAY SIMP

WHY ARE PEOPLE GAY? GAY BY CHOICE OR IS BEG GAY GEIC?

The Amerin Medil Associatn is agast therapy that is “based on the assumptn that homosexualy is a mental disorr or that the person should change their ’s important to know that there is nothg wrong wh lovg people of the same genr as you. In other words, 5-10% of people experience same-sex sexual attractn or behavr; of urse, this don't speak to what mak people gay. It very much appears that same-sex sexual attractn is not a choice but actg on is; so if you fe gay as the mere prence of same-sex attractn, then om everythg we unrstand, beg gay is not a choice.

LBIAN, GAY, BISEXUAL, TRANSGENR, AND QUEER MUNY

If, on the other hand, you nsir someone to be gay only if they act on their same-sex attractn then beg gay n be nsired a choice pendg on an dividual's behavr.

Whether science n ultimately prove the blogy of beg gay or not, 's important to support all adults their choic no matter how they intify. lbian, gay, bisexual, transgenr, and queer muny (LGBTQ muny), also lled LGBTQ+ muny, any untry, regn, cy, or other loly, a group of persons who intify as lbian, gay ( the narrow sense of beg a male who is sexually or romantilly attracted to other mal), bisexual, transgenr, or queer and who feel some gree of empathy and solidary wh each other based on their shared experience of prejudice, discrimatn, and disrpect or their awarens of the historil and ntemporary opprsn of lbian, gay, bisexual, transgenr, and queer (LGBTQ) persons.

The historil and ntemporary stggl of LGBTQ muni for equal legal and civil rights are discsed the article gay rights movement; see also same-sex marriage. So when we therapists are nonted wh male clients, often married on, who e to wh ep nflicts about their sexual attractn to other men, we often fd that they are willg to e the word “homosexual, ” but chew the “gay” label.

CAN SOMEONE BE HOMOSEXUAL AND NOT GAY?

Unfortunately, much of our natn’s polics have long exacerbated the problem as well, shamg and vilifyg homosexualy, leadg legns of men stgglg wh sexual inty to ternalize their homophobia.

ARE HOMOPHOBIC PEOPLE REALLY GAY AND NOT ACCEPTG IT?

I warned them of the pfalls of keepg their sexual orientatn secret: a life of creased prsn, pursug a secret life the gay unrground wh the danger of beg ught, how attemptg to supprs urg n often e them to bee even more obssed wh them. I have treated many men who are of Mormon, Orthodox Jewish, Catholic, and other religns who thk of homosexualy as a pathology.

They may need, om time to time, to seek further therapy, but wh the right therapist, one who has thoroughly unrstood the dangers of such practic of “reparative therapy” which the therapist seeks to change the client’s sexual inty om gay to straight.

IS A LBIAN, GAY OR BISEXUAL INTY MORE COMMON TODAY?

Bee the labels “homosexual” or “gay” rry such a stigma, some of the men seek help for their “sex addictn” and see their homosexualy as an actg out of same-sex urg. A seri of studi recently published the prtig Journal of Personaly and Social Psychology found higher levels of homophobia dividuals wh unacknowledged attractns to the same sex, particularly when they grew up wh thorarian parents who also held homophobic attus. In the Universy of Rochter's prs release, Netta Weste, the study's lead thor, said, "Individuals who intify as straight but psychologil tts show a strong attractn to the same sex may be threatened by gays and lbians bee homosexuals remd them of siar tennci wh themselv.

Attus towards gay and lbian people are an important part of current polil issu like the legaly of same-sex marriage and employment nondiscrimatn. Acrdg to the team of rearchers, this study is the first to document the role that both parentg and sexual orientatn play the formatn of anti-gay attus, cludg self-reported homophobic attus, discrimatory bias, implic hostily towards gays, and endorsement of anti-gay polici. One prr study ed genal measur of sexual attractns and found that homophobic men showed an crease penile erectns to male homosexual male eroti.

HOW TO ACCEPT THAT YOU ARE GAY

They were then shown the words "gay, " "straight, " "homosexual, " and "heterosexual" as well as pictur of straight and gay upl, and the puter tracked precisely their rponse tim. Fally, the rearcher measured participants' level of homophobia—both overt, as exprsed qutnnair on social policy and beliefs, and implic, as revealed word-pletn tasks.

In the experiments, participants who reported themselv to be more heterosexual than their performance on the reactn time task dited were most likely to react wh hostily towards gay people. In other words, if a participant intified as heterosexual, but showed a reactn pattern nsistent wh homosexualy, they were more likely to exprs homophobic attus.

This ngence between implic and explic measur of sexual orientatn predicted a variety of homophobic behavrs, cludg self-reported anti-gay attus, implic hostily towards gays, endorsement of anti-gay polici, and discrimatory bias such as the assignment of harsher punishments for homosexuals. Dpe the limatns, this seri of studi helps unrstand the roots of homophobia, specifilly that some s may reprent reprsed same-sex attractns. Recent survey data the US and the UK revealed that the proportn of the populatn who intifi as lbian, gay, or bisexual has risen slightly and that this trend is particularly salient among the youngt generatn: Generatn Z.

ARE ‘GAY’ AND ‘HOMOSEXUAL’ THE SAME? HERE’S WHAT WE FOUND.

In the UK, only a slight majory of Gen Z members dite that they have an exclively heterosexual attractn, while the US, a Gallup poll dit that roughly 15% of Gen Z intifi as lbian, gay, or bisexual – pared to 7. 9% of the Baby Boomers surveyed the US dited they were not heterosexual, many more may have still had same-sex experienc throughout their lifpan, but they simply do not firmly intify as lbian, gay, or bisexual. It is much easier to e out today as lbian, gay, or bisexual than was even jt 10 years ago, let alone 20, 30, 40 or 50 years ago.

GAY SIMP

There is, however, also a much darker explanatn for why we see fewer dividuals om past generatns intifyg as lbian, gay, or bisexual today than we do om the younger generatns.