Nontraditional Concepts Of Homosexuality
Today, different sexual orientations and gender identities are widely talked about and
accepted more frequently. To begin, sexual orientation refers to one s attraction
towards another individual romantically, sexually, and emotionally. Contrary to
traditional belief, there are multiple ways people can identify their sexual orientation.
Some cultures even embrace the idea of a third sex to describe those who identify as
transgender. Some of the different sexual orientations include Sexual, Monosexual,
heterosexual, Homosexual, Polysexual, Omnisexual, Pansexual, Bisexual,
Demisexual, Graysexual, Asexual, and Queer (Nagoshi). Although this may seem
excessive, people feel the need to define these nontraditional concepts. However,
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He didn t believe that homosexuality is a fixed psychological identity, but thought of
it as being fluid. He argued, there were only sexual behaviors, and behaviors alone
did not make a person gay, lesbian, bisexual, or heterosexual. Kinsey and other
researchers such as Havelock Ellis, William Masters, Virginia Johnson, viewed
sexuality positively.
Conversely, phycologists Richard von Krafft Ebing and Sigmund Freud viewed
sexuality as inherently dangerous and needing repression (Yarber 2016). In 1973, the
American Psychiatric Association removed homosexuality from its list of recognized
mental disorders (Savage, 2004). Changing the way homosexuality was viewed from
an illness, to a legitimate sexual identity was a huge step in normalizing sexual
variances. Previously, individuals who experienced non heterosexual attractions were
deemed sick and underwent interventions to find a cure. A paper written by
psychologist Lee Beckstead shared how individuals tried various methods to change
their sexual orientation including surgery, hormonal treatments, and even shock
therapy (Beckstead 2012). A research article written by Christian Cyphers shared that
conversion therapy was just recently banned in 2013.
As of January 1, 2013, California was slated to become the first state to prohibit
mental health providers from treating patients younger than 18 years of age with
therapies geared toward changing their sexual orientation. This