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What Does it All Mean?
A person’s feelings of romantic or sexual attraction to another person. Sexual orientation is categorized in the following ways:
A person whose gender identity, gender expression, or anatomy (i.e., how they look or act) does not fit into the conventional expectations associated with being male or female. They are frequently assumed to be bisexual, lesbian, or gay, but this may or may not be true.
A person who experiences intense personal and emotional discomfort with the gender they were assigned at birth. Some transsexual individuals may undergo treatments to physically alter their body and gender expression to correspond with what they feel their true gender is.
Some Indigenous people identify themselves as Two Spirit rather than as lesbian, gay, bisexual or transgender. Historically, two-spirited persons were often respected as leaders for their unique abilities to understand both male and female perspectives.
References: American Psychological Association (2011) Definition of terms: Sex, gender identity, sexual orientation. Retrieved from http:www.apa.org/pi/lgbt/resources/sexuality-defibitions.pdf