by: Angelo Paras

 

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Are you feeling confused with your identity? Do you find yourself attracted to the same sex? Do you have a hard time identifying what is your sexual orientation? Don't you worry, confusion is completely normal. Throughout the years, as more people feel more comfortable identifying themselves with a certain sexuality, the spectrum is continuously growing. And we are here to help you identify where you belong in the spectrum of the LGBTQ+ community.

 

L Stands for Lesbian

 

Lesbians are women who are romantically and sexually attracted to women and only to women. If you are a girl and you find another girl attractive, there is a chance you are a lesbian. Of course, if you are a boy, you can’t be a lesbian. Most lesbians also refer to themselves as “gay”.

 

G Stands for Gay

 

Gays are men who are romantically and sexually attracted to men and only to men. However, the term ‘gay’ is now used to refer to homosexuality as a whole. A common misconception about being gay is you only find masculine men attractive, but it doesn’t really matter, if you find men, in general, attractive, regardless if they are on the feminine or masculine side, then you can be gay.

 

B Stands for Bisexual

 

A bisexual person can be a male or a female. Being bisexual means that you’re attraction is not limited to one gender. You can be attracted to both men and women. A lot of times bisexuals tend to be confused as they find themselves attracted to their opposite sex but later on develop an attraction to the same sex. This is completely normal and is part of the transition. Another instance is when a person identifies as bisexual but later on loses attraction to the opposite sex. This is also normal and is also part of the transition. If you are bisexual, and you feel like you like men more or you like women more, it’s completely normal, your attraction doesn’t always have to be equal. 

 

T Stands for Transgender

 

Being trans or transgender means that your gender identity or expression differs from your assigned gender. If you are a boy and you feel more comfortable identifying as a girl, you’re probably trans and vice versa. A common misconception people have with trans people is that they have to go through transition surgery or sex-change surgery first before they can identify as trans. Which is false and extremely harmful. A person can identify as trans regardless of whether they went through surgery or not. Not a lot of trans people have the luxury of having to afford transition surgery as it is expensive. 

 

Q Stands for Queer

 

Being queer basically means not being heterosexual. It is a term mostly used to generalize the LGBTQ+ community. If you are unsure of your sexuality, you can identify as queer until you find the right one.

 

I Stands for Intersex

 

Intersex is a term used for people whose bodies do not fall in the male/female binary. There are a lot of ways a person can be intersex and it is mostly biological.

 

A Stands for Asexual

 

Being asexual or ace means that you are not sexually attracted to any gender. You can be romantically and emotionally attracted to a person but not sexually. There is a broad spectrum of asexuality depending on your sexual and romantic attraction to a person.

 

Spectrum of asexuality

 

Greysexuality - This means that you have a sexual attraction but only to a small degree.

Demisexuality - This means that you have a sexual attraction to a person, however, there should be emotional bond established within the relationship first.

Aromantic - This means that you aren’t attracted to any gender romantically.

Greyromantic - This means that you are attracted romantically to people but only to a small degree.

Demiromantic - This means that you are attracted romantically to people but there should be an emotional bond established within the relationship first.

 

P Stands for Pansexual

 

No, pansexuals aren’t sexually attracted to pots and pans. Pansexuals consider themselves gender-blind, meaning that they are attracted to people regardless of their gender or sexual identity.