Who do you fancy?
Lots of young people wonder: am I gay, lesbian, straight or bisexual? The answer isn't always that simple. That's because your sexual preference is not always 100% clear. You could perhaps have a heterosexual relationship and then have a period of being bisexual. Or you could be lesbian or gay and have sex with someone of the opposite sex. Or perhaps you are attracted most of the time to men, or women, but certainly not always.
Check
- Do you mostly or always fall in love with people of the same sex, and would like to have sex with them? Most of the people who feel like this call themselves lesbian (women), gay or homosexual (men).
- Are you sometimes in love with someone of the other sex and sometimes with someone of the same sex? And in both cases, would like to have sex with them? Most of the people who feel this way call themselves bisexual.
- Do you mostly or always fall in love with people of the opposite sex, and would like to have sex with them? People who feel like this are called straight or heterosexual.
Some people are not sexually attracted to either men or women. Sometimes they call themselves 'asexual'.
What if you don't know?
Do you have doubts about what you are, and are you unable to decide? Let it go! These are simply labels. Labels are useful as a quick way of placing someone. But to be honest; you can’t stick a label on everyone.
Some people don’t feel comfortable being labelled gay, bisexual or straight. There are also young people who use other words like pansexual, queer or bi-curious. And others don’t call themselves anything at all. Nothing wrong with that, is there?
Coming out
Coming out means you tell the people around you that you are gay, lesbian or bisexual. But who do you tell? Do you always have to tell people? What is the best moment for you to come out?