Ladies and Gentlemen, They’s and Them’s, Pride Month is here, and to celebrate, we are going to be breaking down what sexuality is and running you through an A-Z of different sexual orientations. Sexuality exists on a spectrum, making it impossible to include every single one on our list, but we hope it serves as a comprehensive guide.
What is Sexuality?
Your sexuality is indicative of the type of person you are attracted to. There’s a distinction between a person’s assigned biological sex, gender and sexual orientation that some find difficult to understand. Your assigned biological sex is what’s determined at birth, whereas gender is reflective of how we choose to identify and present ourselves to the world. At times, a separate distinction may also be made between a person’s sexuality and their romantic orientation, as the two are not always guaranteed to align.
We’ve all heard of Heterosexual and Homosexual, but you may be surprised to find out how many other types of sexuality there are. Read on for our A-Z guide:
Allosexual - A general term used to describe being sexually attracted to other people regardless of their sexual orientation. This is considered the opposite end of the spectrum to Asexuality.
Allotroposexual - A person who is primarily attracted to trans and non-binary people in a manner that does not fetishize, sexualize, or objectify them. It is a fairly new term that is being used to replace Skoliosexual.
Androsexual - Someone who is attracted to the expression of masculinity regardless of sex or gender.
Asexual - A common misconception is that asexual people don’t ever have sex, but asexuality should perhaps be better understood as a reduced desire for sexual contact, as opposed to self-enforced abstinence.
Bicurious - A heterosexual person who is considering or actively exploring their sexuality with members of the opposite sex.
Bisexual - This is someone who is sexually attracted to both men and women. Some have also started to use the term Bi+ to include other gender identities.
Ceterosexual - Another term used to refer to people who are sexually attracted to trans and nonbinary people.
Cupiosexual - Adjacent to Asexuality, this refers to individuals who do not feel any kind of sexual attraction but still choose to engage in sexual relationships.
Demisexual - People who are Demisexual do not build attraction based on physical features. Instead,
Fluid - A lot of people consider their sexuality to be something fixed and unchanging, but sexuality is a spectrum, and for Fluid individuals, their sexuality itself is constantly evolving.
Gay - The familiar G in LGBTQ+, this describes men who are primarily attracted to other men.
Graysexual - Someone who doesn’t identify with Asexuality but experiences less sexual attraction than the average person.
Gynosexual - Individuals who are attracted to the expression of femininity regardless of sex or gender.
Heterosexual - I know you know this one; this one is for straight cis people who are attracted to people of the opposite sex.
Homosexual - Although some feel that this term is now a bit outdated, it is used to describe people who are attracted to members of the same sex.
Lesbian - A woman who is primarily attracted to other women.
Libidoist Asexual - Asexual individuals who do experience sexual compulsions and self-pleasure or masturbate but do not engage in sexual intercourse with other people.
Lithosexuality - People who are capable of feeling sexual attraction towards others but do not want it to be reciprocated.
Monosexual - A person who believes they are only attracted to one sex or gender.
Multisexual - People who are attracted to multiple sexes or genders.
Omnisexual - Similar to Allosexual, this is for individuals who are attracted to all people regardless of sex or gender.
Pansexual - Someone who is capable of being sexually attracted to anyone regardless of their sex or gender.
Polysexual - People who are attracted to multiple partners and/or genders.
Queer - An umbrella term used to describe anyone who isn’t straight that has been reclaimed by the LGBTQ+ community.
Reciprosexual - A person who is sexually attracted to others who have already registered clear sexual attraction to them.
Sapiosexual - This is a term used to describe individuals who are primarily sexually attracted to others based on their level of intelligence.
Skoliosexual - Although it was once used to refer to individuals who are attracted to trans and non-binary people, this term is considered controversial and is no longer in regular use. This is due to it being misappropriated and used to contribute to the fetishisation and objectification of trans and non-binary people.
Spectrasexual - People who are conceptually attracted to multiple sexes and genders who aren’t guaranteed to have physically interacted with them on a sexual level.
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