Sexual Identity

Sexual identity is how individuals think of themselves in terms of their sexuality, encompassing their self-image, how they label their romantic/sexual attractions, or in terms of sexual orientation, regardless of in what way. Unlike gender identity, which tends to be more fixed, sexual identity can change throughout an individual’s life — and may/may not align with biological sex, sexual behavior, or sexual orientation. In fact, sexual identity is more closely related to sexual behavior than to sexual orientation, as follows:

• Sexual identityrefers to an individual’s self-conception.
• Sexual behaviorrefers to an individual’s sexual activity.
• Sexual orientation refers to romantic/sexual attractions to persons of opposite sex/gender, same sex/gender, to both sexes or more than one gender, or to no one.
• Sexual orientation identity refers to individuals who identify, dis-identify, or choose not to identify with their sexual orientation.