Straight. Gay. Bi. Lesbian. Queer. Bi-curious. Do you have a name for your sexual orientation? Or do words not really apply?
What combination of "nature" and "nurture" do you think got you that way? Was it something you were born with or did experiences mold you? Did you make a choice? Did your sexuality choose you? Or are you still figuring it out?
People have been trying to chart sexual identity ever since the 1940s when the Kinsey Report put homo/hetero preferences on a scale of 0-6. Sexology is a full-blown science now--and the nature-versus-nurture debate rages on.
Our chart, on the other hand, is not so much science as a gallery of verbal snapshots. We spoke to girls and women at different points in their lives, from ages 14 to 41, about where they think they belong on the "sexual continuum" between totally straight and totally gay. And why. The people we heard from have a tremendous range of experience and perspectives, from straight teenagers to older lesbians to bisexual college students and everything in between.
As you will see, some people's sexual identities move around over time, along with the way they talk about them. Some had a hard time placing themselves on this continuum; others didn't. Some people resented even being asked, but graciously answered anyway.
No one can say exactly what goes into making up your sexual orientation. Different factors are more or less important at different times--sexual attraction, emotional connection, societal pressures, fantasies, etc. Your sexuality is your own work in progress. The question is: How do you feel about it now?
Each position on our clickable chart tells many tales.
