Talk:Sexual orientation identity

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I thought it worthwhile to make the gender roles involved in the example marriages more clear; many people live in countries where same-sex marriage is legal and common. Accounting4Taste:talk 17:49, 25 August 2009 (UTC)[reply]

In this edit, I am assuming that there is no place in the cited study where there is a numerical count of the options (3 or 4?), but merely an unnumbered discussion of possible outcomes. If this is not the case, please provide a page number for reference. I think it is more logical to lump the final two choices together, as rejecting a particular identity (ex-gay) is not in itself an identity, but merely the negation of a different identity.--Bhuck (talk) 09:48, 21 September 2009 (UTC)[reply]

Good point. I don't recall the APA either enumerating the potential identifications, nor limiting them to three, only discussing these at various places in the source. There are other possibilities - men who do not assume an LGB identity, and identify as heterosexual, yet do have sex with men (Roy Cohn, for example, or some of the men who frequent a certain gay bar near Charing Cross on Thursday evenings, and discussed here [1] by Joe Kort) - and yet would not be discussed in an article that focuses on people seeking to change their sexual orientation or identity, as opposed to those not identifying as homosexual or bisexual despite engaging in same-sex sex. So, it looks a bit WP:OR to draw this conclusion from the source in this way. Mish (talk) 12:21, 21 September 2009 (UTC)[reply]

"to develop a heterosexual identity" - does this mean to portray oneself as heterosexual while acting on one's homosexual feelings, or to live as a heterosexual while denying those homosexual feelings, or both? Please clarify this. Mish (talk) 12:21, 21 September 2009 (UTC)[reply]

It is bulleted in 4 distinct categories on page 61. My understanding, is that sexual orientation identity is how you view yourself, ie. someone with a heterosexual identity will view themselves as a heterosexual, not so much with how you portray yourself to others. There are plenty of people who consider themselves to be gay, but portray themselves to be straight to the outside world. One of the supporting arguments was that the concept of what it means to be heterosexual varies across cultures. Some cultures, for example, only consider a man gay if he is on the bottom, while other cultures consider all men who have sex with men to be gay. I think ex-gay was considered a separate sexual identity, distinct from having no sexual identity. I'm okay with the changes. Joshuajohanson (talk) 17:19, 21 September 2009 (UTC)[reply]