Homosexual

A homosexual (from Greek homos, meaning "same;" and "sexual") is a person who is sexually attracted to people of the same sex or gender. Female homosexuals are often referred to as lesbians (also from Greek, referring to the Isle of Lesbos where the poet Sappho wrote about love between women), while male homosexuals are simply called gay. There are also many impolite terms for homosexuals of both genders, reflecting the discrimination faced by homosexual people.

The concept of homosexuality causes some confusion when considering transgendered people. A male-to-female transsexual who is attracted to men is sometimes considered to be a homosexual by people who aren't familiar with transsexuality, but the vast majority among the transgender community would assert that such a person is in fact heterosexual. (Likewise, a male-to-female transsexual who is attracted to women would be considered homosexual by the transgender community.) This misunderstanding is based on the mistaken belief that a person's gender is determined by their anatomy at birth.

See also

• Homosexuality

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