| Sexual orientation | A person's erotic and emotional orientation toward members of his or her own gender or members of the other gender.
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| Homosexual | A person whose sexual orientation is toward members of the same gender.
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| Heterosexual | A person whose sexual orientation is toward members of the other gender.
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| Bisexual | A person whose sexual orientation is toward both men and women.
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| Lesbian | A woman whose sexual orientation is toward other women.
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| Gay | Homosexual; especially male homosexuals.
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| Straight | Heterosexual; that is, a person whose sexual orientation is toward members of the opposite gender.
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| Homophobia | A strong, irrational fear of homosexuals; negative attitudes and reactions to homosexuals.
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| Antigay prejudice | Negative attitudes and behaviors toward gays and lesbians. Also termed sexual prejudice.
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| Heterosexism | The belief that everyone is heterosexual and that heterosexuality is the norm; homosexuality is denigrated.
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| Covert homosexual | A homosexual who is "in the closet," who keeps his or her sexual orientation a secret.
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| Overt homosexual | A homosexual who is "out of the closet," who is open about his or her sexual orientation.
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| Coming out | The process of acknowledging to oneself, and then to others, that one is gay or lesbian.
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| Gay bar | A cocktail lounge catering to lesbians or gays.
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| Gay baths | Clubs where gay men can socialize; features include a swimming pool or whirlpool and access to casual sex.
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| Medical model | A theoretical model in psychology and psychiatry in which mental problems are thought of as sickness or mental illness; the problems in turn are often thought to be due to biological factors.
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| Conversion or reparative therapy | Any one of a number of treatments designed to turn LGBs into heterosexuals.
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| Polymorphous perverse | Freud's term for the infant's indiscriminate, undifferentiated sexuality.
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| Negative Oedipus complex | Freud's term for the opposite of the Oedipus complex; in the negative Oedipus complex the child loves and sexually desires the parent of the same gender and identifies with the parent of the other gender.
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| Homoseductive mother | Irving Bieber's term for the mother who is seductive toward her son, traumatizing the boy and turning him into a homosexual.
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| Sexual identity | One's self-identity as homosexual, heterosexual, or bisexual.
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| Deprivation homosexuality | Homosexual activity that occurs in certain situations, such as prisons, when people are deprived of their regular heterosexual activity.
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