Homosexuality is a characteristic attributed to living beings who are physically, aesthetically or emotionally attracted to another living being who has the same biological sex and same gender as hers.
This characteristic is also one of the main categories with regard to the sexual orientation of individuals, alongside bisexuality, pansexuality, heterosexuality and asexuality.
In general, homosexuality as a sexual orientation is characterized as a kind of pattern where a person can live affective and sexual experiences with another person who is mainly or exclusively of the same sex as Is it over there.
The term can also refer to an individual who has a sense of personal and social identity based on what characterizes homosexuality. he is called homosexual.
In this case, the sense is manifested through social behavior and the fact that the individual feels part of the community of people who share this same sexual orientation.
Although there are numerous biological and psychological studies to seek answers about the origin of homosexuality today, there are no concrete answers on the subject.
However, in 1970 some psychiatrists claimed that it was a mental illness, caused by processes physiological, by malformation and sexual identification and also by deviations in the sexual orientation of a individual.
In 1993, the World Health Organization (WHO) declared that the homosexuality does not constitute a mental illness or disorder., but rather a natural form of human sexual development and removed it from the list of mental illnesses.
From this moment on, psychologists would not collaborate with events and services that proposed treatment and a possible cure for the homosexuality and the Federal Council of Psychology established norms for professionals, who should clarify that homosexuality is not a disease psychological.
However, if the individual presents some wear or psychological disorder for not accepting their characteristic or suffering some type of prejudice due to their sexual orientation, this should then be treated and guided in order to accept themselves in the way they é. As well as looking for ways to live positively even in the face of prejudice.
See more about pansexual, LGBT and Gender Identity.
homosexuality and homosexuality
There is still a lot of confusion between the terms homosexuality and homosexuality, in the sense of identifying which will be the most correct way to name the characteristic or sexual orientation.
The term homosexuality is already considered an erroneous and pejorative expression nowadays, as the suffix "ism" refers to the disease. The term homosexuality, on the other hand, is the most correct, as it translates the characteristic and sexual orientation, regardless of whoever desires it.
See also the meaning of homoaffectiveness and Homophobia.