A friend of mine posted this image about a year ago on FB:

It confused a lot of people.

And I understand the confusion.

They are differentiating sex and gender in this image in ways that are not familiar to most people.

If you are homosexual, you are assumed (in this case) to be attracted/fall in love with the same gender. Think of this as spirit. If the spirit is female, the body is not what matters (in this perspective).

Kind of like saying would you be asexual if you were in love with a woman (spirit) who was disfigured below the waist and no longer had any genitals (body) for sexual interaction?

No, because you’d still be in love with a woman. A man without a penis is still a man (spirit), whether he lost it in an accident or not.

Also, gayness is a mental identity (as noted above), not an activity or set of activities.

This is why many safe-sex advocates now try to reach out to MSWM (Me who have Sex With Men), rather than gay men in their efforts, because many men don’t identify as gay (they don’t find men physically attractive, don’t date men, and/or don’t fall in love with men), even if they enjoy sex with men.

Even if they enjoy being pegged.

Or wearing pink.

Just like women enjoying sex with other women are not GAY if they identify otherwise.

At most, they MAY be bisexual, depending on their definition of (many think bisexual includes love and romance, some think it’s only physical), or hetero flexible (mostly attracted to other-gender, but enjoy some interactions with same-gender), or homoflexible mostly attracted to same-gender, but enjoy some interactions with other-gender).

Now, I tend to be very binary, myself and I’m cis (identify my gender as the sex I was born with), so it’s awkward to truly grok, but that’s a simplified explanation, for those who are interested.

*smiles*

What are YOUR thoughts?

To be clear, I am only on the EDGE of this spectrum, offering my views and understanding for those who are not even where I am.

I welcome all view from those who live this more fully, to round out what I’m giving here, for those who wish to continue their own understanding.