A trans person can be straight, gay, bisexual or asexual. This may correspond to the sex assigned at birth (cis) or it may not (trans - the 'T' in LGBT). Gender identity is about a person's innate sense of their own gender, whether that's male, female, or non-binary. "This thinking also leaves out many other vital dimensions of our sexuality, such as how strongly we feel sexual attraction if at all, what roles we like to take sexually, what kinds of sensations we like, and what kinds of fantasies we have," explain Barker and Hancock.Īnother myth is that sexual orientation and gender identity are the same thing. "Unfortunately, medics, psychologists and therapists from the nineteenth century onwards got hooked on the idea that the most important thing about our sexuality was whether we had sex with men or women," reveal the duo, whose book 'Enjoy Sex' aims to be a practical guide to the often confusing topics of sex and sexuality.īut actually, many people are attracted to more than one gender (bisexuality) or find that gender isn't that important to who they are attracted to (pansexuality). Another is that if you find yourself fancying someone of the same sex, it means you're definitely gay.
Sex educators Meg-John Barker and Justin Hancock, who have a podcast about sex and relationships, explain that one of the biggest misconceptions about sexuality is that it's just about which gender we're attracted to.
There are lots of myths about sexuality, leaving many of us confused.