There is Still Progress to be Made

People always used to think that there were only two genders: male and female, and of those genders, the “normal” way to live was heterosexually. However, these ideas and definitions have been changing greatly.

Generally, babies are born with either a vagina or a penis. This means the baby is biologically born as a female or a male, respectively. However, one in every 400 pregnancies results in what some call a “sex abnormality,” this means that one in every 400 babies is born with a penis AND a vagina. This child is biologically called “intersex.” At this point, the parents typically must decide whether they want their child to biologically identify as female or male, even in some cases, they may choose to have their infant operated on to remove one of their genitals.

One common misconception with gender and sexuality is that they are the same thing. This is FALSE!

Biological sex is how you are biologically born - what genitals you have at birth.

Gender identity is how you identify - whether you see yourself as more masculine, more feminine, both or neither.

Gender expression is your appearance, and whether it falls on the typical “masculine” or “feminine” sides, both or neither.

Sexual attraction is who you find attractive.

Below, you can find a clip from National Geographic’s documentary, “Gender Revolution,” where author, comedian and social justice advocate, Sam Killermann, discusses gender and sexuality.

Another common misconception is that there is a “gay gene,” or a genetic component that occurs in people who identify as anything other than heterosexual. This is false! There are no factors that can control whether the individual is gay or straight or anything in between.

However, it has been proven that the brain of someone who identifies as transgender may look different than someone who is cisgender. We are all born with chemicals (testosterone for males, estrogen for females) in us that make us biologically more male or female, this usually corresponds with whatever genitals we have. However, transgender, agender and genderfluid individuals have chemicals that may not correspond with whatever genitals they have.

The last misconception I’ll be going over is that sexuality and gender can’t be changed once someone has decided how they identify. This could not be more untrue! Gender and sexuality are fluid, meaning that they change from person to person, and can change by the year, month or day.

For example, I briefly discussed in my introductory post that my sexuality has changed over time. When I was around 12, I started questioning whether I was really straight. To this day, I don’t think anyone in my life knows that. I decided it was too much for me to deal with then, so I decided to push that thought away for awhile. This concept didn’t come back into my mind again until I was 18, I started to think that I was pansexual. This is how I identified until I was nearly 21. I felt like I was a little (a lot) gayer than I originally thought I was.

I’ve found that sometimes it’s more comfortable for people to slowly transition into their LGBTQIA+ titles, and change their labels down the road. But that’s not to say that this is true for every individual.

If you’re interested in learning more about gender and sexuality on a spectrum, I recommend you watch the Netflix-produced series, “Bill Nye Saves the World,” season 1 - episode 9, called “The Sexual Spectrum.” You can find a clip below:

And, as always, have a gay day!