Sexuality
Sexuality has three stages: Desire is an interest in being sexual. Excitement is the state of arousal that sexual stimulation causes. And orgasm is sexual pleasure's peaking. A sexual disorder occurs when there's a problem in at least one of these stages.
Adapted from the Encyclopedia of Psychology
Understanding Sexual Orientation and Gender Identity
- Answers to your Questions About Transgender People, Gender Identity, and Gender Expression
Transgender is an umbrella term used to describe people whose gender identity (sense of themselves as male or female) or gender expression differs from that usually associated with their birth sex.
- Answers to Your Questions For a Better Understanding of Sexual Orientation & Homosexuality
This pamphlet is designed to provide accurate information for those who want to better understand sexual orientation and the impact of prejudice and discrimination on those who identify as lesbian, gay, or bisexual.
- Report of the APA Task Force on Appropriate Therapeutic Responses to Sexual Orientation
This task force conducted a systematic review of peer-reviewed research on sexual orientation change efforts (SOCE) and concluded that efforts to change sexual orientation are unlikely to be successful and involve some risk of harm.
Getting Help
News
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NC governer rips her own state for gay marriage ban
May 13, 2012, Fox News
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Obama backs gay marriage
May 10, 2012, The Wall Street Journal
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California bill would ban conversion therapy to make gay teens straight
May 9, 2012, ABC News
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New scale developed to help measure levels of homophobic bullying
April 30, 2012, Medical News Today
Monitor on Psychology Articles
- Support for sexual minorities
May 2012
- Understanding orgasm
April 2011
- Complex sex
April 2010
- Insufficient evidence to support sexual orientation change efforts
October 2009
- Wanted: Better research on today's gay and lesbian teens
October 2009
Books
- Lesbian and Gay Parents and Their Children
September 2009
- Sex and Love in Intimate Relationships
August 2005
- Sexual Orientation and Mental Health
August 2005
- Sex and Babies: First Facts
October 2002
APA Offices and Programs
- Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual and Transgender Concerns
The mission of the Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual and Transgender Concerns Office is to advance psychology as a means of improving the health and well-being of lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender people, as a means of increasing understanding of gender identity and sexual orientation as aspects of human diversity, and as a means of reducing stigma, prejudice, discrimination and violence toward LGBT people.
- Sexualization of Girls
This task force found that the proliferation of sexualized images of girls and young women in advertising, merchandising, and media is harmful to girls' self-image and healthy development.
