A Scientific Understanding of Sexual Orientation with Implications for Pastoral Ministry

S EXUAL ORIENTATION REFERS TO ADULT STABLE SEXUAL ATTRACTIONS, DESIRES, fantasies, and expressions toward other adult men and women. As defined, the orientation of a person cannot be determined until emerging adulthood. Early pubertal and adolescent behavior is best viewed as exploratory rather than as indicative of any particular orientation. Psychologists distinguish sexual orientation from attractions towards minor children and adolescents (termed pedophilia and ephebophilia, respectively). Our sexual orientation is only one aspect of our larger sexual identity. Other components include: natal gender, one’s assignment at birth based upon one’s external genitalia, as being male and/or female; gender identity, one’s sense of being a man and/or woman determined intrapsychically; and social sex role, one’s masculinity and/or femininity as defined by societal and cultural tradition. Each aspect