Do "Straight", "Gay", and "Bisexual

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To me, they are really just labels. Social identities that cannot possibly
describe the wide range and spectrum of human sexuality and desire. Society
seems to think that one can just check "straight", "gay", or "bisexual" in
a box and be done with it, but human sexuality is not that simple. A person
who identifies as "straight" is entirely capable of having sexual feelings
for another person of the same gender. They may be taught to repress those
desires, but, once again, that is society. I also know plenty of people who
identify as "gay", yet have had sexual feelings for people of the opposite
gender. Many "gays" later become "straight", and many "straights" later
become "gay". This only further confirms my belief that these are simply
social identities and labels that don't really mean anything.

So, I ask you: do labels like "straight", "gay", and "bisexual" really even
exist? And, if they do, do they really matter at all?

NOPE!

Those labels are just convenient terms for the most extreme ends of a very 1-dimensional spectrum.

It's the same with gender (there's way more to that than 'male' or 'female'), sexual desires (sexual, asexual, demisexual), and orientation.

For instance, I'm fluid in my gender and am lately finding transgender androgynes to be seriously attractive. Oh, my heart! I used to think I was bisexual, but that's pretty incorrect. Then again I also had periods where I thought I was straight and gay, both of which were also incorrect. It might seem a really odd concept to some but when you're here it just makes sense.

I've just had the most revelatory time, I tell you.

OR
And this might sound crazy
They were all bisexual to begin with.

if you have sexual feeling for the opposite sex then you are not gay, you are bi.

I don't get what you mean by them not meaning anything, it's pretty simple, if you like both then you are bisexual, if you like one then you are gay or straight - if you like neither you're asexual. ticking a box really is that simple for almost everyone because human sexuality isn't complicated.

The OP is probably bisexual.

I tend to regard sexuality as a continuum, with 100% straight at one end, and 100% gay at the other end, with most people somewhere along the line.
"Straight", "gay" and "bisexual" are simply convenient labels affixed to those at certain sections of that line.

You could have it as a graph, with sexuality on the 'x' axis and gender on the 'y' axis.

They exists and at the same time sexuality is very complicated. In society you don't have the time to fully explain every detail of your sexuality to anyone who cares to know, so it's just easier to say something simple like I'm straight/gay/whatever.

There is a quote (that I sadly cannot find nor remember enough of to find) that says, roughly:
Man is the only creature who creates labels for things and then forgets that they were made up.

Everything around us, every label, every word we've learned is just humankind's need to understand the world around them. We try to pigeonhole things, compartmentalize them so we can say we understand them, put them aside and move on.

But this thing we call "life" is far too complex for that type of simplistic treatment.

Heterosexual and homosexual really shouldn't exist. I am dating a man. I am dating a woman. Who knows what will happen in the future. Societal expectation and learned behaviours rule most peoples understanding of their own sexuality.

When we label things, we start with a bias and compile evidence to either prove or disprove. This is a normal, human way of doing things. But to overcome that, we must realize that there is ALWAYS the possibility of something more that we haven't thought of yet or cannot comprehend.

Still, the speech above is not as useful in the daily lives of people. They have so many other things they have to / choose to deal with that they need the simplicity of stating what they feel something is and moving past it so that they can concentrate on other things.

Seems to me putting a label on something serves to identify something easier which means you are able to find it easier and it makes it easier to hate if if you don't agree with it and use freedom of religion to justify your hatred of it.

I think you are asking the wrong questions.

Do they exist? Of course they exist. As long as we use these labels to identify ourselves and to identify other people, then they will exist.

Do they matter? Of course they matter. Same-sex marriage, adoption rights, gay bashing and discrimination continue to be realities for GLBT people.

The question that I think you should be asking is, "are they sufficient?" Here is found the meaningful discussion around the meaning of "gay," of "straight," and of any other general label that we choose to apply to a subset of humanity.

I am gay. That is not a complete description of who I am, but it is no less accurate for that. I am not identical with any other gay man, but to the extent that we share commonality, it can be safely described as, "gay."

"Gay," is not sufficient to describe me, but "Gay-caucasian-male-Canadian-Jew-of-Scottish-and-Cornish-descent-who-likes-show-tunes-and-RPGs" is a bit unwieldy.

This.

I am gay because I am only attracted to men. I think that probably means something.
But yeah, what visagrunt said.

I always ask people if they want the long answer or the short answer. The short answer is that I'm gay. The long answer:

There are two types of attraction – phsyical and emotional/romantic. As far as romantic attraction goes, I'm 100% gay. I've never even had a crush on a girl, and probably never will. I've tried to force myself to have romantic feelings toward women who have been interested in me, and it just wasn't happening. Physical attraction, on the other hand, is more of a grey area. I like men much, much, much more than women, but I'd be lying if I said I never find myself attracted to a woman.

In conclusion, I'm gay.

Wrong. I do not associate myself with human sexuality in any way. I was simply making an observation.


Are you serious? Human sexuality isn't complicated? Basically, all you just told me is "gay people are gay, straight people are straight, and bisexual people are bisexual". You are completely missing the point of everything I said in the OP.

The people you're talking about probably aren't the label they claim to be in the first place. Just cause they say it doesn't automatically mean it's true.

Yes. Gay, straight, and bi exist. I, for example, am gay.
However, they are simply places on the wider sexuality map a person can happen to sit upon, not light switch positions. If that metaphor makes any sense. I do think they tend to enforce a gender binary, which is unfortunate.