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Your REACTION can be a phase...

Submitted By: Jeff
Date: January 10

In Answer To: is it a phase? (trish)

Human sexuality beyond puberty is rarely a "phase." In all likelihood, your bisexual feelings will continue for most of your life. Since you're comfortable with that, you're a lot further than many other young people.

A true "sexual orientation phase" is different, and typically seems to occur at the volatile time around puberty. Approaching puberty, "straight" males will often go through a period where their "attraction" seems homosexual...this typically changes to heterosexual attraction with the onset of puberty. This is just an example and can differ for every individual. For me, I remember being physically attracted to the opposite-sex from a very young age, but developed a sudden homosexual attraction during puberty! So I went through a "heterosexual phase."

So, you are not going through a "sexual orientation phase" but may be going through a phrase in the way you deal and react to your sexual orientation. Some may go through a phase of "denial," and try to date opposite-sex partners when they truly desire same-sex partners (as an example). Or, a bisexual person may go through a "phase" of exploration in which he or she experiments with a same-sex partner, but ultimately decides to date opposite-sex partners (or vice versa). The phase, in this case, represents the individuals decision on how he or she will act out his sexual feelings. However, the actual underlying sexual orientation doesn't change.

Questions In This Thread

• is it a phase?
  trish -- January 5
  • Your REACTION can be a phase...
    Jeff -- January 10

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