Sexual orientation is an enduring personal quality that inclines people to feel romantic or sexual attraction (or a combination of these) to persons of the opposite sex or gender, the same sex or gender, or to both sexes or more than one gender. These attractions are generally subsumed under heterosexuality, homosexuality, and bisexuality, while asexuality (the lack of sexual attraction to others) is sometimes identified as the fourth category. These categories are aspects of the more nuanced nature of sexual identity. For example, people may use other labels, such as pansexual or polysexual, or none at all. According to the American Psychological Association, sexual orientation "also refers to a person's sense of identity based on those attractions, related behaviors, and membership in a community of others who share those attractions". (Full article...)

• ... that Kanhopatra (temple burial site pictured) is venerated as a saint in the Varkari sect of Hinduism, despite spending most of her life as a courtesan?
• ... that sex workers across the world have organised since the mid-1970s to demand sex workers’ rights, including the decriminalisation of prostitution and equal protection under the law?
• ... that the application of a spray-on condom was based on the logistics of a drive-through car wash?
• ... that homosexuality has been labeled by some communists as a product of bourgeois decadence?

January - July 2009

19 February 2022 –

Jeffrey Epstein associate Jean-Luc Brunel is found dead inside his cell at La Santé Prison in Paris. Brunel faced allegations of sexual assault spanning three decades and partaking in the sex trafficking ring run by Epstein. (Sky News)

8 February 2022 – Catholic Church sexual abuse cases in Europe

In a letter published by the Vatican, ex-Pope Benedict XVI expresses "my profound shame, my deep sorrow and my heartfelt request for forgiveness," in response to inquiry into his handling of child sex abuse when he was Archbishop of Munich and Freising between 1977 and 1982. In a statement published with the letter, his aides insist that "as an archbishop, Cardinal Ratzinger was not involved in any cover-up of acts of abuse". (France 24)

26 January 2022 – LGBT rights in France

The National Assembly votes to criminalize conversion therapy, with violators facing three years in prison and up to €45,000 in fines. The bill will now be sent to President Emmanuel Macron to be signed into law. (BBC News)

For editor resources and to collaborate with other editors on improving Wikipedia's Human sexuality-related articles, see WikiProject Sexology and sexuality.