Sexuality vs. Gender: What’s the Difference?

Sexuality and gender are often assumed to be related concepts, but they are actually separate and distinct. Understanding the difference between sexuality vs. gender is important because, while both are important parts of an individual’s sense of self, if you don’t know what each one is, you may make incorrect assumptions.

For example, some people may assume that someone who is transgender is gay. But a transgender person’s gender identity and sexual orientation aren’t connected.

Understanding Sexuality vs. Gender

To understand the difference between sexuality vs. gender, it’s helpful to know what each term means.

• Gender is socially constructed and one’s innermost concept of themselves as a man, woman, and/or nonbinary person. People define their gender identity in a variety of deeply personal ways that can include man or woman but can also extend to identities such as agender, genderfluid, gender nonconforming, and a variety of others.
• Sexuality refers to who a person is attracted to and can include a plethora of orientations. While being gay, heterosexual, and bisexual are perhaps the most well-known sexual orientations, there are many others, such as asexual and pansexual.

While the terms are often conflated, recognizing the differences between sexuality and gender is important. Sexuality and gender are essential aspects of a person’s identity and play a part in shaping a person’s experiences throughout life. 

What Is Gender and Gender Identity?

The American Psychological Association (APA) defines gender identity as “a person’s deeply felt, inherent sense of being a boy, a man, or male; a girl, a woman, or female; or an alternative gender, which may or may not correspond to a person’s sex assigned at birth.”

Gender identity is personal and an inherent part of an individual’s sense of self. While gender is often presented as a binary that only includes men and women, in reality, gender is a spectrum. People can define their gender in a variety of waysinc! This includes a combination of woman and man, a completely separate gender, or no gender at all.

Gender Identity vs. Gender Expression

Gender identity is internal and may not always be obvious to the outside world. That’s because gender expression—the way one presents themselves through their external appearance and behavior with things like clothes, hairstyles, voice, and body language—may or may not conform to their gender identity.

Gender Identity vs. Sex

The terms sex and gender are often used interchangeably, and people often assume that the sex one is assigned at birth dictates the gender one is. In reality, though, gender identity and sex refer to different things.

While gender identity refers to how one defines themselves, sex is biological and dictated by one’s anatomy, hormones, and chromosomes.

What Is Sexuality?

Sexuality is another word for sexual orientation. The APA defines sexual orientation as “a component of identity that includes a person’s sexual or emotional attraction to another person and the behavior that may result from this attraction.

Sexual Fluidity

Sexual orientation can change at any point during one’s lifetime, which is known as sexual fluidity. In particular, as people age and get to know themselves and their preferences better. This often gives them the opportunity to learn more about themselves and who they are attracted to, leading to the evolution of their sexuality. In fact, for some people, sexuality is fluid throughout their lives.

Effects of Sexuality and Gender Discrimination

Unfortunately, transgender people or those whose sexual orientation is something other than heterosexual often encounter discrimination and prejudice. In the past few decades, both gender identity and sexual orientation have become political flashpoints.

Social and Political Effects

A case revolving around whether people who were not heterosexual had the right to marry went all the way to the Supreme Court, and the judges’ ruling led to marriage equality. Many states have passed or are debating laws about issues involving transgender people, such as whether to prevent transgender men and women from using the bathroom that matches their gender identity.

The fact that issues surrounding the rights of gender-diverse and sexual minority people are up for debate contributes to a climate where discrimination is still common against anyone who isn’t straight and cisgender. Research shows gender diverse and sexual minority individuals suffer from physical and psychological abuse, bullying, and persecution in a variety of contexts, including school, the workplace, and health care.

People can become preoccupied with an individual’s gender expression or sexual orientation if it doesn’t conform to social norms, and they may make their lack of support clear by doing things like using incorrect pronouns to refer to the individual.

Mental Health Effects

This kind of prejudice and discrimination puts gender-diverse and sexual minority individuals at an increased risk of mental health issues, including depression, anxiety, substance abuse, and suicide. On the other hand, an individual’s journey to determining their sexuality or gender identity is personal. Suppressing one’s true gender or sexual identity can lead to mental health issues as well.

Discrimination continues to be a serious problem for people with diverse identities, but there are things that can help. Studies have shown that the mental distress triggered by discrimination can be mediated by:

• Social and familial support
• Contact with other sexual minorities or others who are gender diverse
• Expectations of acceptance