The words 'homosexual' and 'heterosexual' refer to mutual sexual attraction between persons of the same sex and the opposite sex respectively. These words were originally adjectives; now they are very often used also as nouns, a usage which the Core Group regrets, since it may imply that this is the most important fact about a person's identity. The word 'gay' was chosen by homosexual persons to describe themselves in the 1960s, as a positive adjective in place of the earlier use of 'queer'. Originally 'gay' was applied to both men and women; more recently it has been applied to men, and the older term 'lesbian' (based on descriptions in the poetry of Sappho from Lesbos in ancient Greece) is used exclusively for homosexual women. The term 'bisexual' refers to someone who is sexually attracted to persons of both sexes.
'Sexuality' was originally defined narrowly as a general description of sexual behaviour (and this narrow sense is used in many Anglican documents, particularly......
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