Heterosexual / Heterosexuality

Heterosexual, commonly called straight, describes someone whose sexual and romantic attraction is primarily toward people of a different gender, most often a man attracted to women or a woman attracted to men. Heterosexuality is one of many sexual orientations that make up the range of human attraction. The word entered medical and scientific use in the late nineteenth century, around the same time as homosexual, as researchers began categorizing patterns of desire. In LGBTQ+ affirming frameworks, heterosexuality is understood as one orientation among many rather than the default from which every other orientation deviates. Framing it this way helps move away from treating straight identity as the standard against which everyone else is judged.