Religious and secular organizations do sponsor campaigns and studies claiming that GLBT people can change their sexual orientation or gender identity because there is something wrong. PFLAG believes that it is our anti-GLBT attitudes, laws and policies that need to change, not our GLBT loved ones. These studies and campaigns suggesting that GLBT people can change are based on ideological biases and not peer-reviewed solid science.

No one knows exactly how sexual orientation and gender identity determined. However, experts agree that it is a complicated matter of genetics, biology, psychological and social factors. For most people, sexual orientation and gender identity are shaped at any early age. While research has not determined a cause, homosexuality and gender variance are not the result of any one factor like parenting or past experiences.

There are religious and secular organizations that sponsor campaigns and studies that say LGBTQ people can change their sexual orientation or gender identity. Their assertions assume that there is something wrong with being. PFLAG believes that it is our anti-GLBT attitudes, laws and policies that need to change, not our GLBT loved ones. Many of the studies and campaigns are based on ideological bias rather than solid science.

Sexual orientation refers to who people are attracted to; a homosexual orientation would be towards people of the same sex, a heterosexual orientation would be towards people of the opposite sex. A bisexual orientation would be towards either sex. Gender identity refers to how people define themselves as male, female, or something else entirely.

There are organizations that claim gay and trangendered people can change their sexual identity or orientation. For a strat, their assertions assume that there is something wrong with being gay or transgender, and are based on ideological biases rather than solid science. Claims of conversion from gay to straight tend to be poorly documented, lack follow-up and contain flawed research.

They tell about it because sharing that aspect of themselves with others is important to their mental health. In fact, the process of identity development for lesbians, gay men, and bisexuals, called coming out, has been found to be strongly related to psychological adjustment—the more positive the gay, lesbian, or bisexual identity, the better one’s mental health and the higher one’s self-esteem.

Gender identity is a person's internal sense of being a man or a woman, a boy or a girl. Sexual orientation is someone's sexual attraction to others who may be of the opposite sex, the same sex, or either sex. Like other people, transgender people can be heterosexual, gay, lesbian or bisexual. Generally speaking, their gender identity - not their physical sex status - determines their sexual orientation.

Gender identity refers to how an individual sees themself socially, as a woman, man, neither or both. It has no relation to their physical characteristics, but rather to how they choose to live their lives. This categorization may be fluid, over time or social situations.

Sexual identity is the self-image that someone has, regardless of the genitals with which they were born. That's to say, an individual with male sexual characteristics (a male gender) may feel themselves to be female, some would describe themselves as a "woman in a man's body." This individual would have a female gender identity.

The answer is that the sex or sexes one is attracted to is innate and predetermined. Sexual orientation is a genetically and hormonally determined and God-given trait. People can control their behavior, but a person who is gay can never have a fulfilling romantic relationship with someone of the opposite sex unless he or she is bisexual. Similarly, someone who is heterosexual can only be fulfilled emotionally and physically by a relationship with someone of a different sex.

Sexual orienation refers to the gender which a person finds themselves emotionally and sexually attracted. The common terms for the variety of sexual orientations are gay, lesbian, bisexual and heterosexual. Some individuals may identify themselves as asexual, and others as other.

Sexual identity is the degree to which one identifies with the social and biological aspects of being a man or a woman. Most people identify primarily with their biological sex but transgendered people identify more with the biological and social characteristics of the other gender. Sexual orientation is defined by a person's emotional, romantic and sexual attraction to another. Heterosexuals are people whose sexual and romantic feelings are for people of the opposite sex.

No. Even though most homosexuals live successful, happy lives, some homosexual or bisexual people may seek to change their sexual orientation through therapy, sometimes pressured by the influence of family members or religious groups to try and do so. The reality is that homosexuality is not an illness. It does not require treatment and is not changeable.

Change is only for those with unwanted same sex attractions. What makes you happy may not make someone else happy because we are all individuals. Please respect other people's decisions for their lives.

They are three totally separate issues. Your sexual identity is your biological sex, a male or female body. Your gender identity is what is in your mind - a sense of being male or female or in the case of many TG people, having a dual-gender nature. Simply put, your sex ID is what's between your legs and your gender ID is what's between your ears. For most people, their sex ID and their gender ID. For TG people, there is at least some variance between the two.

The primary difference is that sexual identity refers to how an individual relates sexually to others while gender identity refers to how an individual relates to their gendered self. Terms such as asexual, heterosexual, homosexual and bisexual are terms relating to sexual identity.

A housing provider may ask an applicant or tenant to verify that they have a disability and need accommodation. The type of verification needed will depend on the specifics of the situation and may be provided by a doctor or other medical professional, a peer support group, or a service agency. However, the applicant or tenant is not required to tell the housing provider the specifics of their disability or to give the housing provider a full copy of their medical history.

No. The reality is that homosexuality is not an illness. It does not require treatment and is not changeable. In 1973, the American Psychiatric Association removed homosexuality from the official manual that lists mental and emotional disorders. Two years later, the American Psychological Association resolved to support the removal. Ever since, both associations have urged all mental health professionals to help dispel the stigma of mental illness associated with homosexual orientation.

No one knows exactly but experts agree that it is a complicated matter of genetics, biology, psychological and social factors. For most people, sexual identity and sexual orientation are shaped at an early age. While research has not determined a cause, homosexuality and gender variance are not the result of any one factor like parenting or past experiences. It is never anyone's "fault" if they or their loved one grows up to be gay, lesbian, bisexual or transgender.