Homosexuality
romantic or sexual attraction or behavior between members of the same sex
Homosexuality is romantic attraction, sexual attraction, or sexual behavior between people of the same sex or gender. It also denotes identity based on attraction, related behavior, and community affiliation.
Along with bisexuality and heterosexuality, homosexuality is one of the three main categories of sexual orientation within the heterosexual–homosexual continuum. Although no single theory on the cause of sexual orientation has yet gained widespread support, scientists favor biological theories. There is considerably more evidence supporting nonsocial, biological causes of sexual orientation than social ones, especially for males.
A major hypothesis involves the prenatal environment, in particular the organizational effects of hormones on the fetal brain. There is no conclusive evidence which confirms that parenting or early childhood experiences play a significant role in developing a sexual orientation. Scientific research shows that homosexuality is a natural and normal variation in human sexuality and is not in and of itself a source of negative psychological effects. Major mental health organizations overwhelmingly reject conversion therapy as ineffective, scientifically unsupported and potentially harmful.
The most common terms for homosexual people are lesbian for females and gay for males, but the term gay also commonly refers to both homosexual females and males.
“Homosexuality” enters the record as romantic or sexual attraction or behavior between members of the same sex. Crown Archives preserves that source wording while asking what Homosexuality, romantic and sexual can confirm, complicate or overturn.
Why this record matters
“Homosexuality” is worth following because a concise public description often conceals a longer documentary argument. Here, Homosexuality, romantic and sexual provides the most credible route into that argument.
The citation trail is more important than the brevity of the summary: it shows where individual claims can be examined in context. The source revision retrieved here is dated Aug 13, 2026. The linked authority identifier is Q6636. The Library of Congress control number is sh85061780. 1 of 1 selected statements include explicit references; 0 carry qualifiers and 0 use preferred rank.
The absence of detail may reflect summary conventions rather than a lack of surviving documentation. The source lead contains qualifying language; that uncertainty should survive quotation, summary and reuse. Authority statements aid reconciliation but still require their own references, qualifiers and ranks to be checked.
How to read it
Use the entry as an orientation point, then follow its citations and revision history. Names, dates and institutional relationships should be checked against the original record.
- Subject orientation
- Search vocabulary
- Locating named sources
The closest primary source, responsible institution and strongest cited specialist reference.
Three-step research path
- Establish the record: confirm the title “Homosexuality”, its source revision and the description used here.
- Expand the search: follow Homosexuality primary sources, Homosexuality archive and Homosexuality research across catalogues and specialist indexes.
- Test the account: compare the strongest cited source with the responsible institution’s current record and note any disagreement.
Questions for further research
- Which source most directly establishes the central claim about “Homosexuality”?
- Which cited source is closest to the event, object or claim?
- Which institution is responsible for the underlying evidence?
Search terms from this dossier
This entry incorporates text from “Homosexuality” on English Wikipedia. Contributors are listed in the page history. Text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 License. Selected authority identifiers and statements are retrieved from Wikidata under CC0; their references and qualifiers remain part of the verification path.