Orientational Diversity: A New Spin, Part 1


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	ORIENTATIONAL DIVERSITY: A New Spin (Part 1)
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Orientational Diversity: A New Spin, Part 1

In this first of a three-part series, the author invites us to recognize the ways we unconsciously label ourselves when we play by and listen to society’s recordings. The b-side may surprise and enlighten you.

Have you thought much about what "orientational diversity" and "gender orientation" mean? You may want to "spin" some time here.

Some may be quick to judge that orientational diversity is a gay and lesbian blah blah blah. This is understandable. Before the 1970s in America when gays and lesbians began to come out and express their true orientation more openly and freely, sexual orientation was hardly talked about...not to mention being presented as an issue or a rights movement. The general population was surely aware that there were people in the culture with different gender orientations than themselves, but the level of understanding and acceptance just wasn’t there at the time. Men liked women. Women liked men. Who could ask for anything more? The country seemed content to live in the past when subjects like sex and sexuality were not mentioned in polite conversation. The rest of American society (yes, the gay, lesbian, bisexual, and transgender individuals) had to conform to the silence for fear of unthinkable consequences.

It is a recorded fact that orientational diversity has always existed in nature. For centuries humankind has explored unexplainable attractions and interactions that did not conform to the majority of the population. Depending on the times and the culture, these behaviors have been either revered or persecuted. The behaviors are obviously as old as humankind, and older. It is the definitions and associated stigma that are relatively new when.

Orientational diversity is a blanket term illustrating the complexity of how all human beings naturally attract and interact with one another. Every human being has a gender orientation. Yes, this means YOU (at least I hope you’re human if you are reading and understanding this).

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