Legal recognition of a committed relationship through marriage provides economic, social, and health benefits to gay and lesbian couples. This legal recognition can also benefit gay and lesbian family members, friends of the couple, children who gay or lesbian parents might adopt in the future, and society at large.
Are heterosexual and same-sex marriages different?
Many lesbians, gays, and bisexuals desire lifelong partnerships. They form committed relationships, and many have been together ten or more years—an amount of time that is …

Sexual Orientation: How is it Developed?
Sexual orientation refers to an individual’s emotional and sexual attraction to other individuals. While this attraction may extend along a continuum, it is most frequently discussed as falling into three categories: heterosexuality, homosexuality, and bisexuality. Like many human behaviors, sexual orientation is influenced by various biological and psychosocial factors, such as evolutionary predispositions and early experiences, but it is generally not determined by any one factor. The timing of its emergence in everyone varies.
…

The American Psychological Association recommends that psychologists help reduce the stigma of mental illness through the education of others about how long-held beliefs and fears about sexual orientation have led to prejudice and discrimination against lesbian, gay and bisexual people.
What is sexual orientation?
Sexual orientation is the personal sense of identity and attraction that a person feels toward the same and/or opposite sex members. Recent studies have shown sexual orientation to be fluid (not fixed), with the strength of attractions …

What is transgender?
Transgender is an umbrella term for people whose gender identity, expression, or behavior does not conform to that typically associated with the sex they were assigned at birth. The American Psychological Association’s Committee on Sexual Orientation and Gender Diversity are undertaking a systematic review of its use along with other terms related to transgender. In this document, “transgender” is used to replace the outdated term “transsexual.”
The terms “transgender” and “trans…