Evelyn O. Pavlova

When I think about a coming out process for lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender individuals, it is associated with courage, freedom, strength, challenge, expansion, and gain, as well as pain, insecurity, fear, loss, and rejection. First, I said "process," because it's not a one-time event or act - it's a continuous journey that lasts for as long as one lives.

Something came to my attention recently. Again. I was reminded about the way our brains love to categorize, particularly in binary terms - black and white, tall and short, good and bad, right and wrong. It's understandable why we do it - such categorization gives us peace of mind, because once we place something or someone in a proper (or improper) box, we can make sense of it and move on.

I don't hear much about bisexuality. Being involved in the LGBTQIA community, I'd think that I'd hear more about it, but in the end it's much more about gay, lesbian, transgender, and queer. It makes me wonder why this is happening.

Recently I wrote an entry about heteronormativity (i.e. a world view that promotes heterosexuality as the normal or preferred sexual orientation), labels, and assumptions about one's sexual orientation. This week I'd like to take this topic further and reflect on the concepts of sexual orientation, gender identity, and gender expression.

Our society presents itself as heteronormative. The Oxford Dictionary defines heteronormativity as "a world view that promotes heterosexuality as the normal or preferred sexual orientation." As a result we are trained to assume that individuals whom we encounter are heterosexual by default.