Sexual preference is an aspect of sexuality which describes an individual's preferences in a sexual partner. One's sexual preferences do not inherently make one LGBT.
Sexual preference is similar to and often confused with sexual orientation. However, while sexual orientation describes the gender identities or gender alignments to which an individual feels attraction, sexual preferences describe other qualities or aspects which one feels are important in a sexual partner. One might experience attraction to a set of individuals due to their orientation, but prefer to act on that attraction with only some of those individuals due to a sexual preference.
For some the term sexual preference may also be implied to have a degree of choice to it.[1]
Often sexual preferences are for aspects of an individual which do not deal with identity or are less central to identity than one's gender identity is. Common examples of sexual preferences may include the following:
- A preference for individuals with a certain appearance or aesthetic.
- A preference for individuals with a certain personality.
- A preference for individuals who take a certain role in relationships.
- A preference for individuals with a certain background.
- A preference for individuals with certain physical or sexual characteristics (eg. genital preferences).
- A preference for individuals of a certain gender modality (eg. cisgender, transgender, etc.)
It is possible for one to have a sexual preference for a specific gender identity too. Examples of this might include:
- A multisexual individual who prefers to act on their attraction to some gender(s) over another(s).
- A pansexual individual who prefers to act on their attraction to individuals belonging to some gender(s) over another(s).
- A sex-favorable asexual individual who prefers to sexually interact with some gender(s) over another(s).
Individuals who find that their sexual preferences matter more in finding a partner than their sexual orientation may identify as imprisexual.
History and Controversy
Sexual preferences have historically been a controversial topic, especially in regards to genital preferences or gender modality preferences. A major part of this comes from hate groups describing their sexual identities solely on their sexual preferences. These groups choose to exclude individuals who do not meet their particular preferences and blame this discrimination on their sexual orientation (an aspect of sexuality which one has little control over) despite this being related to sexual preference (an aspect of sexuality which one has a degree of control over).[2]
Sexual identities based solely on sexual preference are often transphobic. Genital and gender modality preferences have been used by hate groups to exclude transgender individuals, for example. These forms of sexual identity which focus on preference may also be generally derogatory, with preferences potentially reducing people down to a single characteristic rather than focusing on their identity as a human or individual.