You're a man....

I posted an article on Twitter last week called I'M A MAN to which I received a reply from @tomlowe and @fihyde.

Interesting questions. 1) Am I a woman first and a Catholic second? 2) It seems that I have admitted there is such a thing as sexual orientation so this means that heterosexual orientation is not the only biological option. Firstly, I am not my beliefs. I am a woman. I have certain beliefs. My beliefs shape the person that I am. Secondly, yes, of course there is such a thing as sexual orientation, otherwise the world would not be populated, (SEXUAL ORIENTATION: describes a pattern of emotional, romantic, or sexual attraction to men, women, both genders, neither gender, or another gender - ref. wiki)
Thirdly, re the reference to biology - the scientific study of the natural processes of living things - it seems that the psychologists, scientists and the professionals cannot say exactly what causes sexual orientation but they do say the following:

research suggests that it is by a combination of genetic, hormonal, and environmental influences, with biological factors and a complex interplay of genetic factors and the early uterine environment.

It is a fact that some people have different sexual orientations to others. Of course that's true. But what I found interesting from the article 'I'm a man' is the distinction the young man makes between having a particular sexual orientation and being a man.

The article is to do with a young, Catholic professional who recently came out as a homosexual to friends and family.
The young man says:

I don’t believe that “gay” is a valid category, the way “male” and “female” are. I used to think being gay meant being a different kind of person altogether—like a third gender. These days I think that it’s something I have, not something I am.....The best way to sum it up is something a very good priest once said to me in confession. He said, “You’re not a homosexual. You’re a man..

If you take the meaning of ORIENTATION as: the particular preferences, tendencies, beliefs or opinions that a person has, then your understanding of sexuality is very different to the meaning of being of a certain sexual orientation.