ABSTRACT
Sexual behavior can often be different from sexual identity and orientation. Many people at some point have a sexual fantasy or thought about another person of the same sex; however, this does not automatically mean that they would act out this fantasy or that the person instantly identifies as gay or lesbian. Sexual orientation and sexual identity are often used interchangeably. A gay identity is, like most identities, culturally constructed, so what is considered ‘gay' in one culture may not be in another, and similarly the language and ‘tribal symbolism and totems' that may be markers of a gay identity in the United Kingdom (UK) may be very different in the Caribbean or in the United States of America (USA). Discrimination against people based on perceptions about their sexual orientation and identity is often described as homophobia. Tamsin Wilton defined heterosexism as ‘the widespread social assumption that heterosexuality may be taken for granted as normal, natural and right'.
