Sexual identity is something that some people wrestle with all their lives, while others never give a second thought. When you're just like everyone else you meet, you don't feel the need to question anything. When society keeps showing you images and stories of one man and one woman, if that seems like your thing you just carry on as you are. Women are attracted to men and men desire women - simple, right? That's not always the case though.
What happens when you discover that your emotions and desires are leading you down another path? Many people go their whole lives only knowing a small fraction of what's out there because, a) they fit the 'norm', and b) everyone else they know does too.
They may have seen gay people on the telly and read about them in the newspaper, but they don't know anyone who's like that and so they assume these people are just... different. Funny thing is, we're all more alike than you might think.
After all, people fancy other people or they don't. It's that simple. Just because some people desire folk that you don't find attractive, doesn't really make them all that different to you. After all, chances are you'd probably both say no to David Cameron no matter what your orientation, so perhaps you're more alike than you first thought! Seriously though, what is out there? What options are there?
There are many different sexual identities, or orientations. There are also many labels for them. Heterosexual people are attracted to people of the 'opposite' sex. Another word for this is straight.
Homosexual people (aka gay/lesbian) are romantically and physically attracted to people who are the same sex as they are.
Bisexuals are attracted to people who are the same as them, and also those who are different. Some people know that they're not straight but don't really feel like any of the other labels suit them perfectly, so they might go with queer... or no label at all.
As Brook say on their website when they talk to young people about sexual identity: "there's no need to put yourself in a box if you don't want to. It can take time to figure out what you like and don't like." Some people never do, and this is fine too.
Sexuality can be fluid and can change over time, or even from day to day. Also, some people like labels as a form of shorthand, and others don't. You don't have to pick one and stick to it. You don't even have to pick one at all.
Lori Smith is a feminist, blogger and somewhere around the middle of the Kinsey scale. She blogs about many things over at Rarely Wears Lipstick, and can often be found on Twitter as @lipsticklori.
Image via Aspex Design's Flickr photostream.