Lesbian Sexuality Said to be "Fluid"

One interesting trend in the literature is the growing acknowledgment by gay-affirming therapists that sexual identity, attractions and behavior are often "fluid," particularly for bisexual and lesbian women.

In a recent article in Developmental Psychology (2000, vol. 36, no. 2, 241-250), author Lisa Diamond of the University of Utah says, "For sexual-minority women, non-exclusivity in attraction is the norm, rather than the exception."

She concludes that there is a broad diversity of sexual identities and behaviors among non-heterosexual women throughout the course of their lives, with half of the 80 lesbian, bisexual and "unlabeled" women in the study reporting at two-year follow-up that they had changed sexual identities more than once. Bisexual women were more likely to have made a significant shift in both identity and attractions. Some women claimed to have had heterosexual identities in adolescence, but later adopted bisexual or lesbian identities.

"Western culture expects sexuality to come in one neat package," Dr. Diamond reported, "when often that is not the case."

Dr. Diamond's study, of course, contradicts the American Psychiatric Association's recent statement that there is no evidence suggesting that sexual orientation can change.