Gender and Orientation

Human sexuality has for a long time been considered as the heterosexual couple consisting of the man and woman having intercourse mainly for reproduction and as a byproduct for pleasure. This standard model has excluded other forms of human sexual expression either by criminalizing and subsequent punishment or by pathologizing and subsequent medicalization. In recent years, the persons who did not live this standard model gained more attendance and acceptance not by all countries but by a considerable part of the world community and of international societies like the WHO, the UNFPA, the UNESCO, and others. In this chapter, the large variety of sexual expressions outside the standard model with respect to orientation and sexual and gender identity is described and the definitions given to these sexual minorities defined as LGBTIQ+*. Based on the specific general and sexual health risks for these communities, the needs and the necessary standards of reproductive and sexual health care are described.