Being "bi-curious," "gay curious," and "questioning" refer to people who are unsure of their sexual orientation or gender identity. People who are "curious" or "questioning" often go through a period of self exploration. They may experiment with their feelings and attractions to see what identity would best describe them.Some people question whether they are lesbian or gay. is a phenomenon in which people of a heterosexual or homosexual identity who, while showing some curiosity for sexual activity with a person of the sex they do not favor, distinguish themselves from the bisexual label.It's no great surprise, then, that gay literature — or even gay characters in literature — are so relatively new as to still be shiny.Nonetheless, there are gay characters that broke barriers and became cultural touchstones...The terms heteroflexible and homoflexible are also applied to bi-curiosity. Do I imagine relationships with someone of the same gender?

Studies suggest that around half of transgender people and bisexual women will experience sexual violence at some point in their lifetimes.

This is a list of LGBT characters in modern written fiction.

The historical concept and definition of sexual orientation varies and has changed greatly over time; for example the word "gay" wasn't used to describe sexual orientation until the mid 20th century.

However, most definitions include a psychological component (such as the direction of an individual's erotic desire) and/or a behavioral component (which focuses on the sex of the individual's sexual partner/s).

Some prefer to simply follow an individual's self-definition or identity.