I Am What I Am? Existentialism and Homosexuality

Abstract

This paper undertakes an exploration of sexual orientation from an existential perspective in which the author makes her primary focus the philosophy of Jean-Paul Sartre and his ideas concerning freedom, facticity and bad faith. The essentialist vs. constructionist debate is visited briefly within the context of existentialism, and the author considers the relationship between the principles of ‘gay affirmative’ therapy and an existential-phenomenological approach. The paper seeks to demonstrate that from a phenomenological standpoint, sexual orientation could usefully be considered to be a component of facticity. Key words Gay, lesbian, LGB, homosexuality, existential, phenomenological, therapy, Sartre, facticity, freedom, choice