Becoming homosexual: a model of gay identity acquisition.

How do male homosexuals who choose homosexuality as a way of life recall having acquired their gay identities? This question provided the impetus for the descriptive study presented here. Rather than concerning itself with the etiology of homosexuality, this report-- a synthesis of and elaboration on recent investigations of homosexual and/or gay identity--concerns itself with documenting the ways in which a man learns that he is homosexual, how he realizes or decides that he is gay, and how he integrates this affectional and sexual preference into his identity or self-conception.