What is 'symbiosexuality'?
Gay. Lesbian. Asexual. Pansexual. Polyamorous. The LGBTQ+ and nonmonogamy communities are home to all kinds of labels. But there's likely one you haven't heard of yet: symbiosexual.
What does that mean, exactly? It's when a person is attracted to the relationship or energy between two people – a distinct category beyond existing sexual orientations or relationship practices. Sexuality researcher Sally W. Johnston coined the term in recently published work.
"(Johnston) realized that these people didn't strictly conform to what you would call 'polyamory' or even 'bisexual,' but they were attracted to the couple themselves," says Wendy Walsh, relationship expert at DatingAdvice and psychology professor, "and not just in a physical way. It's more of an attraction to the energy between the partners."
The term serves as a reminder there are always new ways to think about ourselves and our desires, and that people who identify with it will feel less alone.
What does it mean to be symbiosexual?
Symbiosexual people, according to Johnston, are attracted to the energy and unity between a couple, their chemistry, their intimacy. She combed through data from the 2023 Pleasure Study – a study with a small sample size and where queer and nonmongamous people were recruited to participate – to better understand it.
"Some people said they were attracted to just the love and the secure attachment," Walsh adds. "Some were attracted to their aesthetic, like the two people as a couple just looked really cool together. Some people were attracted to how they played with gender roles."
Others desired the "power" couples exude. Study participants "spoke about attraction to the collective strength that arises from people in relationships: the power built through mutual support, shared goals and desires and complementary individual strengths," according to Johnston.
'More research is needed'
Johnston found that anyone could identify as symbiosexual across age, gender and ethnic groups.
Still, "more research is needed on how people make sense of their experiences of attraction to people in relationships in the context of their sexual orientation and the sociocultural messages and information they have received about sexuality," Johnston wrote.
Someone could in theory identify as symbiosexual as well as a host of queer and/or nonmonogamous identities. Many LGBTQ+ people, though, long for a world where coming out isn't necessary. Where they can hold hands with whomever they choose, kiss their partners in public and use their preferred pronouns without explanation.
In some places around the world – particularly cities throughout the U.S. – it might've felt safe to do so without a second thought the last few years. But the political climate of late suggests coming out won't be over anytime soon. Claiming a new label may be an opportunity to take some power back.
Still, given how new the term is, don't expect to start hearing it in everyday life anytime soon. But it could be here before you know it.
Walsh knows some may balk at another identity to learn. But "every drop of understanding helps us appreciate just the variances of being human," she says.