May also refer to females who are attracted to other females, as well as the gay community in general. Many people equate being gay with being effeminate and being lesbian with being mannish and assume that gay men really want to be women and lesbians really want to be men, but that is a mistake.
Gender identity is distinct from sexual orientation.
Gender identity, the sense that one is a male or a female, is usually manifested by the age of 3 or 4 years. Sexual orientation, the sense that one ought to claim a gay, lesbian, bisexual or heterosexual identity, does not manifest itself until much later in life, usually after puberty and often not until full adulthood. This is offensive. While most people's gender identity matches the anatomical sex with which they were born, some people's does not. Many transgendered people have heterosexual identities.