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One hundred ninety-nine self-defined homosexual males were asked about the ages at which milestone events occurred in the coming out process (i.e., initial awareness of same-sex attractions, same-sex acts, self-designation as homosexual, initial involvement in a long-term relationship, self-disclosures to significant others, and acquiring a positive gay identity). Overall findings indicated that an orderly developmental sequence underlies the coming out process; however, not all subjects progressed in a predictable fashion from an awareness of same-sex feelings through behavior to eventual self-labelling, self-disclosure, and final stabilization of a positive gay identity. A number of individual differences emerged: 18% of the sample labelled themselves "homosexual" in the absence of any overt same-sex sexual experience; 22% arrived at homosexual self-definitions while participating in a long-term relationship with another man; 23% adopted homosexual self-definitions only after involvement in such a relationship. Fifteen percent of the respondents indicated that they had not acquired a positive gay identity (i.e., were not glad to be gay). These individuals differed from the remainder of the sample on a number of significant measures reflective of psychological health. Significant differences were also found among three cohort groups with respect to age at occurrence of particular milestone events. Findings from the present investigation were explored in relation to both the theoretical conceptions and available empirical data concerned with homosexual identity formation.

A nonclinical sample of 88 homosexual males responded to a questionnaire that assessed their sex-role self-concept and their attitudes toward both women and male homosexuality. Results indicated that in terms of socially valued masculine and feminine characteristics, the majority of homosexual males viewed themselves as predominantly androgynous. These respondents also favored equality between the sexes, reflecting positive attitudes toward women. Similarly, those homosexual men who supported equality between the sexes also held more positive attitudes toward male homosexuality.

Homosexual identity is conceptualized as a life-spanning developmental process that eventually leads to personal acceptance of a positive gay self-image and a coherent personal identity. Habermas' theory of ego development is utilized to provide a synthesis and understanding of the literature on the construction and maintenance of the homosexual identity. It is concluded that the homosexual identity generally emerges in a three-stage process in which the person progresses from: (1) an egocentric interpretation of homoerotic feelings to (2) an internalization of the normative, conventional assumptions about homosexuality to (3) a post-conventional phase in which societal norms are critically evaluated and the positive gay identity is achieved and managed. Developmental tasks associated with each stage are outlined in terms of their ego-integrative functions. Although the stages in the process of homosexual identity formation are theoretically the same for females and males, because of the paucity of research on the homosexual identity in females, this paper deals chiefly with males.