Can a 3 year-old be gay

If your son likes sissy stuff or your daughter shuns feminine frocks, he or she is more likely to buck the heterosexual norm. But predicting sexual preference is still an inexact science.

One mom wrote in, asking whether her 3-year-old son's interest in dresses and female superheros might indicate gender confusion, or that he might be gay or transgender. Here is the response from our experts.

The word can refer to a homosexual condition or orientation — when an individual is sexually aroused primarily by members of the same sex. This condition is involuntary, and it usually appears early in life. “Homosexuality” can be used to mean specifically homosexual behavior — in other words, sexual contact with a person of the same sex.

Gay 3-year-old boys can’t verbalize their desire to be with a man when they grow up—although many such children exhibit crushlike behavior toward adult men—but they may be trying to learn.