Abstract: Essentialism-oriented stages model and constructionism-oriented influencing factors model are early theoretical frameworks of homosexual identity development. It is one of the most fiercely debated issues among the two approaches whether sexual orientation is a core component of a human. Then, ecological theory, life-span theory and life course theory tried to integrate the two approaches and proposed advanced models of homosexual identity development. Two factors should be concerned in model construction, which are diversity of homosexual identity development and effect of disclosure. Prospective longitudinal study should be the future directions of research. The characteristics and research hypotheses of Chinese homosexuality are also discussed

Key words: sexual orientation, homosexuality, sexual identity, model