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sexuality v.2
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gender identity
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By "default", angels have no gender identity (and it can be assumed, no sexuality). They don't personally identify with the vessels they inhabit, and they don't care how they're referred to (although Cas once corrects Dean when referring to an angel who had changed between vessesls of different sexes. When Dean asked whether that angel was male or female, Cas responded by saying that they're "an angel"). By this logic, all angels inhabiting vessels can be considered transgender, although most angels are they thesmelves unlikely to understand the human concept. This is further confused by the fact that the narrative rarely addresses this, angels are simply referred to depending on what vessel they're inhabiting or have inhabited, and no effort is made to refer to them with neutral pronouns, nor does any angel ever correct the pronouns used to refer to them personally.
Castiel falls into this grouping, at least in the beginning. However, Cas does begin to identify more and more with his vessel over time. Although it's never outright stated, whenever Cas thinks of himself, or appears in noncorporial dimensions (like the Empty and Heaven), we see him represented by his human vessel (as opposed to his true form). While this is probably partially for convenience's sake, it does allow some insight into his thoughts, as this can also be considered his point of view. It should also be noted that Castiel is one of few angels who is in full possession of his vessel— his body— since the man whose body it formerly was (James Novak) died and went on to Heaven when Castiel was killed during the apocalypse. Which is perhaps at least part of why he is so affixed to this vessel. But it also seems to be a sentimental attachment that goes beyond this, the same way that he has a meaningful, sentimental attachment to the clothes he usually wears.
Of course, Castiel never explicitly identifies as anything in particular. The thing about angels and their apparent existence as genderless creatures is that this is an utter lack of identity. Angels are not meant to be fully actualized people. They are tools to do a job. If an angel feels discomfort in their life for any reason, and allows it to affect their assigned tasks, it is a punishable offense. An angel that wishes to live as a human, or with humans, would be killed or brainwashed into obedience. So it's hard to imagine that any angel, perhaps besides the archangels and some specific main players, have any strong sense of identity at all, in any sense.
I don't believe that Cas sees himself as strictly male*, even after becoming familiar with his vessel, but rather as male aligned, or masc (although he isn't aware of the terminology), in the same sense that he is comfortable being a completely alien creature living in a human body, who prefers the human body he currently has, and doesn't think much else about it. Being feminized, wearing traditionally fem clothing, or being referred to by pronouns other than he/him would be completely neutral experiences to him to be judged on a case by case basis, as long as he wasn't being ridiculed, or his body wasn't permanently changed in any way, or changed without his consent.
Naturally, it's difficult to tell how much of this neutrality is genuine and how much of it is born from his deep-rooted subconscious belief that he is an object more than a person. Cas doesn't often do anything to affirm himself or his identity, it's much more common to see him diminish himself. So it's also entirely possible that he has an even stronger identification to his vessel, and with being someone who prefers a male body, than is first apparent.
*An exception can be made here for Castiel when he is human. With Castiel's knowledge of human of gender identity (which is poor), he may likely consider himself male when he's fully mortal simply because he is inhabiting his male vessel, whether or not he truly believes he is "male" in the sense his own identity. Paradoxically, he has more reason as a mortal to worry about his gender expression, and about fitting in and presenting himself in specific ways, in order to avoid being noticed as something "other". Which makes his experiences when human even more closely aligned with trans experiences.
Castiel falls into this grouping, at least in the beginning. However, Cas does begin to identify more and more with his vessel over time. Although it's never outright stated, whenever Cas thinks of himself, or appears in noncorporial dimensions (like the Empty and Heaven), we see him represented by his human vessel (as opposed to his true form). While this is probably partially for convenience's sake, it does allow some insight into his thoughts, as this can also be considered his point of view. It should also be noted that Castiel is one of few angels who is in full possession of his vessel— his body— since the man whose body it formerly was (James Novak) died and went on to Heaven when Castiel was killed during the apocalypse. Which is perhaps at least part of why he is so affixed to this vessel. But it also seems to be a sentimental attachment that goes beyond this, the same way that he has a meaningful, sentimental attachment to the clothes he usually wears.
Of course, Castiel never explicitly identifies as anything in particular. The thing about angels and their apparent existence as genderless creatures is that this is an utter lack of identity. Angels are not meant to be fully actualized people. They are tools to do a job. If an angel feels discomfort in their life for any reason, and allows it to affect their assigned tasks, it is a punishable offense. An angel that wishes to live as a human, or with humans, would be killed or brainwashed into obedience. So it's hard to imagine that any angel, perhaps besides the archangels and some specific main players, have any strong sense of identity at all, in any sense.
I don't believe that Cas sees himself as strictly male*, even after becoming familiar with his vessel, but rather as male aligned, or masc (although he isn't aware of the terminology), in the same sense that he is comfortable being a completely alien creature living in a human body, who prefers the human body he currently has, and doesn't think much else about it. Being feminized, wearing traditionally fem clothing, or being referred to by pronouns other than he/him would be completely neutral experiences to him to be judged on a case by case basis, as long as he wasn't being ridiculed, or his body wasn't permanently changed in any way, or changed without his consent.
Naturally, it's difficult to tell how much of this neutrality is genuine and how much of it is born from his deep-rooted subconscious belief that he is an object more than a person. Cas doesn't often do anything to affirm himself or his identity, it's much more common to see him diminish himself. So it's also entirely possible that he has an even stronger identification to his vessel, and with being someone who prefers a male body, than is first apparent.
*An exception can be made here for Castiel when he is human. With Castiel's knowledge of human of gender identity (which is poor), he may likely consider himself male when he's fully mortal simply because he is inhabiting his male vessel, whether or not he truly believes he is "male" in the sense his own identity. Paradoxically, he has more reason as a mortal to worry about his gender expression, and about fitting in and presenting himself in specific ways, in order to avoid being noticed as something "other". Which makes his experiences when human even more closely aligned with trans experiences.
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sexuality
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Sexuality exists adjacent to this. Angels aren't meant to be able to feel emotions whatsoever, or form attachments beyond loyalty to their brethren, so it doesn't take much of a leap to assume they're asexual and aromantic beings by default, although of course they have no need or desire to claim any human identity for themselves. They are, obviously, capable of developing feelings despite this and thus also capable of exploring and discovering sexuality beyond what they would normally be allowed. (Cas is not the only angel who has fallen and discovered feeling, and we've seen many angels who have fallen in love with humans.)
This is true for Castiel. In the beginning, he has no sexual preference at all. Over time, he occasionally has suggestive encounters with women, and he is even married once (as an amnesiac), but all of these occurrences happen when Cas is not entirely himself. Specifically, they tend to happen when he is physically and emotionally vulnerable, such as when he's human and isolated, or when his mind has been shattered and he requires supervision. The one exception is his brief time with Hannah, an angel in a female vessel. However, this is yet another case of Castiel being the passive party, and Hannah is the one who makes an advance on him, although she does it in the first place as a "cover". She's also an angel, and he's well aware of this. (She even reappears later in a male vessel, as though to reiterate angels' genderlessness.)
The one thing consistent across these relationships is that they always quickly end, and Castiel never makes any attempt to maintain them, which seems to imply that his sexual and/or romantic interest is surface level at best. An additional point to consider is that experimentation doesn't necessarily indicate one's sexual preferences.
In fact, Castiel often displays discomfort when female sexuality is overtly turned his way, such as when Dean drags him to the brothel to, uh, deal with his virginity (which ends in Castiel ruining the moment and being kicked out), or when he believes that Hannah is attracted to him. He also never seeks out sexual (or romantic) relationships, even when he is human. In every situation, he is the one who is approached. He has a tendency to go along with what he thinks is required from him in a given situation, although he will find ways out of situations that are uncomfortable for him (personally, I think he botched things with Chastity on purpose).
His inability to become romantically attached to woman despite reciprocation could imply that he can't become romantically attached to women; likewise, the ease at which he becomes attached to Dean despite his attachment initially being forbidden could imply the opposite toward men. Of course, it's also possible to read him as bisexual, pansexual, or somewhere on the spectrum of asexuality.
In any case, by the end of the show, he has only been shown harboring serious, lasting romantic feelings for Dean, and there is retroactively great implication that he has harbored them for a very long time.
My personal reading is that his past involvement with women was entirely situational. He was close to Meg because of her genuine affection for him, but doesn't appear to return the full extent of her feelings, as he never pursues any sort of romantic or sexual relationship with her when she's taking care of him, and h never mourns her death. Likewise, he responded to April because she showed him affection when he was freshly human, isolated and abandoned by his own kind. But after April betrays him, and he discovers he had misunderstood Nora's desire for a date, he becomes much more reticent with women. Later in the same season, when Hannah shows attraction toward him, he immediately begins to rebuff her. After Hannah leaves, he has no more romantic close-calls with women.
He's briefly close with Kelly Kline (Jack's mother), but their relationship has neither romantic nor sexual undertones, and is a byproduct of their shared love for Jack and the good they both bring he can bring to the world. All of his other major relationships with women are familial. (Mary seems to consider him a son, alongside Sam and Dean, and Claire looks to him as a sort of father figure, although their relationship is incredibly strained and they cut contact later in the series.)
It could be assumed by this time that he has fully internalized his feelings for and attraction to Dean, and no longer has any interest in other people at all. Whether he's put any thought into his own sexuality beyond this is unknowable, which is why it's something I enjoy exploring. Personally, I don't think he, in canon, has a hard grasp on human sexuality as it could possibly apply to him. He only knows that he loves Dean, which is enough.
(As an aside, his attachment to Dean being forbidden when he's still aligned with Heaven, and his own struggle with reconciling his feelings toward Dean and his loyalty to a family who does not accept them during this time, can easily be read as an allegory for forced closeting. This metaphor or allegory or whatever you'd like to call it plays into my desire to explore his character from this angle.
Similarly, his passivity toward and rejection of relationships with women often mirrors the experiences of someone struggling with compulsory heterosexuality. Castiel may be an angel, but he is living in a world with certain social norms, and in particular when he is human he makes an effort to learn them. We often see him acting to fit in in ways where his actions don't necessarily align with his desires. He also has a habit of trying to do what Dean expects of him, in order to earn his acceptance, which in some cases results in Dean projecting his own compulsory heterosexuality onto Castiel.)
(And, as an aside, one does not have to be male to identify as gay. People on the non-binary spectrum often identify as gay, and this is important to my reading of him, since I tend to play him as masc rather than strictly male. There's a lot of wiggle room here for different interpretations, and a lot to play with that the narrative doesn't address! I don't always adhere to the same ideas for every AU, either, so please don't take this as gospel or anything.)
This is true for Castiel. In the beginning, he has no sexual preference at all. Over time, he occasionally has suggestive encounters with women, and he is even married once (as an amnesiac), but all of these occurrences happen when Cas is not entirely himself. Specifically, they tend to happen when he is physically and emotionally vulnerable, such as when he's human and isolated, or when his mind has been shattered and he requires supervision. The one exception is his brief time with Hannah, an angel in a female vessel. However, this is yet another case of Castiel being the passive party, and Hannah is the one who makes an advance on him, although she does it in the first place as a "cover". She's also an angel, and he's well aware of this. (She even reappears later in a male vessel, as though to reiterate angels' genderlessness.)
The one thing consistent across these relationships is that they always quickly end, and Castiel never makes any attempt to maintain them, which seems to imply that his sexual and/or romantic interest is surface level at best. An additional point to consider is that experimentation doesn't necessarily indicate one's sexual preferences.
In fact, Castiel often displays discomfort when female sexuality is overtly turned his way, such as when Dean drags him to the brothel to, uh, deal with his virginity (which ends in Castiel ruining the moment and being kicked out), or when he believes that Hannah is attracted to him. He also never seeks out sexual (or romantic) relationships, even when he is human. In every situation, he is the one who is approached. He has a tendency to go along with what he thinks is required from him in a given situation, although he will find ways out of situations that are uncomfortable for him (personally, I think he botched things with Chastity on purpose).
His inability to become romantically attached to woman despite reciprocation could imply that he can't become romantically attached to women; likewise, the ease at which he becomes attached to Dean despite his attachment initially being forbidden could imply the opposite toward men. Of course, it's also possible to read him as bisexual, pansexual, or somewhere on the spectrum of asexuality.
In any case, by the end of the show, he has only been shown harboring serious, lasting romantic feelings for Dean, and there is retroactively great implication that he has harbored them for a very long time.
My personal reading is that his past involvement with women was entirely situational. He was close to Meg because of her genuine affection for him, but doesn't appear to return the full extent of her feelings, as he never pursues any sort of romantic or sexual relationship with her when she's taking care of him, and h never mourns her death. Likewise, he responded to April because she showed him affection when he was freshly human, isolated and abandoned by his own kind. But after April betrays him, and he discovers he had misunderstood Nora's desire for a date, he becomes much more reticent with women. Later in the same season, when Hannah shows attraction toward him, he immediately begins to rebuff her. After Hannah leaves, he has no more romantic close-calls with women.
He's briefly close with Kelly Kline (Jack's mother), but their relationship has neither romantic nor sexual undertones, and is a byproduct of their shared love for Jack and the good they both bring he can bring to the world. All of his other major relationships with women are familial. (Mary seems to consider him a son, alongside Sam and Dean, and Claire looks to him as a sort of father figure, although their relationship is incredibly strained and they cut contact later in the series.)
It could be assumed by this time that he has fully internalized his feelings for and attraction to Dean, and no longer has any interest in other people at all. Whether he's put any thought into his own sexuality beyond this is unknowable, which is why it's something I enjoy exploring. Personally, I don't think he, in canon, has a hard grasp on human sexuality as it could possibly apply to him. He only knows that he loves Dean, which is enough.
(As an aside, his attachment to Dean being forbidden when he's still aligned with Heaven, and his own struggle with reconciling his feelings toward Dean and his loyalty to a family who does not accept them during this time, can easily be read as an allegory for forced closeting. This metaphor or allegory or whatever you'd like to call it plays into my desire to explore his character from this angle.
Similarly, his passivity toward and rejection of relationships with women often mirrors the experiences of someone struggling with compulsory heterosexuality. Castiel may be an angel, but he is living in a world with certain social norms, and in particular when he is human he makes an effort to learn them. We often see him acting to fit in in ways where his actions don't necessarily align with his desires. He also has a habit of trying to do what Dean expects of him, in order to earn his acceptance, which in some cases results in Dean projecting his own compulsory heterosexuality onto Castiel.)
(And, as an aside, one does not have to be male to identify as gay. People on the non-binary spectrum often identify as gay, and this is important to my reading of him, since I tend to play him as masc rather than strictly male. There's a lot of wiggle room here for different interpretations, and a lot to play with that the narrative doesn't address! I don't always adhere to the same ideas for every AU, either, so please don't take this as gospel or anything.)