Is being Gay a mental health issue, fact or fiction?

Answer 1

In short, it is partly a mental health issue-but in no way a negative issue as people would first jump into conclustion.

Let me explain. There are several theories as to why a person is 'born' gay. The most prominent I have read is a work by Simon Le Vay. He determined - through autopsy - that gay men and straight men have one single difference: the size of their hypothalamus (a gland in the middle of your brain and well known to be the source of sexual stimulation in human beings). With gay men it is small and fluffy were as in straight men, it is solid and large. He repeated this experiment with lesbian and straight women and found the reverse. Straight women had small/fluffy gland were as lesbian has large/denser gland.
So hypothalamus size wise:
Gay men = Straight women
Lesbian women = Straight men

Following years of studies, he determined that this gland is developed before birth. When he examined pregnant mothers during period of pregnancy he found that this gland gets developed during the 6th month of pregnancy. If the mother body thinks she has a daughter, she would give Oestrogen (female hormone). If she thinks she has male son, she would give Testosterone (male hormone). For some un-explained reason, the mother would do this switch of hormones. Depending on how long this hormone is given, the child may come up as Bisexual, straight acting gay guy, camp gay guy, or in extreme cases transsexual (a person who believes he is in the wrong body!).

And if you are wandering how a bisexual man/woman hypothalamus would look, well it is medium size/denisty, they got mix of hormones and thus they would like both!

In the animal kingdom, we assume something similar happens. Homosexual animals have been proved to exist in Lions, Zebras, Bulls, Dolphins, Dogs, and many other animal species. I saw a documentary on National Geo graphic called 'Wild Sex', focusing on this and other unexpected trends in the animal kingdom. For instance, gay or lesbian swans are known to mate for life! In another documentary that I also happen to see was shown on TV 4 about two years ago called 'Gay animals', discussed an experiment on a gay bull in Texas. They isolated the bull during the mating season, so as to make the animal desperate for sex. Then they released him to only 10 cows. As much starved and agitated for sex, the bull would only bully the cows but would never mate with them. Two weeks passed and nothing changed. Then they released another bull, and as expected the gay bull would only try to mount the straight bull! Gay animals have been around for many years, but traditionally were only explained as just confused animals! Very much what some people still think gay and lesbians people have mental problem and are confused...trust me, the totally gay ones are not!

Answer 2

Gays generally don't have a problem with being gay, but the straight people drive them nuts and make it a mental health issue.

Answer 3

reason for homosexuality, maybe it is just beacause it is and there is no reason. No choice, no differences in the brain or genetic make up, no psychological deviance.

I think i'm gay just because that's what i am, there's no 'reason' for it just as there is no reason for people being straight. I came to this conclusion after spending loads of time researching it for my degree (psychology). I was constantly trying to work out why people are gay, then one day i shouted eureka! I'm gay just cos that's what i am. In the same way that i'm a girl just because that's what i am.

Answer 4

Previously, homosexuality was regarded as a mental illness. This is because experts had limited and biased information regarding homosexuality, and only had access in a clinical/criminal setting (as homosexuality used to be illegal).

Multiple research has concluded that there is no link between homosexuality and mental disorders, and this lead to the American Psychiatric Association removing homosexuality from the list of mental disorders back in 1973.

Answer 5

You run the risk of being seen as homophobic just posing this question.
By now (I mean 2006) it is accepted that people are born gay. It is not a question of mental health. It could be question of genes, or sex chromosomes, or it perhaps could be a trauma, but too many gays of both sexes have testified that they simply "knew" they were gay from a very early age, pre-puberty. We must take their word for it. Nobody would choose this somewhat difficult life-style.
The art critic Biran Sewell says he thinks of his homosexuality as "an affliction".
That is very sad, and no doubt it comes about through the attitude of people like yourself, who categorise gayness as a 'mental health issue'. It isn't.

Answer 6

No, homosexuality was previously classifyed as a mental dissorder, but that was rejected years ago.

Any mental health professional exercising good practice will reject the notion of homosexuality being a mental health issue outright. If they do not, then their practice is being compromised by their personal values and beliefs.

Answer 7

Has it ocurred to anyone that maybe we are gay for the same reason that other people are straight? Everyone is looking around for a reason for homosexuality, maybe it is just beacause it is and there is no reason. No choice, no differences in the brain or genetic make up, no psychological deviance.

I think i'm gay just because that's what i am, there's no 'reason' for it just as there is no reason for people being straight. I came to this conclusion after spending loads of time researching it for my degree (psychology). I was constantly trying to work out why people are gay, then one day i shouted eureka! I'm gay just cos that's what i am. In the same way that i'm a girl just because that's what i am.

Answer 8

Gay as in happy? That could be a mental health issue.
Gay as in sexual orientation? Just a fact of life.

Insecure people will use anything to make themselves feel or look superior, thus the fiction about homosexuality being a mental illness

Answer 9

It becomes a mental issue when someone worries about it all the time. Seems that it's causing mental issues with the homophobes!

Answer 10

Fiction. There is not any sort of mental health issue associated with being a homosexual.