Do you think that homosexuality is gentic or is it a choice.?

Question

do you think the environment has anything to do with it.

Answer 1

Genetic.I can't see why anyone would purposefully choose to put up with the crap that Christians give them for being the way they are.

Answer 2

I do think that environment has a great deal to do with it. There's a good deal of research that shows that gay men have high levels of estrogen and gay women have high levels of testosterone. It is also proven that some (not all) of people who are gay may be connected to the fact that they have poor relationships with the same sex parent. I have several friends where this is the case. Environment has a great deal to do with it. However, there are other cases when someone is VERY young and has homosexual thoughts before they really know what gay is. It is suggested that it just may have something to do with something internal as well as external. Prison homosexuality is a choice. It is different than actual homosexuality. There are cases where men and women engage in relationships in prison because they are seeking out some type of affection as well as seeking out an alliance. They need an ally. I do think that some people do CHOOSE to be gay. I say that because I think that some people do it to annoy people around them. Sad though it is, some people do it as some for of teenage rebellion. I'm not saying that's common, but it does happen. In THAT case, it is a choice.

Answer 3

Ask a scientist or other behaviorist and they'll tell you it's genetic.

Ask a religious person and he'll tell you it's a choice.

Who to believe?

Well if I were you I'd ask a homosexual if he chose to be homosexual. Ask him why he thinks that. He'll probably tell you that he's know since he was a little kid. He'll probably tell you that during puberty when boys his age were talking about girls he was attracted to other boys. He'll probably tell you that he's been attracted to the same sex his entire life. You know, it's just like with heterosexuals but the opposite. Did you choose to be heterosexual?

So basically the only people who think it's a choice are the very small population that pay attention to nothing in the matter but their scripture--the religious fundamentalists. Why do you suppose they think it's a choice? Hmmmm, do you suppose that position could somehow be self-serving?

I have a question for all of those who believe it's a choice: If homosexuality is not genetic then why did Ted Haggard have to go to therapy to "cure" himself of it? If it were a choice why wouldn't he just stop choosing to participate in it?

I will add a final note here. I've known more than a few "lesbian" women who weren't homosexual for very long. Mostly liberal arts women's studies, English literature, radical feminist types who were gay just long enough to get their college degrees.

Answer 4

I'll answer this question later, but to RBC---If that is the basis for your opinion that homosexuality is a genetic issue, (regarding what you mentioned concerning Ted Haggard), then why do alcoholics, people who smoke, do drugs, get involved in porno, etcetera, have to go through programs to change their lifestyles, all of which are lifestyles stemmed from choices which they have made? All bad habits are exactly that--habits. Some of them happen to be sinful, bad for you, or just plain gross (like picking you nose.)

Answer 5

I think both nature and nurture can influence someone's sexuality.

I have 2 cousins that are gay (one male and one female) and both were raised by a mother who brought home abusive men all the time. My male cousin, Chris (who recently passed away from AIDS) didn't want to BE one of those men; my femail cousin Tina didn't want to be WITH one of those men. Tina openly acknowleges that her homosexuality was a choice. However Chris had one gay encounter and then decided that he would rather be celebit than continue to do what he considered to be a sin. Unfortunately for him, that one encounter was enough to give him AIDS.

On the other hand, I also know a man named Jeff who has memories as young as 3 years old of feeling as though he wanted to be more like a girl. He played with feminine toys, he preferred to wear girls' clothing, etc. I don't think he could have chosen that so young and therefore, he must have been born that way.

Answer 6

It's not as simple as one or the other, despite politically biased answers on both sides. By studying twins, there is strong evidence for a genetic factor, but it is only a predisposition. Environmental factors, as yet undetermined, play a role. Calling it choice is excessive. Do children "choose" to be autistic, or adults to be schizophrenic? No. Can choices affect ambiguous tendencies? Yes.

Answer 7

Anyone who calls it a choice, and claims to be straight needs to then admit that they have same-sex attractions which they are repressing- then I would admit that at least it is a choice for THEM. Otherwise, it is not a choice.
If a result of environment, then the environmental causes are not clear-cut, since homosexual people come from all classes of society and all kinds of home situations, including bible-believing homophobic families- which in itself refutes homophobic christian claims that homosexuality results from child abuse, non-christian training, etc. (I could refute that one myself, by my own experience. I was never abused, and I went to church for years- during all of which time I had homosexual feelings.) A good example of someone who was raised fundamentalist christian and is homosexual is Mel White, the author, who was, in fact, a writer for many of the most visible fundamentalist leaders.
There is evidence to suggest that at least some homosexuals are that way through a genetic inheritance from their mother.
It does not matter to me whether it is or isn't a choice. If it is a choice, the only choice is whether to repress one's feelings and live totally celibate in order to satisfy the unreasonable claims to moral authority of certain people, or to enjoy one's own life.

To MG:
There is nothing in my original post about Ted Haggard.
As far as "bad habits", if your comment was really addressed to my post:
I don't think "nose-picking" is a moral issue. Alcoholism is a social problem in so far as alcoholics can harm others and themselves by, for example, drunken driving. But I don't know of anyone who attempts to force alcoholics to reform if they aren't doing things that may be either harmful (driving, e.g.) or annoying (disorderly behavior, e.g.) to other people when they're drinking.
If you are saying that homosexuality is a "bad habit", well, that's your opinion probably based on your religious belief, which I don't share. A lot of heterosexual people have "bad habits" when it comes to their sexuality, but no one's coming out against heterosexuality here for that reason. If there are certain practices by certain homosexuals that you object to, maybe you should be attacking those practices instead of homosexuality in general. As I said, if you simply reject homosexuality out-of-hand on some religious basis, I don't agree with your religion, that's all.
I already expressed my opinion as to the choice. I was raised in a christian home, I tried to "be straight", and I'm not hurting you or anyone else. I have only one life, and I'm not going to spend it endlessly trying to "fix" myself to please other people.

Answer 8

You certainly can't choose who you're attracted to, but you can choose to follow those urges. However, I don't see someone living a rich and fulfilling life if they constantly deny sexual urges that they know they have.

The origin of homosexuality may be genetic, it may be nurture-induced, it may be some combination of the two, but it is certainly not a choice.

Answer 9

Neither one! Sexual orientation is learned through early childhood experience. No-one is born homosexual, or heterosexual. And no-one chooses the orientation they will develop through childhood. So yes, the environment in which you are raised is the principle factor.

Answer 10

Genetic. Why would someone choose a lifestyle that would cause them to be despised, persecuted and possibly killed by others? Ask any gay person how old they were when they knew they were gay, the majority will tell you that they were very young-- under the age of 10. It wasn't a choice, they were born that way.

Answer 11

From Debased mind, Things that should not be done.
Romans 1:26-28