Are gays/lebians born that way?

Question

ive talked to several of my gay friends and i always get different answers. some say they were born that way.... while others admit that something life changing made them hate the opposite sex which "converted" them. ive always been curious to know. any thoughts on this?

I realize that this can be a touchy subject for some people - at least that's what I see in some ansewers. I never said that I was against homosexuals. In case some of you didn't read... I have many friends that are gay. The different theories about homosexuals just have always interested me. It's nice to know others opinions on the topic.

Answer 1

You already answered your own question! Most will INSIST on the "born that way" theory. In SOME cases, they may be right. But I think, in MOST cases, it is psychological factors stemming from childhood. Most of the gay men I know (which is MANY) have told me of early childhood molestation by other males. They grow up feeling this is "normal", identify with their molesters, and develop a misguided belief that they were "born" that way, when in reality, it only SEEMS that way because they can't REMEMBER a time when gay activity wasn't a part of their lives! When someone has had something "shoved down their throat" (so to speak!) - ALL their lives, how can they NOT come to believe that they were predisposed to it?!

Answer 2

Who really cares how someone came to like something? If it were a sin to be gay, it wouldn't be an excuse if you were born that way or not. If you are sinning because it's in your genes or because of some compulsion, are you not still sinning? The truth is, gay behavior is not sinning per se.

Prove that it is, and then maybe someone born that way will have an excuse for the sin. Otherwise, it's nobody's business except for those with an interest in the biological sciences.

Answer 3

I bet I have talked to more gays about this issue than any straight person reading this (at least hundreds).
I am firmly convinced that they are born with their sexual orientation. I would have to hear overwhelming anecdotal evidence from those who had a "precipitating event" to be otherwise convinced.
Perhaps for people who had the "life changing events" these were merely the catalyst that allowed them to be more open with their sexuality....?

Answer 4

this might not be very helpful but many gays,lesbians and bisexuals discovers or knew that there that way but some people or some women might turn that way cause of the negative feelings they have towards men or cause of bad experiences.

theres different theorys on why some people are gay,lesbian and bisexual but its probley not the same for every one whos that way so u can't really look it up and say now i know why theses people are they way.

Answer 5

I am gay and have a lot of gay friends, and we all agree that we were born this way. I can't think of a time when a woman turned me on sexually. They just never have.

Answer 6

when a person dies, if you autopsy the brain you can tell by looking at it if that person was gay or not, so I believe yes some people are born that way, others choose. but who knows.

Answer 7

When did you choose to be straight? No one chooses their sexuality. Did you choose to be attracted to that cute boy? Of course not, it was natural for you, you were born that way, of course it didn't show up until you hit puberty.

The same holds true for gays, lesbians and bi-sexuals.

IMPORTANT: Whether or not GLBT people are born the way they are, they are still people and entitled to freedoms and equal rights afforded all citizens in the US.

The wikipedia link below has cited references for the data below.

Homosexuality has been a feature of human culture since earliest history. Estimates of the incidence of homosexuality range from 1% to 10% of the population, and that's across the world and across history. If there were environmental factors or if this was a choice, those numbers would vary more greatly based on culture.

Homosexual behavior does occur in the animal kingdom, especially in social species, particularly in marine birds and mammals, monkeys and the great apes. Homosexual behavior has been observed among 1,500 species, and in 500 of those it is well documented. (My point in including this fact is that this is not a human only behavior)

Several theories exist to causes: These are from Wikipedia.

In 1993, Dean Hamer found the genetic marker Xq28 on the X chromosome. Hamer's study found a link between the Xq28 marker and male homosexuality.

"In experimental animals it’s been well established that the sexual differentiation of the body and brain results primarily from the influence of sex hormones secreted by the testes or ovaries (Arnold 2002). Males have high levels of testosterone in fetal life (after functional development of the testes) and around the time of birth, as well as at and after puberty. Females have low levels of all sex hormones in fetal life, and high levels of estrogens and progestagens starting at puberty. High prenatal testosterone levels organize the brain in a male-specific fashion; low levels testosterone permits it to organize in a female-specific fashion. Hormones at puberty activate the circuits laid down in prenatal life but do not fundamentally change them. Thus, the range of sexual behaviors that adult animals can show is determined in large part by their prenatal/perinatal hormone exposure—manipulating these hormone levels can lead to atypical sex behavior or preference for same-sex sex partners as well as a range of other gender-atypical characteristics."

Recent studies have found notable differences between the physiology of gay people and straight people. see the link below for specific examples

There is evidence from numerous studies that gay men tend to have more older brothers than do straight men.[78] One reported that each older brother increases the odds of being gay by 33%. To explain this finding, it has been proposed that male fetuses provoke a maternal immune reaction that becomes stronger with each successive male fetus.

There is some evidence that gay men report having had less loving and more rejecting fathers, and closer relationships with their mothers, than straight men. Whether this phenomena is a cause of homosexuality, or whether parents behave this way in response to gender-variant traits in a child, is unclear.

Answer 8

Yes, sexual orientation has a genetic and pre-natal component. In other words, yes people are born that way. It's not a choice.

Answer 9

I have always been attracted to other girls

Answer 10

What difference does it make, really? They are perverts, and they will fry someday, unless they mend the error of their ways. God hates sodomites not only for their actual sin, but for who they are. For example, if you had rats in your basement, it wouldn't matter to you that they hadn't actually gotten into anything yet. The very fact that they are rats would cause you to want to slay them. Perverts (and all other unregenerated humans), spiritually speaking, are like rats. So then, whether they are born that way or became that way, makes no difference at all. Their fate will still be the same.