a flower in hell on 23/5/2008 at 16:39

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I don't buy the homosexuality is genetic argument. I don't buy it one bit. But I understand why the activists push for that even if they know it's probably false, because when it comes to religious crazies, the only way to fight their illogic is with more illogic.

I'd venture to say that being sexually attracted to the same sex is likely about the same as any other random preference or taste... just one of those things that we'll probably never figure out. Trying to figure out why I like to sleep with other women would be like trying to figure out why I don't like ketchup or why I enjoy beer.

It'd be extremely difficult to figure out and is it really that important to figure out? The liberal gay-activist crowd seem to think they have to prove the religious crazies wrong, but I really don't care. They can think I'm sinful all they want, because I don't follow their religion and hence their rules don't apply to me one bit. A lot of them tend to forget that "sin" is defined as an act that runs contrary to a given religious dogma. Why would I base my life around a set of rules that don't even apply to me?

heretic on 23/5/2008 at 18:51

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Why not?

You are obviously better placed to be wiser to this issue than myself, that's why I'm asking.

How long have you felt the way you do in regards to your same-sex attraction? When/Where do you think you learned this behavior?

Most of us have grown up with someone who turned out to be gay, and in retrospect we've known it all along. A boy consistantly showing traits and expressing interests of like-aged females (or vice-versa) from a very young age doesn't have to be genetic, but what about that Swedish study (among others) that seemed to suggest that the brains of gays reacted differently to hormones than those of straights?

I can't say why for sure, but the genetic argument always seemed to make sense to me, even in my long-abandoned fag-hater phase. I'm interested in your perspective since the few gays I know seem to buy the genetic argument hook, line and sinker.

Epos Nix on 23/5/2008 at 20:24

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If homosexuality were caused by genes, it would have to be triggered by a gene malfunction, wouldn't it? I mean, it's kinda hard to pass down a latent gene if both partners can't impregnate each other. :erg:


I'd wager a guess that homosexuality is the result of hormone imbalance and social conditioning. The hormone imbalance part could be considered the genetic side of the equation, but I highly doubt that having more or less testosterone/estrogen solely determines the sexual preference of a person. I'd have to guess that something triggers a person's preference very early on in that person's life and it becomes deeply ingrained into that person's being. And if that's true, trying to unlearn gay would essentially be the same as trying to unlearn your name.

a flower in hell on 23/5/2008 at 20:27

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I don't buy it because it's my choice. I choose to sleep with women, I like sleeping with women, it's part of who I am, and I have absolutely no obligation to prove or explain anything to anyone. It just is. I could just as easily choose to sleep with no one, or I could choose to sleep with men, which I have chosen to do in the past, and found that I don't care for it much.

I will allow that there is likely a biological predisposition to this behavior, but it's most likely not genetic nor an inherited trait. If it were, it would have to be a recessive trait, because if it were a dominant trait there'd be no gay people, and there are too many gay people for it to be a recessive trait. I am talking out of my ass here but it probably has more to do with hormone levels and possible imbalances during fetal development than it does with genetics, which can be considered an environmental stimulus.

I believe that most gay people do follow the "I'm born that way" line because it takes the fact that they're homosexual and makes it mandatory rather than a choice, and I think even more of it is related to the flak gay people receive from the religious right. It's easier for them to deal with the hardships their sexual orientation brings on when they believe it's absolutely set in stone.

Is it set in stone? I don't know, and I don't care, because I'm not going to change an integral part of myself because some stupid religious crazies with too much time on their hands feels disgusted when they think of two women having sex with each other.

I will freely admit that I am choosing to sleep with women. Nobody is forcing me, and I like to think that I'm a rational enough being to control my physical urges. So I choose to sleep with women instead of men. Why? Because I like to. Do I need any more reason? Why do I have to explain myself? Why do straight guys like women? Do they have to explain themselves? They surely do not, so why should gay people have to justify who they're attracted to?

The whole thing is a bunch of retarded bullshit. People just need to live and let live, but of course they can't because it's human nature to try and control the environment around them, and by extension anything and anyone within that environment.




I'm going to agree with you and say it's most likely part biological (though likely not genetic/inherited) and part environmental. I also agree that people with a biological predisposition to be gay will not always be gay. I believe that our conscious mind is stronger than base, preprogrammed instinct.

And the "pray the gay away" camps don't work because they're trying to force people to do what they don't want to do. You can't force someone to do what they don't want to do without consequences of some sort.

The people who go to these things of their own free will really don't want to change who they are, but social and religious pressure makes them feel like they have to change in order to conform to the warped ideals they live their lives by.

Turtle on 23/5/2008 at 21:10

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That's probably all the answer required, right there.