Why do some people think it's a choice?

I was just discussing this topic with one of my sisters last week and I got really annoyed as well as frustrated discussing this as a whole. There is a lot of so-called Christians who happens to believe that being gay is definitely a choice in their opinion. However, I think what makes this discussion controversial is that you have certain celebrities who have came out publicly, but then after being applauded by the gay community for embracing their sexuality, then out of nowhere, they began to claim to be gay and yet they tend to make it known that they can and have the capability to be attracted to a female which in most cases justifies those individuals that says being gay is a choice. I've heard people say that if a gay man can see himself being sexually engaged with a woman, then they just proved the claim that being gay is a choice. I rather these celebrities should have came out as bisexual then to proclaim to be full on gay man and then flip flop afterwards...just my opinion.

 

Because they're ignorant pricks, that's why.

Because they want to fear-monger.

 

What I don't get is why gay people still want any part of religion that inspires this hatred.

 

Idk. Misinformation? Conventional "wisdom"? Fear?

 

I have wondered the same about women in general. As back in biblical times women were less than property. Depending on the region, slaves had more rights.


They think it is a choice because it makes them feel better. If they are religious, they think it a choice because god does not make mistakes. I have heard some terrible things directed at trans people from perspective of "god doesn't make mistakes"

It could be ignorance either willful or just simply not knowledgeable.

And it could very well be fear. Fear is one of the most powerful emotions out there. They are afraid that their beliefs, what ever they are, could be incorrect and that scares them into ill-rational thought.

 

Those that say it's a choice is because they choose not to accept homosexuals. They don't and can't understand homosexuality existing, that they think it's how we chose to live. Which we chose to live to love who we want, which happens to be the same sex than be unhappy faking love for the sake of other people. At the end of the day, you should live life to the fullest and the things that make you happy.

 

They just use that argument to rationalize their argument that lgbt+ people shouldn't be welcome in the world, when really, regardless of whatever insane illogical argument they're hiding under, it comes down to the same thing as all other problems in the world: fear of those who are different.

 

They probably don't think too deeply about their sexuality. They think they can make the choice to sleep with the same sex, but choose not to. They don't understand that attraction is different than action.

 

I tend to make them shut up when I say "Alright, choose to be gay for a month and we'll have the evidence to use your method. Come back and talk to me after you've had your first same-sex partner." :lol:

 

Because you choose whom you date, and they get the two confused.

 

Now that, is a pretty solid answer. Someone giver YuriCore a cookie.

 

*steals a cookie from you and eats it* Thanks!

 

I think it's because the focus is on the sexual part probably. You always have a choice not to engage in homosexual behavior, and if homosexuality is the behavior then there is a choice in homosexuality.

 

YuriCore is right.
Some bi people can choose which gender they want to be with, so that further confuses the ignorant. For instance, Cynthia Nixon says she's a lesbian by choice; she says she doesn't like the bisexual label.

 

Lol, I remember when I used to think it was a choice- and then I fell for this cute girl when I was in Secondary. That shut me up.

Then again, I used to think that all types of love were a choice, sort of like a business agreement. That people would meet up with someone of their choosing (and that they could choose who they were attracted to) and be like "oh hey, want to have babies?", "sure" and then they'd agree to live together for simplicity. Ah, good old naivety. Where did you go? :lol:

Back in Secondary, I was quite deeply closeted. However, I wasn't great at it. I still had people speculating about my orientation. In particular, there was this girl and her identical twin who would bother me all the time, constantly asking if I was gay and laughing when I'd deny it. Eventually, I caved in and told them. I was met with the response of "It's fine by us, after all- it's your choice and we respect your decision".

This took me by surprise as they had spent quite some time telling me that I couldn't possibly be straight, and now they think I have a choice? What?

I think there are a number of reasons why people think it's a choice, and in the case of the twins above- it was apparently because their aunt told them so.

I remember coming across this comments section once, and something what someone said stuck with me. They wrote "How can we possibly take anything those f:***:gs say seriously? They can't even make up their minds on whether it's a choice or not!".

What they were getting at, is the people in the community that claim to have "chosen" their sexuality. I read an article once where this woman who had quite a few flings with women- including a fairly long-term relationship, claimed that she was now suddenly straight because she married a man. :eusa_doh: Um no, I think you're just Bi, dear.

I also watched a video of a woman where she claimed she chose to be straight because she chose to ignore crushes she had on the same-sex. Yeah, that's called denial.

There was also another article where a man claimed to have chosen to be gay, and blamed it on their family for some reason. A few people even agreed with him, saying that they also think they are gay because their mother/father was too X or not enough X. :eusa_doh: Everyone has a hypothesis.

Then you get the "ex-gays", and some people look at them and think "Oh, well if they can change then so can the rest of them", but the thing is...conversation therapy doesn't work. It's been debunked quite a few times. I think the most telling moment was when I was watching this documentary called "Cure me, I'm gay!" or something like that, and the presenter asked this crowd of people, that were claiming to be "ex-gays" and were promoting this "gay-straight conversion therapy camp", if they were willing to take this sexuality test that some University/research centre had come up with.

They all agreed when they were surrounded by others (not to mention the camera crew) on the street, but later backed out of it on the day giving all sorts of excuses "Um...I can't take this test because...reasons!" :lol: Well, they didn't say it like that but they might as well have done. They acted all cool and confident about it around the crowd, but on the day no one was confident enough to show up. So much for "ex-gays". :dry:

 

People in general want to simplify sexuality to make it as easy to understand as possible for them which it isn't. "Are you straight or gay?" for example when there is an area between(Bisexuality, Homo/Hetero-romantic) and an area completely distant(Asexuality/Aromantic).

I'm pretty sure that gays in Africa & Saudi Arabia didn't pick their preference when they have a high chance of being killed or locked up for it. I didn't choose to be attracted to men when prior I was convinced I'd die straight.

 

They think it's a choice because they haven't realized they never chose to be straight.

 

If we could choose, do you think we'd choose the LGBT life? I mean, the pride stuff is cool, but do you REALLLLLY think we'd all choose to be outcast from society?

 

I look at it this way: Heterosexual people could make the choice to engage in homosexual behavior, and if they did, that would be a choice for them. From Psychology we know that it is human nature to project one's own circumstances and experiences onto other people (this is how we make sense of most behaviors that we observe in others), and sexual orientation or identity are such 'non issues' for most heterosexual people that in lots of cases they project their circumstances onto others without even realizing it.

In summary, many people think it's a choice because it makes sense to them and if they were to act that way it would be a choice.

 

Good explanation. :eusa_clap