"Homosexuality Is A Choice"

I agree.

Besides, people who make such arguments are basically saying that a "sincerely held religious belief" should provide a line item veto over the law. It shouldn't. Whenever a marginalized minority is trying to change society for the better by lobbying for non-discrimination laws, there always seems to be people who object on the grounds of "sincerely held religious beliefs".

 

I don't think the onus should be on us to prove that homosexuality is not a choice. If someone is stupid enough to dispute it let them come up with credible proof or evidence.

 

If it were a damn choice I wouldn't have bloody chosen to be gay! It's not who I want to be, why would I want to chose all the anger and hate I had for myself?

 

I don't anyone should approach this issue by saying it doesn't matter if being gay is a choice. IT might come from a well meaning place but like I said before it is harmful to those who might be disowned by their families who believe homosexuality is indeed a choice and it is indeed a sin. If we had more people openly disputing the myth that homosexuality is a sin we would have less problems with homophobic religious bigots but that is also a generational thing and will get better in time.

 

How hard can it be to understand that homosexuality isn't a choice. Anyone who argues differently should be stripped naked and given gay pr0n, then told to get an erection from watching it. Yaaaa... I know right? good luck dude.

 

No, but identifying as LGBT in any way and engaging in behaviors associated with such is. In the past, people didn't say "I am a gay man/woman". It was considered something people did, not what they were, and there really wasn't a consensus whether it was a choice or not (at some points, it was considered an illness, while at others, a choice, like taking drugs).

I think some folks are still stuck in that mindset. If you don't engage in this behavior, then you're "one of us". Like others have said, if only it were that simple!

 

As much as I absolutely agree that sexuality is not a choice, I found the results on a recent poll on the Sexuality thread fascinating.

The thread asked whether you would become straight if you could choose to do so. Something like 85% (myself included) said NO WAY!! So even if we *don't* choose to be LGBT, it sounds like the vast majority of us would if we could.

This throws the whole choice thing into a different light for me. I mean, the whole reason people want to think homosexuality is a choice is so they can *blame* gays for their gayness...so they can accuse them of moral failing or perversion. The argument that it's not a choice takes that away from them (or makes them fall back to the much weaker position of saying, well, ok, but you still *choose* to have sex with the people you're attracted to). But the results of the poll hands them back their argument: the vast bulk of gay people *would* choose to be gay if they could...so from the bigot's perspective, they *do* have that moral failing or perversion! It only *happens* to be the case that they didn't choose it.

I find this incredibly interesting. I'm glad I don't hear more people talking about this.

 

You no more have a choice in being homosexual, than you do in being heterosexual. It all comes down to your brain chemistry and how you're wired. That why there are inhumane "therapies" for people who think they can fix their orientation.

Science conquers all once again.

 

I think most people who think it's a choice are gay or bisexual themselves. If they're bisexual (they may or may not know it) they kind of have a choice in who they date and it can be difficult for them to understand that not everyone is attracted to more than one gender.

If they're gay (this can apply to bisexuals too) they may feel like they're supposed to like the opposite sex and that's why they also feel like they (and others) have a choice and that they should make the choice that they think is right.

A person who is genuinely straight and knows it, would understand that they can't change their sexuality and that they didn't choose it. They get that and that's why they know that it is not a choice because they're basically in the same boat as us except they're on the other, and more accepted, end of the spectrum.

There shouldn't even be a discussion on whether it's a choice or not because it's a fact that it's not. It's like discussing whether 1+1 really equals 2. The answer is obvious but because people have so much internalized homophobia they feel the need to project that onto other people.

 

Getting out of the closet is a choice.

 

I have to disagree. That is a pretty broad assumption to make about people who think being gay is a choice. Yeah it may be true in some cases but I don't think that is really the case with all homophobic straight people.

 

I agree, but I wasn't referring to all homophobic people.

 

Sexual behaviour is a choice. Sexual orientation is not. A lot of people miss this.

Orientation correlates with a lot of things that are determined before birth. Gay people have different brain structures from straight people, for example. Gay people are also much more likely to be left handed, and about 25% of gay people have hair with an anti-clockwise whorl, compared to about 8% of straight people.

 

well , in this case people who wear two different types of materials at once and people with more then one type of plant in their garden should be rejected too. In my mind religion is a choice and your sexuality isn't. I am pansexual and I never woke up and said, you know what I want to be pansexual. I like everyone and that is cool with me. Many people dislike homosexuality because of their religion and many oppose it because they are different to homosexuals and they are scared and insecure themselves about their own sexuality

 

A preference would imply that there are options: "I like men and women, but prefer men," for example. If you're not attracted at all to one sex/gender, then it's not a preference.

Now, there are a few self-identified gay people who admit to experiencing sporadic or small amounts of attraction outside of their preference, but not enough to justify pursuing sex and relationships with those people.

Even in the ancient world, it was noted that there were men and women who were only attracted to same sex members, when others in society would have relations with both, as it was the norm.

 

Ideally, I don't think it's should matter if it's a choice or not. What bothers me is that somehow, it's better if it's not a choice, and the moral judgements which make it seem like if it's genetic, well, then it's not a person's 'fault'.

Myself, I don't see it as a choice, but as something partially genetic, partially environmental/developmental though in a myriad of very complex ways that we still can't fully explain. Sexual preference is something of a mystery, and I like that it can't be neatly summed up. Sometimes, I like things not to be fully explained.

 

Good point.

---------- Post added 11th Apr 2015 at 07:25 PM ----------

It was probably easier to put a man on the moon. It is definitely a mystery.