Being gay a choice or born with it
Nearly one in three Brits still think organism gay is a option
New YouGov research finds that whilst just under half of Britons consider that people are born gay, 31% believe homosexuality is a choice
Despite the weight of scientific evidence suggesting that homosexuality is not a choice, recent research by YouGov finds that nearly one in three Britons (31%) still believe that being same-sex attracted or lesbian is just the way some people choose to live.
By contrast, just under half of Britons (49%) believe that people are born same-sex attracted or lesbian, whilst a further 3% believe that it is the outcome of a person’s upbringing. The remaining 17% don’t know one way or the other.
The results reach in the same week that Hamisi Kigwangalla, the Tanzanian health minister, defended government threats to publish the names of suspected homosexuals in the East African nation. Homosexual acts are illegal in Tanzania and can be punished by up to 30 years in jail.
A key determinant of attitudes towards homosexuality is often whether or not people think being gay is a choice. Kigwangalla argued on Twitter that homosexuality did not scientifically exist and was a social construct.
The weight of scientific evide
Why would people 'choose' to be gay?
I work in the field of psychiatry. I don’t transport this up when meeting people unless specifically asked, because very often people get a bit nervous if I do. There are doubtless many reasons for this, but one recurring paranoia among many I’ve met (all of whom were men, out of interest) is that I’m going to say them that they’re gay. Because organism gay is worst, apparently.
I’m not sure how these guys think homosexuality works or how you end up existence gay, but one thing I can confirm is that it’s not my decision. I can’t go around dictating people’s sexual orientations because I’ve got some knowledge of mental and neurological processes. That would be classed as a very sinister superpower.
Besides, even if I did reflect they were same-sex attracted, it’s certainly not something I’m going to bring up when first gathering someone, given how it’s a) irrelevant, and b) none of my damn business.
Others don’t sense the same though. Homosexual members of society can unfortunately expect to regularly be challenged, scrutinised and condemned by belligerent type who are seemingly convinced that homosexuality is a “lifestyle choice”.
This issue has arrive up again
“Born That Way” No More: The Novel Science of Sexual Orientation
Late last month, a team of MIT and Harvard scientists published a landmark study of the genetic basis for sexual orientation in the journal Science. The investigation, which was based on an examination of the genetic material of almost half a million individuals, definitively refutes the idea that being gay is an innate condition that is managed or largely compelled by one’s genetic makeup.
The study contained two key findings. First, it initiate that the influence of the genes we inherit from our parents (known as “heritability”) on same-sex orientation was very weak, at only .32 on a scale from 0 (none) to 1 (total) heritability. This means that a person’s developmental environment—which includes diet, family, friends, neighborhood, religion, and a host of other life conditions—is twice as influential on the probability of developing same-sex habit or orientation as a person’s genes are.
Second, rebutting decades of widespread creed, the study established that “there is certainly no free genetic determinant (sometimes referred to as the ‘gay gene’ in the media)” that causes gay sexual behavior. On the contrary
Being Gay: A Existence Style Choice?
The Religious View
The question of what causes some people to be gay has been a topic of endless debate among the general public and the mental health community. Generally speaking, the religious community of every persuasion views homosexuality as an abhorrent sin against God and character. Deeply religious groups among Muslims, Christians, Catholics and Jews reject homosexuality as totally unacceptable in the eyes of God. Therefore, most orthodox religious leaders view it as a life style choice thereby condemning the homosexual to eternal hell.
The American Psychiatric Association
The American Psychiatric Association, the organization that writes and publishes the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual, with the cooperation of professionals from psychology and social work professions, listed homosexuality as a mental disorder until the 1970’s. Based on increasing amounts of research the APA decided to drop homosexuality as a diagnostic category. They found that as extended as gay people adapted well to their sexual orientation and were competent to function in world, there was no reason for them to be placed in the category of having a mental illness
Massive Study Finds No Unattached Genetic Cause of Homosexual Sexual Behavior
Few aspects of human biology are as complex—or politically fraught—as sexual orientation. A clear genetic link would suggest that gay people are “born this way,” as opposed to having made a lifestyle choice. Yet some fear that such a finding could be misused to “cure” homosexuality, and most research teams include shied away from tackling the topic.
Now a recent study claims to dispel the notion that a single gene or handful of genes make a person prone to homosexual behavior. The analysis, which examined the genomes of nearly half a million men and women, start that although genetics are certainly involved in who people choose to hold sex with, there are no specific genetic predictors. Yet some researchers ask whether the analysis, which looked at genes paired with sexual activity rather than attraction, can doodle any real conclusions about sexual orientation.
“The message should remain the same that this is a complex behavior that genetics definitely plays a part in,” said study co-author Fah Sathirapongsasuti, a computational biologist at genetic testin