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Is Homosexuality A Choice?

Is Homosexuality A Choice?

  • Yes

    Votes: 33 15.9%

  • No

    Votes: 136 65.7%

  • Maybe/Don't Know

    Votes: 38 18.4%
  • Total voters
    207
davidtaylorjr said:
Actually you have proven nothing. I mean really, apparently you think you have in your self-centered reality. But you haven't.
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you are right "i" didnt and didnt claim i did lol there you go making stuff up again, can you ever stop?

YOU proved it, everything you posted proved the fact that homosexuality itslef is factually not a sin

let me know when this fact changes and you are ready to admit you are wrong

or simply supply us all with proof it is a sin, we will be waiting
 
USNavySquid said:
I disagree. We can pay attention to things we aren't attracted to. A boring lecture just before the exam for instance, the naked guy robbing the store (even hetero males can give an accurate description to the police). Bad examples maybe but I'm pressed for time. Attraction is not unchangeable. My standards of attraction change, willfully, depending on the quality of prospective mates in my environment. -Which, incidentally explains (partly, at least) homosexual behavior in prisons and on navy ships.

There is no "force" that controls who/what I pay attention to. In my opinion, my ability to pay attention is only limited as indicated by the total number of who's and what's I can pay attention to at once. What do you say to the notion that.... Sexual orientation can't change and anyone who testifies that it can is a bisexual.... is an example of circular logic?
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That we can pay attention to things we aren't attracted to does not mean we can change are attractions. You are conflating attention and attraction. I am talking about attraction. No force controls who you pay attention to because attention is an action. You choose attention. Attraction is not a choice or an action.
 
Lakryte said:
That we can pay attention to things we aren't attracted to does not mean we can change are attractions. You are conflating attention and attraction. I am talking about attraction. No force controls who you pay attention to because attention is an action. You choose attention. Attraction is not a choice or an action.
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Over the course of a life time, my likes and dislikes can change innumerable times. Every 5 to 10 or 20 years, I may even completely flip-flop about how I feel towards a certain thing (food, music, political issue, member of my family etc) because as life goes on, experiences influence perspectives. "I didn't like my @#$$% coworker until I heard her cursing at the boss, (or saving a kitty from a tree etc.) "I used to despise so-in-so until I realized what a hard life he has had. Now I see him in a completely different light. I'm spending more time with him and finding we have a lot in common."

The above examples exclude sexual and romantic attraction. Do you agree that the above examples happen? If not, why not? If yes, can we take it as a baseline and move onward to the area of sexual/romantic attraction? --Using new examples that involve that kind of attraction?

Do you agree that attraction grows stronger or weaker with increased familiarity/exposure to the person? If yes, then why can't attraction start at zero and grow stronger ( when a person first entertains the thought of taking the other to bed and then chooses to continue to entertain those thoughts?) The opposite example would be that the attraction starts at zero, then for whatever reason (perhaps it is suggested by a bystander, said in jest when drunk or whatever) the thiought of sex is entertained but the person chooses to push it away, thus making the attraction stay at zero.
 
The question I would like to ask is: Does anybody who has a gay brother/sister/parent believe that it is a choice? I have a gay brother and everybody in my family knew he was gay before he was even old enough to date. It was so incredibly obvious that it was not a choice, so at this point I feel much more confused than angry when people claim one can simply "become" straight.

Parents can be very determined to see their children be who they want them to be. A parent can refuse to believe that their gay son/daughter is gay just as they can refuse to believe that they don't want to go to college or don't want to play football and be the starting quarterback. But when you grow up really knowing a gay person and not wanting to control them, you can see that it's just they way they are and nobody did anything wrong that made them the way they are. It's just nature.

On the other hand, I would say that it is possible that some people choose to have intimate relationships with people of the same sex, but that doesn't mean they're gay. I wanted to be gay when I was a teenager because I was so scared of girls, but I assure you that it didn't work. Not even close.
 
Almost all of them were probably born that way. They aren't hurting anybody, so it doesn't matter.
 
Nobody wakes up and decides to be gay.
 
DaveFagan said:
There are no genetic markers for homosexuality. There has been considerable research with monozygotic (identical, same DNA) twin databases, and no correlation exists. Ergo, it may be a subliminal choice depending upon circumstances, or a blatant choice. The matter was considered a psychological abnormality at one time and I still think it is, although it goes against the "urban legend" of coordinated media sympathies. I am not a homophobe and don't care who's gay. I don't want gays " influencing " young minds because they will claim genetic without offering positive proof and will cause confusion in my child's developing thought processes. I'm for gay marriage contractually, just like any other legal contract.
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If it's genetic or acquired is a totally different question than the question if it's a choice or not.
 
German guy said:
If it's genetic or acquired is a totally different question than the question if it's a choice or not.
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How can it be a choice??

When gays go to straight camps to try and be ''cured''
 
Nightrider said:
This isn't about whether one is for or against gay marriage.....

Simply vote and discuss whether you believe that homosexuals have a choice in the matter, or were simply born that way, with no choice whatsoever.

Please be courteous - thanks in advance.
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I think in most cases, it's not a choice.

So far, I see it this way: All of us have both homosexual and heterosexual tendencies to some extent, although in most cases, you have a clear preference for one gender. I don't think that people with a clear preference, no matter if homosexual or heterosexual, can "chose" to be sexually attracted by the other gender. But there are some in the middle who in obvious cases are bisexual, who then can "chose" to ignore one of their tendencies, of course.

I have no idea if it's genetic or acquired, but I don't think that matters. Even if it's acquired, it does not mean you can "chose" to go into the different direction. There are many acquired traits you can't simply "chose" to change.
 
wolfie said:
How can it be a choice??

When gays go to straight camps to try and be ''cured''
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How can crime be a choice when criminals go to prison camps to try to be "cured"? BTW, how can one be bi-sexual if it is not a choice?
 
German guy said:
If it's genetic or acquired is a totally different question than the question if it's a choice or not.
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I disagree. If it's genetic, it is not a matter of choice. As child molesters are frequently people who were molested as children and simultaneously with the programming of their personal computer, the human brain, it appears to mean that any activity, especially a homosexual molestation would have the same cause/effect relationship. That thought has been driven away by the political correctness of stating that homosexuality is not a psychological abnormality. Ergo, you're not supposed to say it or think it. I do both because it seems to me to be one of the answers.
 
ttwtt78640 said:
How can crime be a choice when criminals go to prison camps to try to be "cured"? BTW, how can one be bi-sexual if it is not a choice?
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Listen...I am not gay or bi-sexual..it has never occurred to me to get it on with another female out of choice..simply because I am not attracted to them..
 
DaveFagan said:
I disagree. If it's genetic, it is not a matter of choice. As child molesters are frequently people who were molested as children and simultaneously with the programming of their personal computer, the human brain, it appears to mean that any activity, especially a homosexual molestation would have the same cause/effect relationship. That thought has been driven away by the political correctness of stating that homosexuality is not a psychological abnormality. Ergo, you're not supposed to say it or think it. I do both because it seems to me to be one of the answers.
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What I'm saying is that even if it's not genetic, it does not mean in the slightest that is has necessarily to be a choice.

There are thousands of things about your character and preferences that are not genetic, yet you can't "chose" to change them.

And ... are you seriously saying that homosexuality is always caused by homosexual molestation?
 
German guy said:
I think in most cases, it's not a choice.

So far, I see it this way: All of us have both homosexual and heterosexual tendencies to some extent, although in most cases, you have a clear preference for one gender. I don't think that people with a clear preference, no matter if homosexual or heterosexual, can "chose" to be sexually attracted by the other gender. But there are some in the middle who in obvious cases are bisexual, who then can "chose" to ignore one of their tendencies, of course.

I have no idea if it's genetic or acquired, but I don't think that matters. Even if it's acquired, it does not mean you can "chose" to go into the different direction. There are many acquired traits you can't simply "chose" to change.
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I agree with most of what you say but the clear fact is that there ARE people that choose solely for the sake of companionship. It happens in prison. It happens with women that have given up on relationships with men. People that are naturally heterosexual turn to homosexuality for relatedness and manage the sexual attraction just fine.
 
VanceMack said:
I agree with most of what you say but the clear fact is that there ARE people that choose solely for the sake of companionship. It happens in prison. It happens with women that have given up on relationships with men. People that are naturally heterosexual turn to homosexuality for relatedness and manage the sexual attraction just fine.
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My guess is that these people are people who always had homosexual tendencies to some degree, but had previously chosen to ignore them.
 
German guy said:
My guess is that these people are people who always had homosexual tendencies to some degree, but had previously chosen to ignore them.
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We have a couple that lives two houses down. One is divorced, the other found out one day that her husband was a neonazi supremacist. He wanted to take the kids and she ran like hell. Never divorced him, never remarried, they moved in together out of necessity over 20 years ago and it has become a couples relationship. I know of several other couples in the same situation. But the easier point to make would be with prisoners, and male prisoners especially.

Without regard to right or wrong, the 'choice' component is undeniable.
 
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VanceMack said:
We have a couple that lives two houses down. One is divorced, the other found out one day that her husband was a neonazi supremacist. He wanted to take the kids and she ran like hell. Never divorced him, never remarried, they moved in together out of necessity over 20 years ago and it has become a couples relationship. I know of several other couples in the same situation. But the easier point to make would be with prisoners, and make prisoners especially.

Without regard to right or wrong, the 'choice' component is undeniable.
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Yeah sure, I consider myself strongly straight, but I can "chose" to have a relationship with a male, including sex, but although I might accomodate myself with that situation over time if there are very good reasons to do so, I don't think it would ever be a fulfilled relationship, or that I ever would have a fulfilled sex life.

I guess most homosexuals can do the same with a heterosexual partner, and many have done so an are still doing that, because of social pressure, fear, sense of responsibility towards their children and so on ... but I don't think anybody has the right to tell them they *have* to do that. They have a right on a fulfilled relationship and a fulfilled sex life too.
 
German guy said:
What I'm saying is that even if it's not genetic, it does not mean in the slightest that is has necessarily to be a choice.

There are thousands of things about your character and preferences that are not genetic, yet you can't "chose" to change them.

And ... are you seriously saying that homosexuality is always caused by homosexual molestation?
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You must be reading between the lines. No. I demonstrated an occurrence that is not commonly recognized as one cause. Are there others. Of course, it is not considered politically correct to discuss these issues because they move homosexuality back into the realm of Abnormal Psychology.
 
German guy said:
Yeah sure, I consider myself strongly straight, but I can "chose" to have a relationship with a male, including sex, but although I might accomodate myself with that situation over time if there are very good reasons to do so, I don't think it would ever be a fulfilled relationship, or that I ever would have a fulfilled sex life.

I guess most homosexuals can do the same with a heterosexual partner, and many have done so an are still doing that, because of social pressure, fear, sense of responsibility towards their children and so on ... but I don't think anybody has the right to tell them they *have* to do that. They have a right on a fulfilled relationship and a fulfilled sex life too.
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Absolutely agree.
 
DaveFagan said:
You must be reading between the lines. No. I demonstrated an occurrence that is not commonly recognized as one cause. Are there others. Of course, it is not considered politically correct to discuss these issues because they move homosexuality back into the realm of Abnormal Psychology.
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I see no problem with debating these causes and doing research about them ... as long as the findings are not used as excuses by the opponents of gay rights to deny homosexuals their freedom and civil rights.
 
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