Why would people 'choose' to be gay? | Science | The Guardian

Contents:

• I LIKE GUYS BUT I DON’T WANT TO BE GAY. HOW DO I STOP BEG GAY?
• BEG GAY NOT A CHOICE: SCIENCE CONTRADICTS BEN CARSON
• I DIDN’T CHOOSE TO BE GAY
• NO, I DIDN'T CHOOSE TO BE GAY
• I DID NOT ‘CHOOSE’ TO BE GAY
• WHY I 'CHOSE' TO BE GAY
• I DIDN’T CHOOSE TO BE GAY
• I DID NOT CHOOSE TO BE GAY
• WHY WOULD PEOPLE 'CHOOSE' TO BE GAY?
• CAN SOMEONE BE HOMOSEXUAL AND NOT GAY?
• WHY ARE PEOPLE GAY? GAY BY CHOICE OR IS BEG GAY GEIC?

I LIKE GUYS BUT I DON’T WANT TO BE GAY. HOW DO I STOP BEG GAY?

It is very homogeneo/ hetero-normative and beg a tholic stutn is not the easit environment for queer stunts. Government should protect gay people om discrimatn bee homosexualy is an unalterable aspect of their inty.

Perhaps sexual preference n be changed – and people have the right to engage gay sex and have homosexual relatnships if they choose to do so.

BEG GAY NOT A CHOICE: SCIENCE CONTRADICTS BEN CARSON

(The fourth optn, that gay people have no choice but to be gay, but should be punished for anyway, is morally unthkable.

A gay man is more likely than a straight man to have a (blogil) gay brother; lbians are more likely than straight women to have gay sisters.

In 1993, a study published the journal Science showed that fai wh two homosexual brothers were very likely to have certa geic markers on a regn of the X chromosome known as Xq28.

I DIDN’T CHOOSE TO BE GAY

This led to media headl about the possibily of the existence of a “gay gene” and discsns about the ethics of abortg a “gay” fet. In some societi, homosexualy is accepted, others, is owned upon but tolerated, yet others, is a ser crimal offense, possibly punishable by ath. What you have learned about homosexualy as you were growg up will affect whether you nsir engagg homosexual acts to be sirable or disgtg.

Some people might argue that if you are “geilly gay” but the thought of homosexualy nseat you, then you jt haven’t accepted the fact that you really are gay. That argument is based on the assumptn that sexual preference is purely blogil; therefore, has no place a discsn about the possible of homosexualy.

In 1991, a study published the journal Science seemed to show that the hypothalam, which ntrols the release of sex hormon om the puary gland, gay men differs om the hypothalam straight men.

NO, I DIDN'T CHOOSE TO BE GAY

The third terstial nucls of the anterr hypothalam (INAH3) was found to be more than twice as large heterosexual men as homosexual men. This study was cricized bee ed bra tissue obtaed at topsi, and all of the homosexual subjects the study were believed to have died of AIDS.

This study, which also ed bra tissue om topsi, did not reveal any signifint difference between the size of the INAH3 gay men and straight men. It did, however, show that gay men, nrons the INAH3 are packed more closely together than straight men. PET and MRI studi performed 2008 have shown that the two halv of the bra are more symmetril homosexual men and heterosexual women than heterosexual men and homosexual women.

I DID NOT ‘CHOOSE’ TO BE GAY

The studi have also revealed that nnectns the amygdalas of gay men remble those of straight women; gay women, nnectns the amygdala remble those of straight men. Some studi have shown that the rp llosum – the ma nnectn between the two halv of the bra- has a different stcture gay men than straight men. Gay women and gay men are more likely to be left-hand or ambixtro than straight women and straight men, acrdg to a number of different studi.

A 1992 study showed that the anterr missure, a smaller nnectn between the bra’s two hemispher, is larger homosexual men than straight men. By manipulatg hormone levels durg this time, scientists n make rats engage homosexual behavr later on.

WHY I 'CHOSE' TO BE GAY

So far, attempts to “cure” homosexualy by operatg on the bra – homosexuals were once given lobotomi - have never worked. Gay men and straight men have the same levels of sex hormon; sex hormone levels are the same gay women and straight women.

Today, however, we know much more about the bra than we did when homosexualy was nsired a disease that required treatment, and the amount of knowledge that we have about the bra is creasg.

Even if gay people n never stop beg attracted to members of the same sex, they n learn not to act on their sir.

I DIDN’T CHOOSE TO BE GAY

If we fe beg gay as engagg homosexual behavr (the ncept of “gay” as an inty is a Wtern cultural ncept – people who have sex wh both men and women may ll themselv gay, straight or bisexual, pendg on the l of their culture or subculture), then people stop beg gay as soon as they stop engagg this behavr. I believe that people have the right to engage any behavr that they choose, as long as their actns do not harm others, and I believe that gay sex and gay relatnships do not e harm to anyone.

I DID NOT CHOOSE TO BE GAY

(Of urse, there are abive and unhealthy gay relatnships that should not be tolerated, jt as there are unhealthy heterosexual relatnships that should not be tolerated. If sexual preference n be altered, then people who support gay rights n’t rely on the argument that gay people should be protected om discrimatn bee gay people have no choice but to be gay – an argument that seems like an apology for homosexualy, as if homosexualy is a disease for which there is no cure. There is an element of homophobia that argument– the implitn that gay people would bee straight, if only they uld.

The “gays n’t help beg that way” approach is remiscent of the old view of homosexualy as a psychiatric illns. Jt as gay people who are happy as they are should not be forced to change their sexual orientatn, gay people who want to be straight should have the right to change if they n – and the rrect word is “change” – not “cure”.

Photo creds: Vanuver Gay Pri Para 2008 by edallaluna on Wikimedia Commons; DNA by ynse on Wikimedia Commons; Bra fMRI by views exprsed are those of the thor(s) and are not necsarily those of Scientific Amerin. Perhaps now is a good time to differentiate between “queerns” and “gayns” and then to also show how they might nverge.

WHY WOULD PEOPLE 'CHOOSE' TO BE GAY?

A mon rea the movement ristant to the ia of choosg to be gay is the qutn: “In a world where there is so much vlence agast gay people, why would anyone choose to be? It rc gayns to a rceral inty, only differentiated om straightns that is opprsed, vlated and attacked, and is based on the ia that everyone vets normativy. Sometim, seems what is meant by “beg gay is not a choice, ” is that the love, joy and bety queerns is nothg to anyone pared to s trmas.

CAN SOMEONE BE HOMOSEXUAL AND NOT GAY?

I say we need to give space for those who have e to their queerns, and their gayns too, var ways, and give space to love queerns enough to adm is worthy of beg sought. Ben Carson, a retired nrosurgeon and printial hopeful, recently apologized for a statement which he said beg gay is "absolutely" a an terview on CNN, the potential 2016 Republin printial ndidate mented that "a lot of people who go to prison, go to prison straight, and when they e out they're gay, so did somethg happen while they were there? "Sce then, he has apologized for the divisivens of his ments, but hasn't backed down om the notn that beg gay is somethg people scientists would disagree.

[5 Myths About Gay People Debunked]Blogil origsHumans aren't the only speci that has same-sex pairgs. And nearly 130 bird speci have been observed engagg sexual activi wh same-sex the evolutnary purpose of this behavr is not clear, the fact that animals routely exhib same-sex behavr beli the notn that gay sex is a morn human studi have found specific "gay gen" that reliably make someone gay. For stance, a 2014 study the journal Psychologil Medice showed that a gene on the X chromosome (one of the sex chromosom) lled Xq28 and a gene on chromosome 8 seem to be found higher prevalence men who are gay.

WHY ARE PEOPLE GAY? GAY BY CHOICE OR IS BEG GAY GEIC?

That study, volvg more than 400 pairs of gay brothers, followed the 1993 report by geicist Dean Hamer suggtg the existence of a "gay gene.

It's also more likely for two intil tws, who share all of their gen, to both be gay than is for two aternal tws, who share jt half of their gen, to both be homosexual. A 2012 study proposed that epigeic chang, or alteratns marks on DNA that turn certa gen on and off, may play a role homosexualy. But this so-lled epigenome n also be passed on om generatn to generatn, which would expla why beg gay seems to n fai, even when a sgle gene n't be such gay gen get passed down om generatn to generatn has puzzled scientists, given that gay upl nnot reproduce.