Is beg 'gay' a choice? Science says y (but not the way you're thkg) | btrmt.

Contents:

• BEG GAY NOT A CHOICE: SCIENCE CONTRADICTS BEN CARSON
• BEG GAY IS NOT A CHOICE QUOT & SAYGS
• WHY ARE PEOPLE GAY? GAY BY CHOICE OR IS BEG GAY GEIC?
• BEG GAY IS NOT A CHOICE ITS A PRIVILEGE! QUOT & SAYGS
• 10 ANTI-GAY MYTHS DEBUNKED
• IS BEG 'GAY' A CHOICE? SCIENCE SAYS Y (BUT NOT THE WAY YOU'RE THKG)
• THERE IS NO ‘GAY GENE.’ THERE IS NO ‘STRAIGHT GENE.’ SEXUALY IS JT PLEX, STUDY NFIRMS
• BEG GAY IS NOT A CHOICE
• 35 QUOT ABOUT GAY PRI, PRO LGBT, HOMOPHOBIA AND MARRIAGE

BEG GAY NOT A CHOICE: SCIENCE CONTRADICTS BEN CARSON

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? 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.

BEG GAY IS NOT A CHOICE QUOT & SAYGS

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. 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.

"K therefore pass on more of the gen which they would share wh their homosexual relativ, " said evolutnary psychologist Pl Vasey of the Universy of Lethbridge Canada, a past Live Science article. Gay nversn therapy is effective, several studi have found, and the Amerin Psychologil Associatn now says such treatment is harmful and n worsen feelgs of men, studi suggt that orientatn is fixed by the time the dividual reach puberty. However, even women who swch om gay to straight liftyl don't stop beg attracted to women, acrdg to a 2012 study the journal Archiv of Sexual rults suggt that while people n change their behavr, they aren't really changg their basic sexual Tia Ghose on Twter and Google+.

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

New Amerin Psychologil Associatn (APA) rearch regardg LGB and mental health suggts gays have a higher rate of some mental disorrs pared to their heterosexual (straight) unterparts.

BEG GAY IS NOT A CHOICE ITS A PRIVILEGE! QUOT & SAYGS

Today, the prospect of therapy to ‘overe homosexualy’ is nsired antiquated, effective and harmful as such attempts are not succsful and serve to rerce damnatn of LGB, particularly if therapy is attempted by non-mental health profsnals but those wh relig fervor. It very much appears that same-sex sexual attractn is not a choice but actg on is; so if you fe gay as the mere prence of same-sex attractn, then om everythg we unrstand, beg gay is not a choice.

10 ANTI-GAY MYTHS DEBUNKED

Public opn studi over the 1970s, 1980s, and 1990s routely showed that, among large segments of the public, lbian, gay, and bisexual people were the target of strongly held negative attus. The associatn of HIV/AIDS wh gay and bisexual men and the accurate belief that some people held that all gay and bisexual men were fected served to further stigmatize lbian, gay, and bisexual people. Dpe the persistence of stereotyp that portray lbian, gay, and bisexual people as disturbed, several s of rearch and clil experience have led all mastream medil and mental health anizatns this untry to nclu that the orientatns reprent normal forms of human experience.

Helpful rpons of a therapist treatg an dividual who is troubled about her or his same sex attractns clu helpg that person actively pe wh social prejudic agast homosexualy, succsfully rolve issu associated wh and rultg om ternal nflicts, and actively lead a happy and satisfyg life. The phrase “g out” is ed to refer to several aspects of lbian, gay, and bisexual persons’ experienc: self-awarens of same-sex attractns; the tellg of one or a few people about the attractns; wispread disclosure of same-sex attractns; and intifitn wh the lbian, gay, and bisexual muny.

IS BEG 'GAY' A CHOICE? SCIENCE SAYS Y (BUT NOT THE WAY YOU'RE THKG)

Th, is not surprisg that lbians and gay men who feel they mt nceal their sexual orientatn report more equent mental health ncerns than do lbians and gay men who are more open; they may even have more physil health problems. Lbian, gay, and bisexual youth who do well spe strs—like all adolcents who do well spe strs—tend to be those who are socially petent, who have good problem-solvg skills, who have a sense of tonomy and purpose, and who look forward to the future. If they are a heterosexual relatnship, their experienc may be que siar to those of people who intify as heterosexual unls they choose to e out as bisexual; that se, they will likely face some of the same prejudice and discrimatn that lbian and gay dividuals enunter.

For example, are the children of lbian or gay parents more vulnerable to mental breakdown, do they have more behavr problems, or are they ls psychologilly healthy than other children? The picture that emerg om this rearch shows that children of gay and lbian parents enjoy a social life that is typil of their age group terms of volvement wh peers, parents, fay members, and iends.

THERE IS NO ‘GAY GENE.’ THERE IS NO ‘STRAIGHT GENE.’ SEXUALY IS JT PLEX, STUDY NFIRMS

In summary, social science has shown that the ncerns often raised about children of lbian and gay parents, ncerns that are generally ground prejudice agast and stereotyp about gay people, are unfound. Lbian, gay, and bisexual people who want to help rce prejudice and discrimatn n be open about their sexual orientatn, even as they take necsary preutns to be as safe as possible. When lbians, gay men, and bisexual people feel ee to make public their sexual orientatn, heterosexuals are given an opportuny to have personal ntact wh openly gay people and to perceive them as dividuals.

Antigay attus are far ls mon among members of the populatn who have a close iend or fay member who is lbian or gay, pecially if the gay person has directly e out to the heterosexual person. Many nservativ had not even been tght or even learned about their bodi, therefore was very difficult for ksey to get an accurate number surroundg the nature and the extent of the homosexual muny. Explanatns of which group of people were more likely to accept the rmatn of blogil evince of homosexualy entails how important is for rearch to acknowledge the great public tert, and civil rights.

The studi shows how you n show that they do what they n to clu every aspect of sexual thors also take on the popular bate over whether sexual orientatn is a choice, a qutn they say is thor stated that “People have often thought unclearly about sexual orientatn and the polil nsequenc of rearch, ” rultg “The qutn of whether sexual orientatn is ‘chosen’ has divid pro-and anti-gay forc for qutn of atn is mostly irrelevant to the culture wars.

BEG GAY IS NOT A CHOICE

Ever sce born-aga sger and orange juice pchwoman Ana Bryant helped kick off the ntemporary anti-gay movement some 40 years ago, hard-le elements of the relig right have been searchg for ways to monize gay people — or, at a mimum, to fd arguments that will prevent their normalizatn society.

But addn to hawkg that myth, the legns of anti-gay activists who followed have add a panoply of others, rangg om the extremely doubtful claim that sexual orientatn is a choice, to unalloyed li like the claims that gay men molt children far more than heterosexuals or that hate crime laws will lead to the legalizatn of btialy and necrophilia. The fairy tal are important to the anti-gay right bee they form the basis of s claim that homosexualy is a social evil that mt be supprsed — an opn rejected by virtually all relevant medil and scientific thori.

Depictg gay men as a threat to children may be the sgle most potent weapon for stokg public fears about homosexualy — and for wng electns and referenda, as Ana Bryant found out durg her succsful 1977 mpaign to overturn a Da County, Fla., ordance barrg discrimatn agast gay people. Others have ced a group lled the Amerin College of Pediatricians (ACPeds) to claim, as Tony Perks of the Fay Rearch Council did November 2010, that "the rearch is overwhelmg that homosexualy pos a [moltatn] danger to children. Gregory Herek, a profsor at the Universy of California, Davis, who is one of the natn's leadg rearchers on prejudice agast sexual mori, reviewed a seri of studi and found no evince that gay men molt children at higher rat than heterosexual men.

35 QUOT ABOUT GAY PRI, PRO LGBT, HOMOPHOBIA AND MARRIAGE

The fixated child molter — the stereotypil pedophile — nnot be nsired homosexual or heterosexual bee "he often fds adults of eher sex repulsive" and often molts children of both sex. The Amerin Amy of Child & Adolcent Psychiatry affirmed 2013 that “[c]urrent rearch shows that children wh gay and lbian parents do not differ om children wh heterosexual parents their emotnal velopment or their relatnships wh peers and adults” and they are “not more likely than children of heterosexual parents to velop emotnal or behavral problems. The Amerin Amy of Pediatrics (AAP) a 2002 policy statement clared: "A growg body of scientific lerature monstrat that children who grow up wh one or two gay and/or lbian parents fare as well emotnal, gnive, social, and sexual functng as do children whose parents are heterosexual.