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

Contents:

• WHAT DO YOU SAY TO “THAT’S SO GAY” AND OTHER ANTI-LGBTQ COMMENTS?
• WHY WOULD PEOPLE 'CHOOSE' TO BE GAY?
• WHAT DO YOU SAY TO ‘THAT’S SO GAY’ & OTHER ANTI-LGBTQ+ COMMENTS?
• "THAT'S SO GAY" IS JT SO WRONG
• WHY ARE PEOPLE GAY? GAY BY CHOICE OR IS BEG GAY GEIC?
• CAN YOU CHOOSE TO BE GAY?
• WHAT’S SO BAD ABOUT “THAT’S SO GAY”?
• THAT'S SO GAY
• THE 'GAY' WORD: WHAT DO MEAN WHEN YOUNG PEOPLE E NEGATIVELY?
• 5 REASONS IT’S GOOD TO BE GAY AND SGLE

WHAT DO YOU SAY TO “THAT’S SO GAY” AND OTHER ANTI-LGBTQ COMMENTS?

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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.

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

WHY WOULD PEOPLE 'CHOOSE' TO BE GAY?

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.

WHAT DO YOU SAY TO ‘THAT’S SO GAY’ & OTHER ANTI-LGBTQ+ COMMENTS?

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.

"THAT'S SO GAY" IS JT SO WRONG

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.

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

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.

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.

CAN YOU CHOOSE TO BE GAY?

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.

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. 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.

WHAT’S SO BAD ABOUT “THAT’S SO GAY”?

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. (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”.

THAT'S SO GAY

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. There are doubtls many reasons for this, but one recurrg paranoia among many I’ve met (all of whom were men, out of tert) is that I’m gog to tell them that they’re gay. I’m not sure how the guys thk homosexualy works or how you end up beg gay, but one thg I n nfirm is that ’s not my cisn.

Bis, even if I did thk they were gay, ’s certaly not somethg I’m gog to brg up when first meetg someone, given how ’s a) irrelevant, and b) none of my damn don’t feel the same though. Homosexual members of society n unfortunately expect to regularly be challenged, sctised and nmned by belligerent type who are seemgly nvced that homosexualy is a “liftyle choice” issue has e up aga (for what is possibly the 12, 456, 987, 332nd time) for several reasons. There was a recent study that suggts homosexualy is lked to the X chromosome, so is therefore geic, ie herent, not a choice.

Also, UK prime mister David Cameron recently ma ments that suggt he nsirs homosexualy the aforementned “liftyle choice” (although this uld easily have been poorly chosen wordg).

THE 'GAY' WORD: WHAT DO MEAN WHEN YOUNG PEOPLE E NEGATIVELY?

A high-profile homosexual person dog this (or pretty much anythg) is certa to get objectns om those who “don’t approve” around the thgs is evable, and so is the whole “beg gay is a choice” accatn. Most ce relig beliefs, although the notn that relign is flat-out opposed to homosexualy is far om accurate, and gettg more uncerta as time progrs. The mastream media has always been somewhat blunt or ham-fisted s portrayal of even heterosexual relatnships (for evince of this, see pretty much any married uple an advert), so was a long shot that they’d show homosexuals accurately.

Normally heterosexual characters sudnly displayg homosexual leangs when a boost viewg figur are need is a mon trope the days, so you n sort of see how this might make some people thk ’s a “choice”, if they lack more realistic sayg that sexualy is set stone om birth is also not que right, the ma emphasis of those g the choice argument is that homosexuals have weighed up their optns and nscly cid “I am gog to be gay om now on”. Is choosg homosexualy jt another example of a sire to not nform, like shavg your head or wearg outlandish cloth? This suggts that those who are about to choose their sexual orientatn look at the nsequenc of homosexualy and thk ’s a better optn.

5 REASONS IT’S GOOD TO BE GAY AND SGLE

This seems, to put dly,, as many have poted out, if sexual orientatn is a choice, then you should feasibly be able to choose to be straight aga if beg gay isn’t “workg out”.

Comedian Todd Glass mak a brilliant pot his book (which is great, I got for Christmas), which is that if you genuely believe sexualy is a choice, then you’re not actually straight, you jt haven’t met anyone persuasive enough those who argue that homosexualy is a choice variably assert that is a wrong choice.

So people who opt for homosexualy are nscly pursug anythg om timate relatnships to random sexual enunters wh people they are not physilly attracted to. Overall, if homosexualy is chosen, the most logil reason people would make such a choice is that they’re attracted to people of the same genr. It don’t matter if ’s a first grar who might not know what the word “gay” means, a sixth grar tryg to sound ol, or a tenth grar “teasg” a iend.