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

Contents:

• WHY WOULD PEOPLE 'CHOOSE' TO BE GAY?
• WHAT’S WRONG WH CHOOSG TO BE GAY?WHAT’S WRONG WH CHOOSG TO BE GAY?
• WHY I 'CHOSE' TO BE GAY
• AM I GAY?
• THE POWER 'CHOOSG TO BE GAY'
• CAN YOU CHOOSE TO BE GAY?

WHY WOULD PEOPLE 'CHOOSE' TO BE GAY?

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. 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.

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).

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.

WHAT’S WRONG WH CHOOSG TO BE GAY?WHAT’S WRONG WH CHOOSG TO BE GAY?

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”.

This suggts that those who are about to choose their sexual orientatn look at the nsequenc of homosexualy and thk ’s a better optn. 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.

WHY I 'CHOSE' TO BE GAY

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. 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.

AM I 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.

THE POWER 'CHOOSG TO BE GAY'

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.

The third terstial nucls of the anterr hypothalam (INAH3) was found to be more than twice as large heterosexual men as homosexual men.

CAN YOU CHOOSE TO BE GAY?

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.

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. 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. 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.