Do you know ANYONE who has actually gone from gay to straight post-puberty?

[THE_NAMSU]

OT: Your sexuality is set even before birth. You can't change that and hell, why would you want to? Do whatever makes you happy and fuck everyone else.

I think you're putting way too much emphasis on genetics in this, sexual and emotional behaviors are heavily influenced by social environment, education, hormonal balance, etc. the person's gnome is hardly the defining trait in determining sexuality.

First time I have heard sense said on the topic of homosexuality (sorry others, i didn't read too much of this thread).

 

[Switchblade1080]

Just one...

a cousin of mine...

 

[Lieju]

Well, the teen years are confusing time anyway. Personally I at the time thought I was bisexual, until realising that what I felt for those certain men was attachment and non-sexual attraction, and that I'm very much lesbian.

I think it's possible such would happen. Maybe there's one certain person they are in love with, and after their teen-years never again go for that type.

The thing is, many people are afraid that if they admit there's a possibility a person's sexuality can change, it will be used as justification for denying equal rights for gays, which tends to happen.

Which is besides the matter, even if a person could just choose whether they want to be gay or straight or attracted to whatever kind of a person, or if you could change a person's sexuality by pressing a button, makes no difference in whether the people who are attracted to the same sex deserve to have rights or not.

 

[Legit101]

......................

 

[Ranorak]

Well, I know one gay guy who turned straight.

...for about 10 days and really noticed that straight wasn't his cup of tea.

 

[platinawolf]

Well, its a very tough question... There are those who claim they can "cure" homosexuality. If there's any proof whatsoever behind their methods then its possible. More likely, its like pedophilia. You cant cure it, but you can suppress it. Going from straight to gay after puberty is very possible due to people suppressing themselves. I suppose the opposite could in theory happen.

 

[Boris Goodenough]

Not personally but Matt Avery went from being heavely sexually active with men to marrying a woman later on (and his sexual fantasies about men also dissapeared).

Source: Scientific American Mind Vol 20(3), 2009, pp 62-69

So it happens, just rarely.

 

[Hoplon]

I say it's completely psychological. Growing up in a homosexual family with homosexual friends you would probably be homosexual yourself I believe. Same goes for straight but with more emphasis considering straight seems to be more accepted in our current society.

You are impressively nuts.

Given that most gay people have to by definition have straight parents (the whole having sex thing being massively more prevalent than artificial insemination)

 

[funguy2121]

The issue here is not biological, for the most part, it is psychological.

And I know of a man who spent his early teens and adulthood as a gay man and shortly before 30 declared himself straight. He is currently married and has 2 children.

No, he didn't turn to religion or anything. He simply decided he would be happier a straight person, and stopped seeing men.

Did he really stop? Only he would know. But he's been steady with women for some time now. No angst, no internal dilemma. Simply his personal decision of changing his sexual outlook.

Do whatever makes you happy and fuck everyone else.

Are you saying we should all be bisexual?

*trollface.jpg*

He gave that to you. He said, here, have at it.

Are you trying to take away my satisfaction from the joke?

You HAD a sense of humor. Somewhere in there you lost it

Yeah, having it sound like somebody just had a go at my joke for being too obvious and thus not funny tends to do that. Please think about what you say before you post.

I obviously did. If you're really sensitive about your jokes than you're never going to make it. And if you think the fact that he just gave you that wide open window doesn't make it funnier at this point then I really do have to question your sense of humor. Your avatar is a cartoon pony. Embrace the ridiculousness, my friend.

Your point of view: I was in a thread and saw this guy make a call I quite liked, so I posted a positive response. Then the guy responded to me with a douchey question that implied that I was trying to take away the fact that I just posted a positive response. Why the hell would he do that? I responded by not answering his question, (why should I if I get spoken to like that?), and said he lost his sense of humor. This guy's obviously sensitive about his jokes and his assumption on my earlier post was completely wrong. I then proceeded to question his sense of humor because even though I told the guy that he had a wide open window to tell the joke, it doesn't take away anything from the joke.

My point of view: I posted a comedic response in a thread, later this guy responded with something that said that it was an easy call and implied it in my mind that it was thus not funny. I'm not going to beat around the bush, I'll ask him what he meant, and did so, not with anger or hurt, but pure curiosity. The entire post was just that, a question asking him if he was trying to take away from the satisfaction of the joke, it's not like he'd be offended, he's a big boy and I'm sure he has the capacity to answer my question like an adult without assuming that I was implying anything. Nope, instead he insults me, tells me I lost my sense of humor. He then proceeds to judge me, saying I'm never going to 'make it', (does he think I'm trying to be a stand up comedian?), if I don't change, when all I did was ask a question and get insulted for it. I think I have to question this guy's sense of judgement. (Personally I just don't see how being told that somebody made a joke easy for you is a compliment)


Ok, here's something important: MY QUESTION WAS NOT IMPLYING ANYTHING. I know that in this site where you're not allowed to just say 'fuck you' to somebody, the subtleties in words and what can seem to be implied by questions can offend people, and it's a shame that you took my question and assumed those awful things of me. It's probably not nice to compliment somebody and then be asked if they were trying to take away from the satisfaction of the joke, but next time, I think it would be really good if you don't assume the worst in people just for asking a question. The fact that you didn't answer my question and instead told me I lost my sense of humor; you were mad, and I would have been too if I was in your position because you didn't deserve to be questioned in such a way for a compliment, but it's not the right way to go. I think we should end this by both apologizing, I'll apologize for not asking my question in a more sensitive way, (there was probably a way I could have done that), and for responding to your next post with asking you to think about what you should say before you post, knowing fully well that I posted that to offend rather than help you. Do I expect you to apologize? I honestly don't know, but I hope so.

Dude, I was enjoying the joke with you. You take yourself far to seriously. And guess what? None of this is funny. None of this is funny and at this point you're just baiting me, so I'm not going to reply to the verbose, pontificating content of your post. You can assume I'm the devil all you want, you won't get an apology from me for enjoying both your joke and the obviousness of it. Or you can, y'know, be an adult and get over it. How can you possibly take offense to this? You can't. That isn't rational. Can we close the curtains on this little show and get back to acting like functional adults?

 

[Jezzascmezza]

I don't know anyone like that personally, but I'm sure it's not a COMPLETE impossibility.

 

[Azuaron]

Further, your implication that "psychological things" are something that you can just "motivate yourself" out of is insulting to everyone

Those are psychiatric disorders, not psychological ones. I am very much aware of them, hell I suffer from one myself so I'm fairly sure I know how debilitating those illnesses can be.

That sound you hear is me banging my head against the wall.

Psychology is the study of the human mind and behavior.

There are many branches, including abnormal psychology, which is the study of persons whose psychological characteristics deviate from the norm. A more precise term for the disorders themselves is psychopathology.

Psychiatry, on the other hand, is the branch of medicine that diagnoses and treats conditions of psychopathology. All psychiatrists are both M.D.'s, usually with a focus on neurology and pharmacology, and psychologists, usually with a focus on neurology (again), abnormal psychology, and counseling.

You can even look of the constructions of the words to see how this works out:

psyche: having to do with the mind

-ology: branch of study

Psychology: study of the mind.

-pathology: deviation from a healthy condition

Psychopathology: A mental deviation from a healthy condition.

-iatry: field of specialized medical practice.

Psychiatry: Medical practice regarding the mind.

(Don't argue with a psychologist about what psychology is or isn't.)

I'm done listening to anything you have to say; it's clear you're just saying things you don't understand.

 

[vesago]

not without using illigal and immoral "recondishioning"

 

[j0frenzy]

I don't know if someone brought this up earlier (I didn't read past the first page because it didn't seem to stay on topic) but David Bowie claimed he was bisexual only to later call it a big mistake. Closest I've heard of anything like that happening.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/David_bowie#Sexual_orientation
The more you know.

 

[Ruwrak]

OT: Your sexuality is set even before birth. You can't change that and hell, why would you want to? Do whatever makes you happy and fuck everyone else.

Yes it is, especially when it comes to sexual attraction and to an extent even emotional attraction since emotional attraction is just another form of sexual attraction. If you're gay, you will always be gay. There's no going back. Society might pressure homosexuals into a relationship with the opposite gender but you will never be sexually attracted to a person of the opposite sex if you're gay. Education and hormones have no effect on a person's sexuality. If you're born gay, you will always be gay and I cannot stress this enough.

Question. Are you gay?
Not to be hatefull or anything, but are you speaking from experience or are you just putting forward your opinion?

 

[Toenz]

Yeah.


I did.

For a fairly brief time during my teens I was absolutely convinced I was homosexual. Looking back, I'm fairly sure I was kidding myself, and trying desperately to impress a guy I had a crush on. Gradually I decided I was only Bisexual, though I couldn't really say where this began or why.
Perhaps we can only fool ourselves for so long?

As to my current sexual disposition I would like to draw a comparison to Erika Moen of Dar Comic and Bucko. She disagrees with people labelling her a Bisexual because when that tag is used it always implies an even 50/50 share in interest between both sexes. Even though for her it is more of a 1/99 split between men and women respectively.

It's pretty much the same for me. I haven't felt any emotional or sexual attraction towards another male for a while now, and could safely say that right now at this very moment (approaching the end of my teen years VERY rapidly) I am straight.

However I don't rule out the possibility that I could again encounter another male to whom I am attracted.

I guess what I'm trying to say is that it's all rather complicated, and I can't easily explain any of it.


Helpful?

 

[Handbag1992]

I say it's completely psychological. Growing up in a homosexual family with homosexual friends you would probably be homosexual yourself I believe. Same goes for straight but with more emphasis considering straight seems to be more accepted in our current society.

You are impressively nuts.

Given that most gay people have to by definition have straight parents (the whole having sex thing being massively more prevalent than artificial insemination)

I concur, he's nuts. I've known I was gay for about 5 years now and I had never met any gay person prior to that.

 

[LordFisheh]

I'd like all the people insisting that homosexuality is 100% genetically determined to explain why in ancient Greece it was not only normal but the 'ideal' form of love. Either there's been a massive evolutionary leap between then and now for no real reason or the majority of us are repressed bisexuals. While genetics are a major factor, social influences are just as important. true, those influence can influence people to 'be something they're not', but frankly, who are we to say what people 'are' and why they're 'not'? If a person says they're homosexual, they are, whether they were genetically predetermined or are just trying to rebel.

 

[The Lesbian Flower]

I don't believe sexuality is a choice, but nor do I believe that it can never ever be changed. Sexuality is a fluid thing (pun not intended) and can change based on certain experiences or realizations within the self. People who say that sexuality can never ever be changed are as closed-minded as the people who say that sexuality is always a choice. Usually, it seems as if it is not a choice but sexuality can change.

OT: I've never known anyone to go from gay to straight (or vice versa) after puberty. I myself knew my sexual preference since I was very young.