Apparenlty, you know better about this than the entire gay rights movement. Please, elaborate.velcrokidneyz said:
I'm a fairly conservative guy, but I am still flabergasted by people who think gay is a choice
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what i mean is why do we like anything? or choose to do anything? is it because of social norms? peer pressure? its not like there is a gay gene or soemthing that makes you inherently gay, you are jsut a person that chooses to enjoy the company of the same sex, what is wrong with this?Logic said:
In a perfect world, where all people are equal, no.Tdc2182 said:
We aren't there yet.
As far as I am concerned it remains a relevant issue in the battle for GLBTQ rights. If equality was automatically assumed then it would be nothing more than a curious intellectual/scientific exercise. But bigotry is an engine for granting and supporting inequality and the quickest way to get rights is to take away the assumption that we are all deciding to be "deviants".
It really should not matter what consenting adults do with their sexuality. It should have no influence on rights or liberty. But it does.
Of course there's something that makes you inherently gay. The fact that homosexuality is positively correlated with pointer and ring fingers of equal length and, in men, symmetrical brain hemispheres (where as straight men have slightly larger right hemispheres) shows that there is a high probability that homosexuality is biological.velcrokidneyz said:
If you're straight, then no I guess it doesn't matter. But if you're gay, it matters a great deal. Religious wing nuts like to hold on to their assumptions of it being a choice, because then it justifies their anger and hatred toward homosexuality. If being gay isn't a choice (which...it isn't), that means that either God made a mistake when he created us or the Bible is wrong in saying that being gay is an abomination. Neither one of those options look too pretty for them, so they are going to hold on to that theory of theirs that being gay is a choice.Tdc2182 said:
Won't change the people intent on having homosexuals kept as 2nd class citizens. Prove that all sexuality is biological in basis and they'll just start demanding people who aren't hetero be 'cured'. They did it when the dominant school of thought was that homosexuality was a psychiatric disorder and it was shock therapy for all the people who didn't have tab-a-to-slot-b-only sexuality.Valksy said:
Certainly, indisputable, conclusive, scientific proof that sexuality is biologically determined would make it a bit harder to the bigots to have their merry way... but is giving them a speed hump a victory when they've had you scaling cliffs for centuries?
I understand. And honestly, I would prefer it if I said "I like women" and everyone just shrugged and went on their merry way and no one really cared. But so long as the issue is rights then I would take the shortest route from point A to point B. Changing the minds of bigots is not at the centre of what I have been involved with for years (frankly, I consider them a waste of time) but making sure that there is equality has been.RhombusHatesYou said:
When people say it's a choice they don't mean a guy wakes up one day. Said "today is a great day to go gay," then cruised for dudes.bdcjacko said:
They mean the debate over weather it's genetic or upbringing. Nobody except maybe a crazy few actually thinks people are homosexual because of a conscious choice in the matter.
At the end of the day you have to ask yourself through, what the hell does it really matter? Is people being homosexual somehow hurting you? Even if your religion prohibits you from being homosexual, what does it matter if someone else is?
I think some do it for attention, but a lot of people are legitamitly gay and can't do anything about it, just like I like women and can't do anything about it.
There isn't a choice when it comes to being gay. I mean yeah, you can choose whether or not to act on those urges, but you can't decide that you want them in the first place.
who cares if its a choice or not? people should be able to do whatever the hell they want as long as nobody is hurt in the process.
You'd get a "how's that working for you?" from me. That's my standard reply to people when they start telling me things about themselves I don't need to know.Valksy said:
Unless I was drunk, in which case you'd get an "awesome, me too. okay, you take the gay birds, I take the straight birds and any bi birds we flip a coin" because I'm totally cultured and suave when I'm pissed.
I see where you're coming from but over the years I've met too many gays who have treated the discovery of a biological basis for sexuality to be something of a holy grail that would suddenly get the general public onside and everything would be smooth sailing from there on, so I get a bit preachy about it. Probably also has a bit to do with the sheer number of people I've known over the years who think sexuality is biologically basis but still think homosexuals are wrong, creepy and should be beaten with sticks... It's Australia after all, and while some people might be surprised how much we understand science, we're not a people to let it get in the way of a long held prejudice.
It's not a question of caring but a question about what is truedj Facchiano said:
The value judgement of the answer is irrelevant, if you didn't like the fact that the earth revolves around the Sun then who cares because that's what the earth does reguardless of your opinion of the fact
Not everyone can choose whether or not to act on urges. Ask anyone with an impulse control disorder.CarpathianMuffin said:
Please explain how someone could "choose to be gay". Being homosexual requires a sexual attraction to the same sex. Even if you "chose" to be gay and started having sex with men, you still wouldn't be attracted to them and therefore wouldn't really, by definition, be homosexual.The Cheezy One said:
Besides, sexuality is a very natural thing. For me, even trying to have sex with a girl would be horrendous and I physically don't believe I could do it. Why? I'm not homosexual.
And all that is coming from me, the most religious person I know.
Very true. Still, my point stands that the urges are there essentially from the beginning.RhombusHatesYou said: