I'm a fairly conservative guy, but I am still flabergasted by people who think gay is a choice
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Well, to some degree of course, sexuality is choice. It may not be an arbitary choice, that we can pick on the spot, but it seems to consist in a series of habits/decision which culminate in a sexuality.bdcjacko said:
To be honest, the whole homo/hetero sexual thing strikes me as something of a farce. What defines it exactly? The only definitive way of telling if someone is female or male is by their chromosones, is that what attracts us? Femininity and masculinity are traits we can pick up on in individuals, but that hardly denotes their gender, they could be masculine women, or feminine men.
Why somebody decided that we must have homo/hetero sexual classifications is beyond me, just go for who you find attractive, instead of narrowing your search before you've even really started. To me it seems like defining your sexuality based solely on hair colour or something equally ultimately arbitary.
Back to the original topic: I think it is a choice, but in the best possible sense. It is the decision to be consistent in your appreciation of beauty/sexuality, that would have been fostered from a very young age, and been influenced significantly by your genes. But I think it's far from impossible for a gay person to find themselves attracted to the opposite sex, or for a straight person to be attracted to someone of the same sex.
Gotta love how, supposedly, God gave people free will, then restricts it entirely.mazzjammin22 said:
Also, see all Calvinist beliefs for why the Catholic church is silly.
I'm flabbergasted by people who make such a big deal out of whether or not it's a choice. What if it was a choice? Would all you people who are pro-gay marriage and stuff like that just say "oh, well, if they chose that, then the fags definitely don't deserve anything"? What about bisexuals? You could say that they can choose to be in a heterosexual relationship if they wanted to. Do they not deserve the right to marry someone of the same sex if they fall in love then?
Gay people deserve rights not because being gay isn't a choice, but because they're not hurting anyone by being gay.
Gay people deserve rights not because being gay isn't a choice, but because they're not hurting anyone by being gay.
I think its choice. cause I've seen friends (of both genders) who were hurt by the opposite gender so much they found the comfort of the same gender more appealing.
You can go ahead and say its how you're born and true, most homosexuals either grew up around other homosexuals or had something that they found appealing about the life style happen but on that same respect, everyone born has had a homo and hetero sexual thought. Straights of thought about the opposite way at one point in their lives and the same is said for gays.
You can go ahead and say its how you're born and true, most homosexuals either grew up around other homosexuals or had something that they found appealing about the life style happen but on that same respect, everyone born has had a homo and hetero sexual thought. Straights of thought about the opposite way at one point in their lives and the same is said for gays.
he;s not restricting it. God's not stopping you from walking out to the maternity ward tomorrow and plugging ever expecting mother you see with your weapon of choice. He gives you free will to decide whether to do an action (be it right or wrong), and even then its only the big common sense things (stealing, killing, coveting) stuff like that is bad. The rest, you can let it slide.CoverYourHead said:
This is true, it's not been scientifically explained yet, but it's definitely not a conscious choice. My flatmate is gay and says that if he had a choice, he would be straight because of the amount of oppression the gay community is still subject toHosker said:
Yes. It is a choice. But not in the sense that you would choose between chocolate or vanilla. This is a far more difficult choice to change.
As a small disclaimer before I put my opinion down, I'm not comparing homosexuality to depression as if they were both mental illness. Homosexuality is in no way, shape, or form really an illness. Now that that's out of the way.
I would compare Homosexuality to Depression. As someone who has suffered from depression for the last 5 years (severe depression mind you), I know first hand the effects that depression has on an individuals body and mind. However, people have overcome depression out of sheer willpower without ever needing a drug or therapy session. Homosexuality I believe is similar in a sense. I believe someone ultimately could choose whether they wished to be homosexual or not. However, the amount of sheer willpower needed to overcome their own body's lean would be comparable to that of overcoming severe depression.
This is just my opinion on the matter. Do I believe it's a choice? Yes and no, in the sense that it could be changed if the individual wanted to change it enough and had the sheer willpower to overcome their own body and mind. However, this would be the rarest of the rare. Once the body and mind decide upon something it's virtually impossible to just pull a 180. You can't just stop doing what they want you to do.
Again, just to clarify, Homosexuality and depression are two separate topics, one can render people unable to live a normal life, while the other is a sexual preference that should have no hold on a person's ability to live a normal life.
As a small disclaimer before I put my opinion down, I'm not comparing homosexuality to depression as if they were both mental illness. Homosexuality is in no way, shape, or form really an illness. Now that that's out of the way.
I would compare Homosexuality to Depression. As someone who has suffered from depression for the last 5 years (severe depression mind you), I know first hand the effects that depression has on an individuals body and mind. However, people have overcome depression out of sheer willpower without ever needing a drug or therapy session. Homosexuality I believe is similar in a sense. I believe someone ultimately could choose whether they wished to be homosexual or not. However, the amount of sheer willpower needed to overcome their own body's lean would be comparable to that of overcoming severe depression.
This is just my opinion on the matter. Do I believe it's a choice? Yes and no, in the sense that it could be changed if the individual wanted to change it enough and had the sheer willpower to overcome their own body and mind. However, this would be the rarest of the rare. Once the body and mind decide upon something it's virtually impossible to just pull a 180. You can't just stop doing what they want you to do.
Again, just to clarify, Homosexuality and depression are two separate topics, one can render people unable to live a normal life, while the other is a sexual preference that should have no hold on a person's ability to live a normal life.
I don't choose to dislike sweet potatoes, I just naturally don't like them. I never decided that my sweet-detecting taste buds should decide that sweet potatoes are overly sweet, they just are that way naturally. Sure, I could eat them, but I still wouldn't like them, and I would not be a designated "sweet-potato eater" after doing so. This negative relationship is predetermined based on brain structures and chemical reactions, not by any choice, so to speak.
Now just replace the sweet potato terminology with sexual preference terminology.
Now just replace the sweet potato terminology with sexual preference terminology.
Religion is a bit of a wish-washy subject to bring into homosexuality really now, as although a person's beliefs MAY change their ultimate decision it doesn't rule it.
So being gay is a choice for some people, but not a choice for others. You can't change who you're attracted to. In some cases, to become gay, people just take a change in perspective after all.
To go completely transgender though, I think it isn't a choice. To most of them, it's usually "I've never seen myself as a boy/girl"
So being gay is a choice for some people, but not a choice for others. You can't change who you're attracted to. In some cases, to become gay, people just take a change in perspective after all.
To go completely transgender though, I think it isn't a choice. To most of them, it's usually "I've never seen myself as a boy/girl"
Oh believe me, I'm not saying it's the right way to do it, nor am I saying that the individual will rid themselves of their natural preference. More a statement of anything is possible than anything else. I wouldn't want an individual to suppress their natural sexuality simply because someone says they should.Witty Name Here said:
I'll admit I'm very much on the fence about whether or not being gay can be a choice, though I do believe that both are just as baseless as each other, with neither side being backed up by any SIGNIFICANT amount of verifiable, reliable scientific evidence. (One or two studies does not the well constructed argument make.)
I've observed a close friend's sexuality for quite some time, initially the most out there, open, psychologically and physically happy and healthy lesbian I have ever known in my life, slept exclusively with women, had no interest in guys whatsoever and wouldn't have even thought of sleeping with a guy.
Then, after about six years of secure lesbianism, she comes across this guy and is now exclusively with him and has been for the best part of another two years, hasn't even thought about going back to women.
From a technical standpoint, you could argue that she was never really "sure" of her sexuality (though from six years of sexual, mental and physical security I'd say that's a stretch at best), but the way I see it is that she found someone that meant something to her and made an informed choice to alter part of her lifestyle.
Though...Technically a case study, I can't go ahead and apply the findings from one person to every gay/lesbian that has ever been since ever.
I don't believe everything is quite so black and white, but then I believe that there are exceptions to every rule, though I suppose if pressed I'd probably side with sexuality not being a choice by and large.
I've observed a close friend's sexuality for quite some time, initially the most out there, open, psychologically and physically happy and healthy lesbian I have ever known in my life, slept exclusively with women, had no interest in guys whatsoever and wouldn't have even thought of sleeping with a guy.
Then, after about six years of secure lesbianism, she comes across this guy and is now exclusively with him and has been for the best part of another two years, hasn't even thought about going back to women.
From a technical standpoint, you could argue that she was never really "sure" of her sexuality (though from six years of sexual, mental and physical security I'd say that's a stretch at best), but the way I see it is that she found someone that meant something to her and made an informed choice to alter part of her lifestyle.
Though...Technically a case study, I can't go ahead and apply the findings from one person to every gay/lesbian that has ever been since ever.
I don't believe everything is quite so black and white, but then I believe that there are exceptions to every rule, though I suppose if pressed I'd probably side with sexuality not being a choice by and large.
And this experience, and your willingness to even have such a conversation in the first place, is what sets you apart from the majority of the "gay is a choice" crowd.bdcjacko said:
There is no way that being gay is a choice. Because you look at some gay guys and you're just like oh, okay...wow. you obviously had no say in the decision making process whatsoever, did you?