Sexual Orientation: Nature or Nurture?

[MOB Karen]

Please only answer if you choose to, and respect other's opinions on this subject. Thanks! :D

[MOB Karen]

I believe that a person is born this way, and I don't think that it is a choice. :)

[AllyM1]

I believe people choose this lifestyle. Homesexuality is not a mental disorder like some would like to believe. I chose nurture because I don't think it's nature, but I don't think it's surroundings...

I feel if a child grows up in a father mother home they see that as a way of life. When a child grows up in a father-father or mother-mother they see it as okay. Now there are gay people who have a father-mother home, I don't know what's wrong with them, in those cases I think it is a society thing.

[mariaandmanish]

I think it's nature. There are many people out there who don't wish to be homosexual and just are and have to get used to it and try to accept it. There are many homosexuals who try their hardest to not be homosexuals, therefore I can't believe that it is a conscious choice that they made.

[ladymelissa]

I think it's nature. Mostly for the reasons Maria said.

[CarlosHoney]

I think it's a little of both, but mainly nature. :)

You can't choose who you love, and it's okay. My Mom dates women, and they treat her better than any man.

[70707Bride]

I didn't vote because I think sometimes its a mixture of the two.

[Valmai]

I think its nature - sometimes however the surroundings a person grows up in are they still end up going a different way in order to be happy. x

[LaceyinPgh]

To me it is a nature thing. My uncle is a homosexual man. He has two perfectly straight brothers and one perfectly straight sister (my mother). According to everyone who knows him, he was blatantly gay as a child. He and his partner are raising my uncle's two biological children. The older boy is definately into girls. The younger boy is still in late elementary school so all girls are still yucky to him. In a few years that may change. And, if it doesn't that doesn't mean that we love him any less.

I have a lot of gay friends. They are some of the most funny and charming people. I should have had them dress up in bridesmaid dresses instead of some of the women I asked.

Saying that being homosexual in our society is a choice is really a slap in that face. Look at how some sects of society treat homosexuals. Waking up today and saying, "Gee, it is fabulous day to turn gay just for the hell of it!" Would be like waking up in Moblie, Alabama in the 1950's and saying, "Boy, I'm bored today. I think I'll become black just for the kicks!"

By the way, homosexuality was a totally accepted practice in society until the founders of the early Christian Church decided that homosexuality burderned the church not because of it's morals but because instead of donating time and money to the church men and women were still donating that time and money to the Ancient Roman rites and festivals that dealt with homosexual practices.

[WebLady]

I also think it is a nature thing, you are just born that way. You can try to hide it or deny it but you either are or you are not.

I think there have been some women that will be with women because they have been so put off by men and/or because for some reason the men in their life think it is hot :bbrolleyes: So in these cases it is a choice.

And I know a lesbian couple that have straight children, I don't think you can 'catch' being gay. If you are raised in a loving and supportive home you will grow to be a decent person. I don't believe sexual orientation has anything to do with it.

[AngelinLove]

All I can really say is that I agree with Lacey. I feel that it is nature and that although nurture might have some effect, it is biological/chemical/genetic. I try to keep things civil in these types of conversations and when it gets really heated I really do try to walk away, but I have a few homosexual friends and relatives and it enrages me when people feel that it is a choice AND there being something wrong with people because they are homosexual. The VAST majority of gay people in the world were not raised in gay homes. My cousin is gay. We are the same age and honestly, his whole life we knew that he was gay. He was on the Sally Jesse Raphael show, where he came out to my aunt....and it was like everyone was just like "okay, and the big shocker is?" He was not raised in a homosexual home. I do have a gay uncle, but it is not his father. I honestly just cannot accept that people wake up one day and decide that it is cool to be gay. Now, bisexuals, I feel that alot of them are just curious and choose to swing both ways, but that is a whole new thread.

[AllyM1]

I understand what all you guys have said. I don't have any gay people in my family, and it makes sense. My husband's cousin is gay and everyone saw it except my husband... He dated girls in high school and was engaged to a girl then they broke up and he came out to the whole family.

I don't know if it's society, or what. I have three male friends who are openly gay and I love them as a person. To not like them just because of their lifestyle choices, would not make me a very good person. I don't agree with their lifestyle choice, but I would never hate them as a person. Anyway, who is going to tell me the truth about how I look in my new jeans?

I don't think that they have ever found a "gay" gene so until they do, there's just no way that I can believe people are born that way.

[WebLady]

. .. I don't think that they have ever found a "gay" gene so until they do, there's just no way that I can believe people are born that way.
There is more to our personality and how we behave and interact with each other than just genes ;) Besides that, from what I've heard science still has a long way to go to finish mapping out all human genes and DNA anyway.

[Kacie_bride]

I believe it can be a little of both, but I defiantely believe in nature. I have read studies where they have done autopsies on homosexuals and heterosexuals and compared their brains. There have been differences (I couldn't tell you the exact science of it from memory) found in the brains of homosexuals.

I also have to ask myself why would anyone choose to be gay. Let's face it, gay people don't have the same rights and respects in our society. Right or wrong, that is just the way it is right now. So I don't really think most people would choose to be an outcast in society's eyes. Most people want to be accepted into society.

Now I do think there are some individuals out there who do want the attention and are not really gay, but act like it. I have only personally seen these people in high school. There was these group of girls who said they were lesbians in high school. They were really vocal about it and made sure everyone knew. They all but wore a t-shirt that said "Hey I'm a lesbian!" 6 years later none of them say they are gay and several of them are married to men. In that case I think they wanted the attention. But let me clarify that I do not think that the majority of people who say they are gay are doing it for attention.

I don't think it's a choice any more than it is my choice to be heterosexual. I just am.

[rainbowtreat]

I want to jump in on this one. I have one real close girlfriend who is gay. She actualy put a dress on for my wedding Lacey lol. She looked awsome. She is the bet friend I have. She lives in Australia and there they consider homosexualilty to be a mental disorder. She could legaly call into work and say nope cant come to work today I am still gay.

I beleive that it is nature for all the reasons you girls have already stated. No one realy chooses, most have a hard time with accepting it at all. The ones who have been married and have kids I beleive have always been gay they just chose to try and hide it and thought they could. No one is say it is intheir genes because the genes they have they got from their parents ( as well as resesive genes ) and there are gays who dont have any other relative that is gay. So I would not say it is genes but there is something in them that has made them different. As I said I have a gay friend and being around her does not make me want to be gay. SO I dont beleive it is nurture. If this was the case then more people who have gay freinds and relatives would be gay right? lol Just asking.