Questions For Those Who Believe Homosexuality Is A Chosen Behavior

Can you choose to be a "homosexual" or "heterosexual" (not just referring to sex acts)?

 

This is the part I don't understand. Why does it matter? If homosexuality is immoral does the natural propensity make it any more moral? If homosexuality is moral, who cares anyway?

 

If I choose not to engage in sex then i'm neither. It's only when the sexual act is performed when the line is crossed.

 

So the fact that people are generally only attracted to one sex or the other has no bearing?

Meaning that the gender that one is attracted to has no meaning, only the gender one has sex with determines orientation?

 

if I'm attracted to the idea of killing people, but don't; am I a murderer?

at the end of the day, the only difference between a gay and a straight woman is how they engage in sex. They do everything else the same.

 

No, not by definition, you would not be a murderer. Even so, you would be diagnosed (if mentally examined with such a state of mind) as suffering from some neurosis.

A person who is homosexual, isn't a person who is diseased (merely because they are homosexual). If you're thinking about or attracted to killing people... there is a mental illness afoot.

 

The difference between a gay and straight woman is the gender the woman is attracted to as a sexual partner. It is not just who they are having sex with but who they WANT as a sexual partner.

 

What gender they are attracted to frequently changes. Usually to correspond with the gender of the person they happen to be with at the moment.

 

Please, substantiate that. I know it's what you 'believe'... but no one should believe it, just because you SAID it.

(see the above)

 

Can sexual orientation change?
One of the strongest arguments against homosexuality
as an inborn, unalterable condition is change in sexual orientation. In
this chapter we describe how the scientific literature shows that
sexual orientation is not fixed but fluid. People move around on the
homosexual-heterosexual continuum to a surprising degree in both
directions, but a far greater proportion of homosexuals become
heterosexual than heterosexuals become homosexual. Some of the
change is therapeutically assisted, but in most cases it appears to
be circumstantial. Life itself can bring along the factors that make
the difference. This chapter looks at change and its proponents and
opponents.
http://www.mygenes.co.nz/PDFs/Ch12.pdf

 

Typical right-wing not wanting to join the rest of us in the 21st century is why they say it's a choice. They deny evolution, homosexuality, and global warming. They deny pollution kills people. I just can't take them seriously anymore. The anti-science party needs to disavow the anti-intellectualism that is running so rampant in it right now. Then maybe liberals like me will take them more seriously.

 

Amen to that!

 

I don't think Dr NE Whitehead is the most credible source of information of homosexuality. Dr Whitehead is a prominent member of National Association for Research and Therapy of Homosexuality. Both the American Psychological Association and the Royal College of Psychiatrists expressed concerns that the positions espoused by NARTH are not supported by science and all major mental health professional organizations do not sanction efforts to change sexual orientation. NARTH advocates that homosexuality is a disorder. Dr whitehead wrote the NARTH position piece that rejected the APAs characterization of homosexuality as normal.

here is a summary of a presentation by Dora B. Goldstein, professor emeritus of molecular pharmacology at stanford

STANFORD -- Research into the biological basis of sexual orientation "presents a clear double message. Yes, genetics plays a part. No, it is not all genetics," Dora B. Goldstein, professor emeritus of molecular pharmacology, told the audience that attended the first in a series of public lectures sponsored by the Medical Center's Lesbian-Gay-Bisexual Community on March 9.

"This shouldn't be too surprising because that is what all kinds of behavioral studies indicate. Genes determine everything. The environment affects everything. Then there is this big area where the two interact," she added.


The often used statistic that about 10 percent of men are homosexual comes from a study performed by Kinsey. But the subjects were selected in a non-representative fashion, Goldstein said. More recent studies have found that the proportion is between 3 and 5 percent. There is less data on lesbians, but they appear to make up about 1 to 2 percent of the female population. "Of course these are lower bounds, because many people will not admit that they are gay," she pointed out.
Several studies also have shown that homosexuality tends to run in families. The probability that the brother of a gay man is gay is about four times higher than normal. Similarly, the odds that the sister of a lesbian is also a lesbian is significantly higher than normal. However, male homosexuality and lesbianism tend to run in different families: sisters with gay brothers are not more likely than normal to be lesbian. A 1993 study that traced the pedigree of pairs of gay brothers found that homosexuality tends to run on the maternal side of the family tree: the brothers had a higher than average number of maternal nephews and uncles who are gay.
Identical twin studies shed additional light on the genetic underpinnings of sexual preference. If there are differences in preference between identical twins, who share the same genes, then that difference cannot be genetic. Here, the research indicates that in cases where one identical male twin is gay, about half the time the other twin is gay as well. "This is way above 4 percent, so it's got to be genetic, but it is nowhere near 100 percent," Goldstein said. The percentages for lesbian twins are slightly lower, but generally comparable.
DNA studies have identified the general location of at least one "gay gene." The maternal heritability of male homosexuality narrowed the region where such a gene must reside to the X chromosome, because sons get this chromosome from their mother. Analysis of DNA markers on the X chromosomes of sibling pairs has further narrowed the search to a region called XQ28. It consists of hundreds of genes and is located near the tip of the X chromosome. However, there is some indication that genes located elsewhere may have a similar effect on sexual orientation, Goldstein said.
Fetal development studies suggest how such a gene might influence such a complex behavior. The development of a fetus into a male is accomplished by the development of the testes, which produce testosterone, which has a wide range of physiological effects. During the perinatal period, a week before and after birth, testosterone has an irreversible organizing effect on the body and brain of males. If the hormone is absent during this period, the individual's anatomy and behavior never can become wholly male. A testosterone surge during puberty activates male sexual development and behavior.
Differences between gay and straight sexual orientation appear at a very early age. In a study, a group of openly homosexual men were asked when they first became aware of their attraction to men and boys, when they realized that they were gay and when they "came out" to others. The group reported becoming aware of their attraction at a very young age, between 5 years old and puberty. Self-awareness of their sexual orientation took place around puberty, and coming out of the closet took place much later.
The results of this survey are supported by studies of "gender non-conforming children." In little girls, this behavior, acting as tomboys, bears no social stigma. In little boys, cross-dressing, playing with dolls and behaving like girls is socially damaging. A larger than average number of such "sissy boys" become gay adults, she said.

Finally, there is some evidence that the brains of homosexuals may be different from those of heterosexual men and women. The differences have been found in the hypothalamus, which controls eating, drinking, temperature regulation and sexual behavior. Studies done in the Netherlands and in Southern California have found such differences in several areas within the hypothalamus. One region, the midsagittal area of the anterior commissure, is larger in females than in males, but also appears to be larger in homosexual males. Another area, the suprachiasmatic nucleus, which controls circadian rhythm, is larger in heterosexual males and females than it is in homosexuals.

 

Got anything to contradict anything Whitehead wrote? You are only confirming it here

 

Nothing in Dr Goldsteins presentation supports the notion the sexual preference is a choice. Dr. Whitehead has made a career of denying a link between genotype and sexual preference- a position that is incongruent with the current body of scientific literature. Do you believe that there is not a genetic component to sexuality?

 

Neither I nor whitehead have denied a gentic component. You are the one denying ANY element of choice.

 

Skin color is determined by a combination of genetic and environmental factors. Is discrimination based on skin color acceptable?

 

No. Just more stupid questions, or did you have a point?

 

Sexual preference, like skin color, is determined by genetic and environmental factors. Therefore, discrimination based on sexual preference is unacceptable.

 

Dark skin functions just like white skin. Homosexuality does not function like heterosexuality.

 

Dark skin does not function just like white skin.

 

Actually they do. Variations in levels of melatonin give varying protections against the suns rays but otherwise they function identically. Hair color, eye color and skin color are irrelevant as to ones ability to function in society and therefore an unacceptable basis for discrimination in the law. Heterosexual couples procreate, homosexuals do not.

 

Your posts too often reek of idiocy. Here is what "melatonin" is.

 

And heterosexual couples that do not (cannot) procreate are just as capable to function in society. They are identically situated to homosexual couples. One couple type can marry and in some instances the other couple type cannot. There is no logical basis for this discrimination.

 

I think he means melanin.