Queer Cafe

If You Could Be Straight, Would You?

Animated Video: Gender and Sexuality

Info: Sexual Orientation Defined

Stop Calling it a Choice: Biological Factors Drive Homosexuality

NURTURE

What is the "nurture" concept? We are all influenced by our environment, but to what extent? The nurture concept of homosexuality argues that social, parental and environmental variables influence a person's homosexuality. A nurtured gay person is one that is made gay.

What if people are made gay? For some time, the notion of an overbearing mother or an absent father or even sexual abuse were thought to be catalyst of future gay people. If the root of homosexuality does not lie within DNA, then the nurture concept implies people have a choice whether to be gay or not be gay. Many ex-gay reparative therapy groups believe that homosexuality can be reversed or repaired. Some religious organizations also believe that the concept of Adam and Eve (or one man, one woman), provides an absolute explanation that homosexuality is unnatural.

Opinion:

"Might any of these factors (in the life of someone male) contribute towards giving him a gay disposition, or at least make him more inclined to seek the love of men? An alcoholic parent, mother or father; A cold parent, mother or father; Having been in a boys boarding school since about 12 or 13 years old."

Resolution:

Can the origin of same gender loving feelings be absolute? Does it lay within the complexities of the beginning of man or the development of society?

If homosexuality is indeed a product of a special genome (or even a flawed one), then will that lead to predetermination by expecting parents at the time the baby's sex is revealed? One could envision some parents being excited to hear the sexual makeup of their fetus while others seek to "repair" the gay gene. Lawmakers would be obligated to protect gay people, just as any other group of individuals with a predetermined genetic makeup. The religious implications would be widespread and increase the growing list of religious organizations that welcome gay members.

Jake Van Gogh: Being Gay is a Choice?
Psychology Video: What Causes Sexual Orientation?

The concept of a homemade gay person cannot be ignored either. Is there a consistent pattern between a person's parental or environmental influences and their sexuality? Does the explanation of homosexuality lie within Paul Ewald's theory that homosexuality is a virus or the reparative therapy model that a traumatic life situation planted the seed of choice? Some debate that homosexuality is not deserving of natural rights since it has not been proven that being gay is indeed the same as any other born characteristic.

Or, is it possible that being gay is a combination of both nature and nurture? Imagine a person that is born gay, but their same gender feelings are either perpetuated or (not perpetuated) by their environment. If this were indeed the case, homosexuality would only be an issue of if or when one comes out of the closet.

In either scenario, researchers will continue to hunt for the origin of homosexuality. Many avenues have been explored, from isolating DNA to observing gay animals, but as of yet, no one absolute explanation of homosexuality has been found. And even if it were, would society accept it?

[Source: Ramon Johnson, Your Guide to Gay Life]

Video: How Did You Know You Were Gay?

About Gay Life: Nature vs Nurture

Stop Calling it a Choice: Biological Factors Drive Homosexuality

Time Magazine Article: Born Gay?
Info: Reparative Therapy

Is Homosexuality Normal?

Homosexual behavior in animals is extremely well documented. While it occurs in virtually every species capable of sexual reproduction, it is most prevalent among the most intelligent and highly-developed mammals such as marine mammals, primates, and of course humans.

Consider the case of the two male penguins, Roy & Silo, a same sex couple who copulated with each other, and then tried to hatch a rock until they were given a real fertile egg by zookeepers. Roy & Silo raised their new baby together, named Tango, who ultimately made the “choice” to become gay, just like her adopted gay parents.

Roy & Silo were together as a couple for 6 years. Silo later had a fling with a female penguin named Scrappy, but it didn’t work out and now Roy & Silo are both single. Silo’s experience is not so unlike Elton John’s brief marriage to Renate Blauel. Sometimes it just takes a while to find out who we really are.

The list of animals exhibiting homosexual behavior includes animals (birds, mammals, insects, fish), for which there is documented evidence of homosexual or transgender behavior of one or more of the following kinds: sex, courtship, affection, pair bonding, or parenting, as noted in researcher and author Bruce Bagemihl's 1999 book Biological Exuberance: Animal Homosexuality and Natural Diversity.

Bagemihl devotes three chapters (Two Hundred Years at Looking at Homosexual Wildlife, Explaining Away Animal Homosexuality, and Not For Breeding Only) in his 1999 book Biological Exuberance to the "documentation of systematic prejudices" where he notes "the present ignorance of biology lies precisely in its single-minded attempt to find reproductive (or other) "explanations" for homosexuality, transgender, and non-procreative and alternative heterosexualities.

Petter Bockman, academic adviser for the Against Nature exhibit states: "Many researchers have described homosexuality as something altogether different from sex. They must realize that animals can have sex with who they will, when they will, and without consideration to a researcher's ethical principles." Homosexual behavior is widespread among social birds and mammals, particularly the sea mammals and the primates. Bockman says, "No species has been found in which homosexual behavior has not been shown to exist, with the exception of species that never have sex at all, such as sea urchins and aphids. Moreover, a part of the animal kingdom is hermaphroditic, truly bisexual. For them, homosexuality is not an issue."

LGBTQ Video: Understanding Sexual Orientation and Gender Identity

Info: Sexual Orientation Defined

Video: Is Homosexuality Nature or Nurture?

Live Science: Five Myths About Gay People Debunked

Gallup Poll: Americans' Views Split on Origins of Homosexuality

Born This Way

For decades, “born this way” has been the rallying cry of the mainstream gay rights movement, a simple slogan cited as the basis for both political change and cultural acceptance. Gay rights advocates used it to make the case for legal equality. Allies declared it when standing in solidarity. Lady Gaga in 2011 released her triumphant gay anthem "Born This Way" and that same year co-founded the Born This Way Foundation.

Getting America to believe that people are born gay (that it’s not something that can be chosen or ever changed) has been central to the fight for gay rights. If someone can’t help being gay any more than they can help the color of their skin, the logic goes, denying them rights is wrong. But many members of the LGBTQ community reject this narrative, saying it only benefits people who feel their sexuality and gender are fixed rather than fluid, and questioning why the dignity of gay people should rest on the notion that they were gay from their very first breath.

Jake Van Gogh: Being Gay is a Choice?
Psychology Video: What Causes Sexual Orientation?

USA Today: Born This Way?

The story we've long been told is that a combination of genes (such as xx or xy chromosomes) and early exposure to sex hormones (such as testosterone or estrogen) make us who we are. They influence the formation of “male brains” and “female brains,” and that same process, it’s been said, also shapes “gay brains” and “straight brains.” We’ve accepted that biological factors drive our sexual desires, our personalities, what toys we play with as children, what jobs we choose when we become adults. Differences in our brains have been used to explain why there are fewer women in STEM and why young male traders on Wall Street brought the economy to the brink of collapse. Gay and straight. Male and female. We’re just wired differently.

How do the bodies we're born with shape sexual orientation and other parts of who we are? Scientists are still trying to answer that. Human sexuality is incredibly complicated, and there are limitations to what science can tell us.

Lady Gaga: Born This Way

Born Gay: Pro and Con

Time Mag: Ben Carson Wrong About Homosexuality

Science of Sexuality: Born This Way

Stop Calling it a Choice: Biological Factors Drive Homosexuality

New Scientist: The Gay Gene

Valentino: I Was Born This Way

“The science of whether sexual orientation is biological is pretty sparse and full of disparate, mixed and unreplicated findings,” said Sari van Anders, a professor of psychology and women's studies at the University of Michigan who studies how social behavior affects testosterone in men and women. “So that is one reason why there is a lot of confusion about it. Because a study will come out that says ‘This gene!’ And then another study will say ‘Oh, we didn’t find that same gene, but we found this gene.’”

An important reason why the science on sexual orientation is limited, van Anders says, is that the ways in which scientists define sexual orientation for the purposes of their studies (who counts as gay, who counts as lesbian, who counts as bisexual) assumes we can draw bright lines, when we can't. Are you gay if you have same-sex desire, but never act on it? What if you’re a man who has had sex with other men, but you're married to a woman and don’t identify as gay?

“There’s sort of this idea that if someone’s gay they’re gay in the exact same way. Everything is the same, so it would be the same biological origin, which denies the reality that people experience sexualities and live their sexualities very diversely," van Anders said. "Stripping that diversity away for the sake of scientific simplification ends up providing what you might arguably call impoverished science. A science that doesn’t take into account sexual diversity probably isn’t going to give us very satisfying answers, even if they’re simple ones.”

BBC Report: Evolutionary Puzzle of Homosexuality

Pew Research Center: Why Are People Gay?

LGBTQ Video: How You See Me

Sexual Orientation Video: Is It a Choice?

The American Psychological Association stated, in its article titled Sexual Orientation & Homosexuality:

"There is no consensus among scientists about the exact reasons that an individual develops a heterosexual, bisexual, gay or lesbian orientation. Although much research has examined the possible genetic, hormonal, developmental, social and cultural influences on sexual orientation, no findings have emerged that permit scientists to conclude that sexual orientation is determined by any particular factor or factors. Many think that nature and nurture both play complex roles. Most people experience little or no sense of choice about their sexual orientation."

In July 2017, James Martin, Jesuit Priest and the Consultor for the Vatican's Secretariat for Communication, was asked "Are you suggesting that God made LGBTQ people the way they are?" He stated: "Yes. Science and psychology shows that, and most people are finally coming to see that this (for mysterious reasons) is the way they are made. That's something that's held by almost every reputable psychologist and biologist. And the LGBTQ people I speak to have always felt that way. Part of it is accepting oneself and accepting this is the way God made you."

Gallup Poll: Americans' Views Split on Origins of Homosexuality

Video: How Common Are Gay Animals?

Bishop Claims Anal Sex Makes Baby Gay

Why People Are Gay: Crazy Theories From "Experts"

USA Today: Born This Way?

Come on Down to the Farm

The American Psychiatric Association (APA), in March 2016, stated:

"The latest and best scientific evidence shows that sexual orientation and expressions of gender identity occur naturally, and pose no threat to societies in which they are accepted as normal variants of human sexuality... There is strong evidence that genes play a role in the determination of sexuality... There is other evidence that, during fetal development, exposure to certain hormones also plays a role... In addition, genetic and hormonal factors generally interact with environmental factors that have yet to be determined, though neither faulty parenting nor exposure to gay individuals causes homosexuality. The preponderance of opinion within the scientific community is that there is a strong biological component to sexual orientation and that genetic, hormonal and environmental factors interact to influence a person's orientation. There is no scientific evidence that either homosexuality or heterosexuality is a freewill choice."

Noah Michelson, Executive Editor of the Gay Voices blog at the Huffington Post, stated, in an article, in January 2014:

"What we do with our attractions and how we perform them is a choice. I chose to come out of the closet. I choose to have sex with men. I choose to rarely go to gay bars. And so on and so forth. But I didn't choose to be gay. In fact, I tried my damnedest to not be gay. There is really no way for me to explain how badly it sucked to grow up queer in small-town Wisconsin in the '80s. If I could have chosen to be straight, I would have. And I did try. I spent my study hall periods in ninth grade writing letters to God asking him to make me straight. I spent my nights lying awake, trying with every ounce of my being to convince Jesus to materialize at the foot of my twin bed and take my sick queer desires into his sacred pink heart, where they'd be vanquished and I could finally date a cheerleader and be just like every other guy in my school. When, after I'd been trying for months, it didn't happen, I spent the rest of my freshmen year considering the different ways I could kill myself. Though I agree that it should not matter how we are oriented, whether from birth or from choice, and that our access to equal rights and our freedom from punishment should not be contingent on us being born this way, I do believe we are innately oriented."

Born Gay: Pro and Con

Time Mag: Ben Carson Wrong About Homosexuality

Science of Sexuality: Born This Way

New Scientist: The Gay Gene

Lady Gaga: Baby, I Was Born This Way

Is Being Gay a Choice?

Do we choose to be gay? Or are we born that way? That seems to be the debate. And there may be any number of perspectives that may try to offer a reasonable explanation about which notion might be correct.

Let's consider this perspective. Imagine that being gay is a choice. And then imagine that I am a rational person who is aware of the consequences of my choices. Why would I choose to be gay?

--To risk losing family

--To risk losing friends and colleagues

--To be verbally or physically abused by haters

--To be condemned to an eternity in hell by religious people

--To be a target for bullies to make fun of and ridicule

--To risk my chances of being employed

--To hide who I really am

Considering the consequences of such a decision, it is hard to imagine that being gay is a conscious choice. I would have to conclude that people are born gay.

Jake Van Gogh: Being Gay is a Choice?
Psychology Video: What Causes Sexual Orientation?

The Kinsey Report

Alfred Kinsey (1894-1956), the creator of the Kinsey scale, is known as "the father of the sexual revolution." The Kinsey scale was created in order to demonstrate that sexuality does not fit into two strict categories: homosexual and heterosexual. Instead, Kinsey believed that sexuality is fluid and subject to change over time.

Rather than using sociocultural labels, Kinsey primarily used assessments of behavior in order to rate individuals on the scale. Kinsey's first rating scale had thirty categories that represented thirty different case studies, but his final scale has only seven categories. Over 8,000 interviews were conducted throughout his research.

About Gay Life: Nature vs Nurture
Sexual Orientation Video: Is It a Choice?

Time Magazine Article: Born Gay?
What is Morally Wrong With Homosexuality?

Introducing the scale, Kinsey wrote: Males do not represent two discrete populations, heterosexual and homosexual. The world is not to be divided into sheep and goats. It is a fundamental of taxonomy that nature rarely deals with discrete categories... The living world is a continuum in each and every one of its aspects. While emphasizing the continuity of the gradations between exclusively heterosexual and exclusively homosexual histories, it has seemed desirable to develop some sort of classification which could be based on the relative amounts of heterosexual and homosexual experience or response in each history. An individual may be assigned a position on this scale, for each period in his life. A seven-point scale comes nearer to showing the many gradations that actually exist.

Kinsey's two landmark publications... Sexual Behavior in the Human Male (1948) and Sexual Behavior in the Human Female (1953)... reported that:

37% of males and 13% of females had at least some overt homosexual experience to orgasm;
10% of males were more or less exclusively homosexual and 8% of males were exclusively homosexual for at least three years between the ages of 16 and 55. For females, Kinsey reported a range of 2-6% for more or less exclusively homosexual experience/response.
4% of males and 1-3% of females had been exclusively homosexual after the onset of adolescence up to the time of the interview.

Kinsey devised a classification scheme to measure sexual orientation. It is commonly known as the Kinsey Scale. The Kinsey scale, also called the Heterosexual–Homosexual Rating Scale, is used in research to describe a person's sexual orientation based on one's experience or response at a given time. People at “0” report exclusively heterosexual/opposite sex behavior or attraction. Those at “6” report exclusively homosexual/ same-sex behavior or attraction. Ratings 1–5 are for those who report varying levels of attraction or sexual activity with either sex.

Kinsey Reports: Overview
Kinsey Institute: Diversity of Sexual Orientation
The Kinsey Scale: Overview
Kinsey Institute: The Kinsey Scale
Kinsey Scale Definition
Healthline: Discussion of the Kinsey Scale
Alfred Kinsey: Sexologist And Father Of The Sexual Revolution
Alfred Kinsey: Biographical Notes

Baby, I Was Born This Way

My mama told me when I was young, we are all born superstars.
There's nothing wrong with loving who you are, because God made you perfect, babe.
So hold your head up girl and you'll go far and listen to me when I say.
I'm beautiful in my way, because God makes no mistakes.
I'm on the right track, baby I was born this way.
Don't hide yourself in regret, just love yourself and you're set
I'm on the right track, baby, I was born this way.

[Source: Lady Gaga]

About Gay Life: Nature vs Nurture
Sexual Orientation Video: Is It a Choice?

Time Magazine Article: Born Gay?
What is Morally Wrong With Homosexuality?

What Makes Someone Gay?

For some it can be a soul-wrenching question. For scientists, it's a chance to understand biology at its most basic level, and perhaps answer an even more profound question, are people born gay?

Ranchers say they’ve seen it for years, the sheep who just don’t seem interested in females. That’s a problem for ranchers, because that shyness results in fewer lambs, and less profit.

But when they asked animal researchers for help, the answer was a surprise. It turns out that some of the male sheep aren’t shy at all, they’re gay.

"We interpret it as a form of homosexuality," says Dr. Chuck Roselli of the Oregon Health & Science University. Roselli and Fred Stormshak do cutting edge research on what you might call "gay science" for the University of Oregon.

You may wonder how the scientists know that the rams are gay. “They are given a choice between two males and two females. We observe their behaviors, and we score them in terms of whether or not they'll mount other males or mount females," Roselli says.

The tests show that about 8 percent of rams are only attracted to other rams. We asked if that meant that there was a gene for homosexuality. "I don't think there's a gene for homosexuality or heterosexuality, but there are genes for attraction to men or attraction to women," says UCLA geneticist Sven Bocklandt.

Bocklandt says that those attraction genes are usually aimed at he opposite sex, but sometimes get switched to attraction for the same sex. "The basic attraction (when someone walks down the street and you turn your head to him or her and say wow!) That is very primitive and very simple, and that's what we're trying to understand," Bocklandt says.

Animated Video: Gender and Sexuality

LGBTQ Video: How You See Me

Stop Calling it a Choice: Biological Factors Drive Homosexuality

Sexual Orientation Video: Is It a Choice?

USA Today: Born This Way?

UCLA has one of the few labs in the world researching sexual orientation full time. Last month, Bocklandt and Eric Vilain reported that some mothers of gay men show unusual traits in their X-chromosomes, another clue to where those genes may be hiding. "Sexual attraction is a trait that is so important for us. Wars are fought for love and it makes the world run,” Bocklandt says. “All the movies are about it. All the songs are about it. We have no idea how it works."

To help unravel the mystery, scientists are also studying identical twins. We met Brian, who is straight, and his brother Brady, who is gay. "I remember when I was 13 or 14, I went to see that Top Gun movie,” recalls Brady. “I'm supposed to be looking at Kelly McGillis, but, I'm looking at Tom Cruise."

Their mother Donna says that by age three, Brian was very into sports. "I noticed that Brady stayed in the make-believe kitchen and put on the pink high heels," she says. "I felt like he was gay from the moment he was born."

Twins like Brian and Brady show that genes may be only half of the story. That’s because, according to a landmark study, when one twin is gay the other is only gay about half of the time. So if they’re identical, why is their sexual orientation different? Scientists think it has something to do with hormones in the womb. For example, when scientists give the male hormone testosterone to female finches still in the egg, they grow up acting like males.

In the case of identical twins, their bodies are like houses with matching floor plans. Each light represents a different gene, genes that can be switched on or off by hormones. But hormonal conditions in the womb aren't always the same for each twin. Which means some of their 30,000 genes may get turned on or off differently by altering their brains before they're born.

Born Gay: Pro and Con

Time Mag: Ben Carson Wrong About Homosexuality

Science of Sexuality: Born This Way

New Scientist: The Gay Gene

Lady Gaga: Baby, I Was Born This Way

"There is no genetic, no convincing genetic component, to homosexuality," says Dr. Benjamin Kaufman, co-founder of the National Association for Research and Therapy for Homosexuality, or NARTH. Kaufman is a psychiatrists, and doesn’t buy the biological theories. In 1992, Kaufman co-founded NARTH. Most psychologists strongly disagree with NARTH’s philosophy that homosexuality can be overcome. “I consider it a developmental arrest," Dr. Kaufman says. "I have a saying, behind every homosexual is a heterosexual."

NARTH criticizes every scientific finding on gay biology, including a 1991 study by brain scientists Simon LeVay. LeVay compared the brains of gay and straight men, focusing on a tiny area in the hypothalamus called INAH-3. INAH-3 plays a role in sexual attraction and is usually smaller in women than men. LeVay found that INAH-3 is also smaller in gay men compared to straight men. In other words, more similar to women.

“LeVay's studies were roundly trashed,” Kaufman says. “No one pays much attention to LeVay's studies except those people who want to hold it up as proof of biological homosexuality.”

Simon LeVay says his research was attacked because he’s a gay scientist, and because some people will never accept that homosexuality may be natural. "When my work was published in 1991 it was very controversial," LeVay says. "A lot of anti-gay sentiment is invested in the idea that being gay is nothing more than straight people saying to themselves: I think I'll try that gay thing this weekend. The science doesn't support that. The science says that it's not a choice.”

When Chuck Roselli cut into the brains of his sheep, he found similar results to LeVay’s. Not only do sheep have a brain structure like INAH-3, it’s also much smaller in gay rams than straight rams. "There are no environmental influences that we know of. And there's no choice involved here as far as we know of,” Roselli says. “These animals are just doing what their brains and their bodies are telling them what to do."

[Source: Dana King, CBS News]

World Science Festival Video: What is Sexual Orientation?

Psychology Video: What Causes Sexual Orientation?

LGBTQ Video: Understanding Sexual Orientation and Gender Identity

Comment From a Science Teacher

I just saw a transphobic post that was like, "In a sexual species, females have two X chromosomes and males have an X and a Y chromosome. I'm not a bigot. It's just science."

Well, I am a science teacher, so I posted the following comment.

First of all, in a sexual species, females can be XX and males can be X, as in insects. Females can be ZW and males can be ZZ, as in birds. And females can be females because they developed in a warm environment and males can be males because they developed in a cool environment, as in reptiles. Females can be females because they lost a penis in a sword fighting contest, as in some flatworms. Males can be males because they were born female but changed sexes because the only male in their group died, as in parrotfish and clownfish. Males can look and act like females because they are trying to get close enough to actual females so they can mate with them, as in cuttlefish and bluegills. Or you can be one of thousands of sexes, as in slime molds and some mushrooms.

Oh, did you mean humans? Okay then. You can be male because you were born female, but you have 5-alphareductase deficiency and so you grew a penis at the age of 12. You can be female because you have an X and a Y chromosome, but you are insensitive to androgens, and so you have a female body. You can be female because you have an X and a Y chromosome, but your Y is missing the SRY gene, and so you have a female body. You can be a male because you have two X chromosomes, but one of your X's has a SRY gene, and so you have a male body. You can be male because you have two X chromosomes, but also a Y chromosome. You can be a female because you have only one X chromosome at all. And you can be a male because you have two X chromosomes, but your heart and brain are male. And vice versa.

Don't use science to justify your bigotry. The world is way too weird for that shit.

[Source: Science Teacher, Facebook]

World Science Festival Video: What is Sexual Orientation?

Psychology Video: What Causes Sexual Orientation?

Video: Homosexuality and the Nature-Nurture Debate

How Do I Know If I Am Gay?

How do I know if I am gay? Unfortunately, there is no easy way to determine if you are gay. There are no scientific tests or stereotypes that determine your sexuality. You will find out through experience and feelings.

Most define being gay as having a strong bond or sexual attraction to another man. Others define it as a lifestyle which includes behaviors and social interactions.

You should ask yourself several questions about your sexuality and sexual preferences. Do you prefer sex with a man? Are you physically attracted to men? Do you feel an emotional bond with a man? Would you consider an intimate relationship with a man?

Try not to fall into the trap of stereotypes. Gay men are just as diverse as straight men. There are no mannerisms, music or clothing preferences that can define a person as gay.

Am I normal? Of course you are! Being gay does not define who you are or make you any less of a person. At times it is not easy being gay, especially around those that are not supportive. Nonetheless, try to surround yourself by people who do support you and your lifestyle. You will soon see that gay and bisexual men interact with each other and the world as any other person would.

If I have gay fantasies, am I gay? Some men experience homosexual encounters throughout their lives, but maintain their heterosexuality. There are many men who have had a sexual encounter with another man or are simply "curious." This does not necessarily mean they are gay. They are simply getting in touch with their sexuality. Many others experiment with both men and women to help them determine if they are gay, bisexual or straight.

[Source: Ramon Johnson, Your Guide to Gay Life]

Info: Sexual Orientation Defined If You Could Be Straight, Would You?

Wikipedia Report: Origins of Homosexuality
About Gay Life: Nature vs Nurture
Video: How Did You Know You Were Gay?

Time Magazine Article: Born Gay?
Info: Reparative Therapy

Was I Born Gay? Can I Stop Being Gay?

Many people have feelings towards other people of the same sex, and wonder whether this means that they are gay. For many people these feelings can be very intense and alienating. Some people who are attracted to other people of the same sex are gay and go on to have sexual relationships with people of the same sex. But other people who have gay feelings find that these change over time and they become attracted to people of the opposite sex.

Other people are attracted to both men and women, and have relationships with both. Some people are not attracted to anyone and wonder if this is a sign of homosexuality. Often it is only time that will resolve these feelings. If you think you might be gay and feel you need to talk to someone most countries have telephone helplines and organizations that can provide information and support for you.

When do people know that they are gay?

There is no simple answer or standard answer to this question, as it varies from person to person. Generally it can be said that being gay is not something a person suddenly begins to consider, and it may not be something they can initially put a name to. Research published in 1996 showed how the young gay men interviewed had described a set of feelings which they gradually realized made them "different" in some way, and a set of feelings they thought maybe every teenage boy has.

"I thought, well, this is just the phase bit. Sooner or later I'm going to start finding women attractive. I never did. As I became more attracted to men, and I still wasn't getting attracted to women, I thought, shit, you're gay. And it was really quite a shock when it hit me." (Luke)

Eventually all people who are gay realize that not only are they sexually attracted to members of the same sex, but that this attraction is not transitional. This realization could come at any time during their lives.

Gallup Poll: Americans' Views Split on Origins of Homosexuality

Video: How Common Are Gay Animals?

Bishop Claims Anal Sex Makes Baby Gay

Why People Are Gay: Crazy Theories From "Experts"

Come on Down to the Farm

Is homosexuality a phase young people go through?

For some people yes, and for others no. Some people do not have their first homosexual feelings or experience until they are well into adulthood. In a national survey in Britain carried out in the 1990s, nearly the same number of women reported their first homosexual experience had happened in their twenties as did in their thirties, forties or fifties. But, there is evidence that for some people homosexual experiences may well be part of a transitional or experimental phase in their youth. This is hardly surprising given that adolescence is a period of change in which many people find who they are and what they want for themselves in adult life. This kind of behavior is perfectly normal.

Are you born gay? What causes people to be gay?

"One of the things I can remember thinking a lot about is ... why am I like this? Is it someone's fault?" (Rob)

There is no simple answer to the question, Are some people born lesbian or gay? There are some theories which stress biological differences between heterosexual and homosexual adults, suggesting that people are born with their sexuality already determined.

LGBTQ Video: Understanding Sexual Orientation and Gender Identity

Video: How Common Are Gay Animals?

Stop Calling it a Choice: Biological Factors Drive Homosexuality

Animated Video: Gender and Sexuality

Live Science: Five Myths About Gay People Debunked

Info: Reparative Therapy

Video: Homosexuality and the Nature-Nurture Debate

Gallup Poll: Americans' Views Split on Origins of Homosexuality

In 1993 the American researcher Dean Hamer published research that seemed to prove that homosexual orientation could be genetically transmitted to men on the x chromosome, which they get from their mothers. However when this study was duplicated it did not produce the same results. A follow-up study which Hamer collaborated on also failed to reinforce his earlier results. Most recently research published in April 1999 by George Rice and George Ebers of the University of Western Ontario has cast doubt on Hamer's theory. Rice and Ebers' research also tested the same region of the x chromosome in a larger sample of gay men, but failed to find the same 'marker' that Hamer's research had produced. Claims that the part of the brain known as the hypothalamus is influential in determining sexual orientation, have yet to be substantiated. At the moment it is generally thought that biological explanations of sexuality are insufficient to explain the diversity of human sexuality.

"How can science tell you what I am? I mean I've had boyfriends, and was happy with them, had girlfriends and may have boyfriends again for all I know. If it's a gay gene what's going on? Is it just turning itself on and off in my head? It doesn't feel like biology, it feels like love." (Jo)

Psycho-social explanations offer a variety of factors that could contribute to the development of a person's homosexuality. For example, a female dominated upbringing in a gay man's past, with an absence of a male role model. Others stress adherence or deviance from conformity to gender roles, and individual psychological makeup. While none of these factors alone completely answers the question what causes homosexuality?, they rule out some things. For example, lesbian and gay young people are not "failed" heterosexuals. Also, homosexual partners are generally of the same age proving wrong the assumptions that young people are "turned gay" by older people.

What is clear is that people's behavior is influenced by their family environment, their experiences and their sense of themselves. Beliefs about sex are initially shaped by family values. Later on these beliefs may be shaped by pleasant and unpleasant experiences of sex and also shape their choice of activities and partners. Throughout their life a person's sense of who and what they are has a strong impact on their sexual development and experience.

Psychology Video: What Causes Sexual Orientation?

Can you stop being gay?

There is now growing general support for the belief that sexuality is pre-determined and may change over time, or remain fixed. However, many people are interested in whether sexuality can be altered solely by a person's desire to change. Organizations that help homosexuals attempt to change their sexuality can be generally divided between those that use psychological "reparative" methods and those that use religious "healing" methods.

Some people believe homosexuality is an illness and believe it can and should be cured. Many of these "cures" revolve around psychological therapies (often called reparative therapy) which endeavor to re-orient a homosexual sexuality to heterosexual. Although there is little scientific data to evaluate, what is available seems to indicate that reparative therapy is ineffective. American Psychological Association (APA), the world's largest association of psychologists has stated that:

"Homosexuality is not a mental disorder and the APA opposes all portrayals of lesbian, gay and bisexual people as mentally ill and in need of treatment due to their sexual orientation."

Some strongly religious groups believe that homosexuality is sinful and is in direct breach of the bible and other religious texts. As with reparative therapy there has been little to no scientific evaluation of the healing and prayer techniques used. What evidence is available suggests that the success of these techniques is restricted to three areas:

--Convincing bisexuals to limit their sexual activities to members of the opposite sex.
--Convincing homosexuals to become celibate.
--Convincing gay men and lesbians to attempt to maintain heterosexual relationships, whilst retaining their homosexual orientation.

Tellingly, two founders of a ministry established to "heal" homosexuals later described their program as "ineffective ... not one person was healed."

Recently the issue of changing homosexual orientation has been drawn into political debate in America. Although this is partly due to an issues shortage in American politics, the subject of "curing" homosexuality has apparently captured the imagination of many Americans. Controversial full page newspaper advertisements by Christian political organizations have appeared three days in a row. The advertisements, which firmly promote the theory that homosexuality can be changed through force of will alone claim that "thousands are leaving their homosexual identity for sexual celibacy, and even marriage."

This appears to have been sparked from a speech by the Senate Majority leader in June 1998 that described homosexuals as people who are sick and can be cured, but only if they want to be.

[Source: Avert.Org]

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