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I hate to break it to you, but science is not that black and white. There are a million things that could explain homosexuality. Just because something isn't genetic doesn't mean it's a choice. People tan in the sun but that's not a choice. People get lung disease from poor air quality but that's not a choice. Not only that, the thread title is misleading and scientists aren't actually sure that it's not genetic.
Not born Homosexual, choice, mental disorder or whatever. Feel free to have your own opinion.
Why is the nature vs, nurture question even relevant? I don't know why I'm heterosexual-- I never chose to be. It's not as though I look at Angelina Jolie and Brad Pitt, and and make a conscious decision as to which I'm attracted to.
For that matter, what if we accept the argument that homosexuality is a conscious choice. I still don't understand why someone's being gay affects me. People have a right to live their lives without the imposition of other people's moral hang-ups. As long as there's no force, or manipulation of those incapable of consenting; what business is it of anyone else's?
Why is the nature vs, nurture question even relevant? I don't know why I'm heterosexual-- I never chose to be. It's not as though I look at Angelina Jolie and Brad Pitt, and and make a conscious decision as to which I'm attracted to.
For that matter, what if we accept the argument that homosexuality is a conscious choice. I still don't understand why someone's being gay affects me. People have a right to live their lives without the imposition of other people's moral hang-ups. As long as there's no force, or manipulation of those incapable of consenting; what business is it of anyone else's?
Exactly.
I love that these simpletons are actually telling ME that I actually chose it. I actually sat down, thought about it, and chose it. I CHOSE to have chemistry between me and another man. I CHOSE to turn off those internal feelings when I look and speak to a female. I must be a super hero with these kinds of powers.
what I don't understand is how all these people refuse to even listen to personal accounts of gay people.. like we're out to lie about our lives.. like being gay is a conspiracy movement or something.. it's so bizarre...
If I wanted to understand why people are the way they are.. I would listen to them.. ask questions.. and try to grasp the issue with the people it impacts..
I don't understand how someone can sit and call us all liars.. and say they know better.. scientists don't even know better.. this article only says that they don't know...
so how does it get to "mental disorder" and choice.. and anything said otherwise is a lie...
it's so insulting.. like we're idiots... we only have lived our entire lives dealing with the issue.. I mean jesus christ..these people really are bigots.. there's no other way around it
Now that the Gene theory is debunked I guess it's not "born that way" after all, looks like choice and mental disorder are back on top
The "gene" theory has not been debunked. The media's claim of a single "gay gene" has been debunked.- by the same scientists who never claimed that they expected to find a single gene. They aren't that stupid. Human sexuality is far too complex. Yes, there is evidence that there is a genetic component.
You won't find any reputable scientist or health professional saying that homosexuality is a choice or a mental disorder. They'd have to ignore all the evidence like the "pray away the gay" people and homobigots do.
The fetal brain develops during the intrauterine period in the male direction through a direct action of testosterone on the developing nerve cells, or in the female direction through the absence of this hormone surge. In this way, our gender identity (the conviction of belonging to the male or female gender) and sexual orientation are programmed or organized into our brain structures when we are still in the womb.
However, since sexual differentiation of the genitals takes place in the first two months of pregnancy and sexual differentiation of the brain starts in the second half of pregnancy, these two processes can be influenced independently, which may result in extreme cases in trans-sexuality. This also means that in the event of ambiguous sex at birth, the degree of masculinization of the genitals may not reflect the degree of masculinization of the brain.
There is no indication that social environment after birth has an effect on gender identity or sexual orientation.
The scans reveal that in gay people, key structures of the brain governing emotion, mood, anxiety and aggressiveness resemble those in straight people of the opposite sex.
The differences are likely to have been forged in the womb or in early infancy”
During the intrauterine period the human brain develops in the male direction via direct action of a boy's testosterone, and in the female direction through the absence of thishormone in a girl. During this time, gender identity (the feeling of being a man or a woman), sexual orientation, and other behaviors are programmed.
As sexual differentiation of the genitals takes places in the first 2 months of pregnancy, and sexual differentiation of the brain starts during the second half of pregnancy, these two processes may be influenced independently of each other, resulting in transsexuality. This also means that in the case of an ambiguous gender at birth, the degree of masculinization of the genitals may not reflect the same degree of masculinization of the brain.
Differences in brain structures and brain functions have been found that are related to sexual orientation and gender.
“There is a long-standing debate on the role of genetic factors influencing homosexuality because the presence of these factors contradicts the Darwinian prediction according to which natural selection should progressively eliminate the factors that reduce individual fecundity and fitness. Recently, however, Camperio Ciani, Corna, and Capiluppi (Proceedings of the Royal Society of London, Series B: Biological Sciences, 271, 2217-2221, 2004), comparing the family trees of homosexuals with heterosexuals, reported a significant increase in fecundity in the females related to the homosexual probands from the maternal line but not in those related from the paternal one.” (2008) New evidence of genetic factors influencing sexual... [Arch Sex Behav. 2009] - PubMed result
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"I demonstrate that the number of biological older brothers, including those not reared with the participant (but not the number of nonbiological older brothers), increases the probability of homosexuality in men. These results provide evidence that a prenatal mechanism(s), and not social and/or rearing factors, affects men's sexual orientation development."
"Biological Versus Nonbiological Older Brothers and Men’s Sexual Orientation," published by PNAS (Proceedings of the NationalAcademy of Sciences of the United States of America): Bogaert, A (2006) http://www.pnas.org/content/103/28/10771.full.pdf
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"There's a converging line of evidence between the hormonal studies, the genetic studies , and the neuroanatomical studies. My research has identified candidate genes within these new chromosomal regions that could link together all of these different findings”
"Male homosexuals have had less steroid exposure during [fetal] development than male heterosexuals and... female homosexuals have had greater steroid exposure during development than their heterosexual counterparts."
"The determinants of sexual interest, in the sense of preferences for the same or opposite sex... appear to be caused by the neural organizational effects of the intrauterine hormonal events."
"A growing body of empirical literature suggests that the brains of gay males are less masculinized than those of heterosexual males, reflected in visual-spatial task performance -- a measure of cerebral masculinazation and one in which heterosexual males usually surpass females.
Several studies report that the cognitive performance of gay males is more typical of heterosexual females than heterosexual males.
Furthermore, the brain waves of gay males while performing verbal and spatial tasks are more similar to heterosexual females than males or significantly different from both."
Relationships among childhood sex-atypical behavior, spatial ability, handedness, and sexual orientation in men. Cohen KM. Arch Sex Behav.(2002)
Camperio Ciani, A., Cermelli, P., & Zanzotto, G. (2008). Sexually
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I was always under the impression that the "gay gene" was simplistic language that indicated physical causes. That never was meant to mean that a single gene was responsible for people being gay...but it sure does seem like a lot of people jumped on that bandwagon and want to run with it and try to make some kind of point. Fail.
There is so much more than a single gene responsible for our physical selves. Surely anyone with a working brain knows that.
Apparently working brains are not a requirement for posting anti-gay comments on a forum.
Exactly.
I love that these simpletons are actually telling ME that I actually chose it. I actually sat down, thought about it, and chose it. I CHOSE to have chemistry between me and another man. I CHOSE to turn off those internal feelings when I look and speak to a female. I must be a super hero with these kinds of powers.
Apparently you are really really clever, if you chose the hormones that developed your brain....while you were still a fetus in your mother's uterus!
Why is the nature vs, nurture question even relevant? I don't know why I'm heterosexual-- I never chose to be. It's not as though I look at Angelina Jolie and Brad Pitt, and and make a conscious decision as to which I'm attracted to.
For that matter, what if we accept the argument that homosexuality is a conscious choice. I still don't understand why someone's being gay affects me. People have a right to live their lives without the imposition of other people's moral hang-ups. As long as there's no force, or manipulation of those incapable of consenting; what business is it of anyone else's?
common sense, ever so uncommon.
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