What Determines Sexuality?

[Takun]

Well, as far as genes go, consider that it might lay dormant in people. I have a gay uncle - he's been with his partner for longer than I've been alive (over 20 years, but other than that, I don't know exactly) and definitely doesn't have kids. But what if my mom carried something in her genetics? Gays have parents, and sometimes siblings.

Of course, there is that a lot of times gays do get married and have kids before realizing themselves. I went to a gay church when I was 16-18 and one of the lesbians there had a son from a previous marriage. He came to church, and though he was a little younger than me, we because pretty good friends. He was *totally* straight.

Another thing is that as well as adopting, many gays are choosing to have children somehow - lesbians, mostly, who go to a spermbank, or find someone they're willing to father a child - many times a gay male they know, who would be willing to father a child for a lesbian couple. Gay men can, I suppose, find a surrogate mother as well - but I'm not really sure about how that would work. o.o

Now, I think it's partially nurture...but I go very much with nature, for the most part. My uncle might be gay, but he didn't raise me - my straight mom did. I have a straight brother. I have straight cousins, from straight parents. I wasn't 'nutured' any differently from them...yet here I am. A straight person can have a gay child, a gay person can have a straight child - but I think there is something that a gay person is born with that at the very least makes them more likely to be homosexual.


Consider this - my mom is blonde, my uncle is blonde, and ONE of my aunts is blonde. The other is a brunette. Now, my blonde aunt had two daughters - one a blonde and one a brunette. My brunette aunt also had two daughters, but they were both blonde. My dad has black hair, and my brother and I are both blonde. So, applying that to 'gay gene' - you can be straight, and still carry 'the gay' to pass along to your children, just like you can have brunette hair, but still carry a gene for blonde hair. Vice versa, of course, that gay people are very likely to have straight children.

That's what I meant, but you are much better at explaining it. Thank you.

 

[Lobo Roo]

Welcome. In my case, it was either learn how to answer questions about my homosexuality and explain it well, or be tormented by people who thought they knew everything - including their superiority over homosexuals and our 'choice' of lifestyle. :roll: Really, do they think I'd choose to suffer harassment and being considered a second class citizen?

Anyhow, though I'm far from an expert...I tried to read up a bit on homosexuality so I could defend myself.

 

[Jelly]

Like everything else.
Nature and nurture.
Nature v. Nurture is a false dichotomy.

I actually don't think this is a very important thing to explore, though. I mean, when talking about it - I find that neither I nor many other people have a decent understanding of genetics to actually debate it (although, some people certainly try to); I'd imagine many people would also agree (stop me if I'm wrong) that you can't strongly pinpoint one or a series of incidents that somehow give you your sexual orientation.

That's not to say you shouldn't try, its just a hard debate to actually be productive. Usually, I hear these debates in the light of engaging personal feelings on the subject. I see it usually presented as "well, if its more along the lines of society and personal choice is that more wrong? I mean, if it is genetic, there doesn't seem to be much you can do about it. Is that more right?"

I had to review a personal paper someone wrote recently for an English class where they were talking about their experiences with homosexual men. One of the statements they made was something akin to "I've heard that this is genetic, so I don't think they can be blamed because its not their fault."

The primary issue here is one of acceptance.

 

[ExTo]

I had to review a personal paper someone wrote recently for an English class where they were talking about their experiences with homosexual men. One of the statements they made was something akin to "I've heard that this is genetic, so I don't think they can be blamed because its not their fault."

This is a particularly striking example of the way society tends to view things... disappointing, but what can we say?

 

[kevVral]

This is a particularly striking example of the way society tends to view things... disappointing, but what can we say?

Just remind them in a nice way that gays are people, too, not just a "mental disease." Just tell them that people have said "women can't help it, it's not their fault that they are female."

 

[darkdoomer]

Oxymoron

i lol'd.


for my point ; what determines sexuality is
1 - psychology
2 - anatomy
3 - family relations (father; mother. thanks dr. Freud. )

 

[Get-dancing]

Well, as far as genes go, consider that it might lay dormant in people. I have a gay uncle - he's been with his partner for longer than I've been alive (over 20 years, but other than that, I don't know exactly) and definitely doesn't have kids. But what if my mom carried something in her genetics? Gays have parents, and sometimes siblings.

Of course, there is that a lot of times gays do get married and have kids before realizing themselves. I went to a gay church when I was 16-18 and one of the lesbians there had a son from a previous marriage. He came to church, and though he was a little younger than me, we because pretty good friends. He was *totally* straight.

Another thing is that as well as adopting, many gays are choosing to have children somehow - lesbians, mostly, who go to a spermbank, or find someone they're willing to father a child - many times a gay male they know, who would be willing to father a child for a lesbian couple. Gay men can, I suppose, find a surrogate mother as well - but I'm not really sure about how that would work. o.o

Now, I think it's partially nurture...but I go very much with nature, for the most part. My uncle might be gay, but he didn't raise me - my straight mom did. I have a straight brother. I have straight cousins, from straight parents. I wasn't 'nutured' any differently from them...yet here I am. A straight person can have a gay child, a gay person can have a straight child - but I think there is something that a gay person is born with that at the very least makes them more likely to be homosexual.


Consider this - my mom is blonde, my uncle is blonde, and ONE of my aunts is blonde. The other is a brunette. Now, my blonde aunt had two daughters - one a blonde and one a brunette. My brunette aunt also had two daughters, but they were both blonde. My dad has black hair, and my brother and I are both blonde. So, applying that to 'gay gene' - you can be straight, and still carry 'the gay' to pass along to your children, just like you can have brunette hair, but still carry a gene for blonde hair. Vice versa, of course, that gay people are very likely to have straight children.

Ive never really though about that but it could be quite true. My family does have a mild history of homosexuals, for one thing my father is (just about) bisexual.

From the words of my parents; I have black hair (except of course no one actually has natural black hair, its just pure dark brown) as does my father and everyone on my father's side. My mom has brown hair, but her dad has blonde hair and her mum has 'black' hair', and everyone else on my moms side has red hair, so aparantly if I have kids with a blonde woman then theres a good chance they'll be ginger.

 

[kevVral]

Something I just remembered, when my dad saw a picture of m/m that I had in 8th grade, he told me that he went through with that phase. I guess that it could very well be through genes...

 

[RedVein]

Something I just remembered, when my dad saw a picture of m/m that I had in 8th grade, he told me that he went through with that phase. I guess that it could very well be through genes...

There is something that I see wrong with that. The fact that he called it a fase. Being gay is not a fase. It's just like saying that likeing icecream is a fase, that is just imposible, because no matter what, everyone likes ice cream.

I think that he think that you will grow out of it in time, or when you grow up a little bit more. As for homosexuallity being a gene thing. I doubt that. My dad is not gay, and I am. So yeah. And no one in my family is gay so there is no way that it was genetics.

 

[ExTo]

Something I just remembered, when my dad saw a picture of m/m that I had in 8th grade, he told me that he went through with that phase. I guess that it could very well be through genes...

It doesn't sound too farfetched to me that someone could experience an homosexual phase then "get through it" and be straight from then and on. Then again, the opposite is also entirely possible, and so are the in-betweens.

I read up a bit more on what Kinsey said recently, and... yeah, I think he had the right idea. Sexuality might just be something fluid after all, whatever directs it.

 

[Get-dancing]

Did any of you lot see that documentary they did to try and prove that enviroment must play a factor in sexuality?
They got a woman who reckoned that she was pure straight, so they wired her love-parts up to a monitor and showed her a lesbian porn tape, which she didn't find too apealing. Then they forced her to do lesbian-type things for a month then showed her the tape again wilst she was wired up and she was far more arosed.

Maybe for most people its either enviroment or genetics, and for an extreme minority its down to choice.

 

[WOLFIE DA FOX]

I believe people were always gay they just well learn about it during their life I guess so. People that were raised straight or in a strict family or religious could turn out gay eh it happens. I blame furry porn

 

[Lobo Roo]

They got a woman who reckoned that she was pure straight, so they wired her love-parts up to a monitor and showed her a lesbian porn tape, which she didn't find too apealing. Then they forced her to do lesbian-type things for a month then showed her the tape again wilst she was wired up and she was far more arosed.

It's because she discovered we were better than men.

That is interesting, though I can definitely say I never went through any forced lesbianism. My parents were quite interested in forcing the opposite. (But not with porn, thank gods.)

 

[ExTo]

It's because she discovered we were better than men.

</3

 

[Day of Wind]

i think it's a mix of genetics and how you develop in the womb (more of a certain hormone, lack of some)