Is homosexuality a choice?

[yourhopeboundheart]

Is this a trick question? Homosexuality is the sexual attraction among individuals of the same sex. You don’t necessarily have to engage in homosexual sex to be homosexual.

ok, and i'd definitely agree.
i just wanted to clear it up.

this is the definition everyone is comfortable with?

 

[ButTheCatCameBack]

so unnecessary that you just decided not to answer it at all...
and then proceeded to throw your opinion in as if it was even close to a response?

Or a variant on what corkscrew said. In so much as I've heard the differences noted being of some sort of mystical significance to some Christians in regards to their ideas of sin. The question just looks like some bad attempt at being clever.

 

[yourhopeboundheart]

Or a variant on what corkscrew said. In so much as I've heard the differences noted being of some sort of mystical significance to some Christians in regards to their ideas of sin. The question just looks like some bad attempt at being clever.

i'm not often clever.
but i do always like having definitions that are clear cut, and out on the table.

 

[MysticSang'ha]

*giggles*

This is still being debated?

Okay, I'll bite....I can choose, but only because I'm bi.

Now, take my gay male friends, for example. I've known a few of them for decades, and I have yet to capture their fascination the way my husband does. Lucky guy gets all their attention. But I digress....

Serious answer: been around enough to know it's not a choice. You fall in love with who you fall in love with.

 

[MW0082]

can we clear something up, really fast?

when we use the word homosexual are we referring to someone who is attracted to those of the same gender, or has sex with those of the same gender?

Both are homesexuals, one is acting and the other is not.....

 

[MW0082]

If homosexuality is such a bad thing to not be worthy of a choice – why not pursue any and all methods available to cure the problem?

Zadok[/QUOTE]

1) As a gay man I can tell you it is not a choice.....

2) There is nothing to cure, because being homosexual is not a disease....

 

[no-body]

If homosexuality is such a bad thing to not be worthy of a choice – why not pursue any and all methods available to cure the problem?

Zadok

1) As a gay man I can tell you it is not a choice.....

2) There is nothing to cure, because being homosexual is not a disease....

Especially when the cure is worse than the [non-existent] disease.

 

[yourhopeboundheart]

Both are homesexuals, one is acting and the other is not.....

so a person who is not attracted to those of the same sex, yet has sex with those of the same sex, they are homosexuals?

 

[JustAsking]

so a person who is not attracted to those of the same sex, yet has sex with those of the same sex, they are homosexuals?

Other than rape, can you list any circumstance where this would happen?

 

[Diederick]

It is commonly accepted, by people of whom we can say they have authority on the subject, that homosexuality is not a choice and cannot be changed. All respectable organizations of mental health professionals support that claim. The only reason the question of choice persists, is that people need it to exist in order to sustain their system of belief, or because people are so lacking empathetically that they can't understand otherwise.

You can't cure homosexuals, you can only alter their conduct. And the consequences of such alterations can never be good.

And the interesting theory on the spectrum of sexuality obliterates the whole argument in a different way, by basically saying we're all dots on a line and no one is a hundred percent straight.

 

[yourhopeboundheart]

Other than rape, can you list any circumstance where this would happen?

prostitution (including any gain, not only monetary), experiment...

i realize that the scenario itself is not likely, but it's important to be sure that we're totally clear on the terms being used.

 

[ButTheCatCameBack]

It is commonly accepted, by people of whom we can say they have authority on the subject, that homosexuality is not a choice and cannot be changed. All respectable organizations of mental health professionals support that claim. The only reason the question of choice persists, is that people need it to exist in order to sustain their system of belief, or because people are so lacking empathetically that they can't understand otherwise.

You can't cure homosexuals, you can only alter their conduct. And the consequences of such alterations can never be good.

And the interesting theory on the spectrum of sexuality obliterates the whole argument in a different way, by basically saying we're all dots on a line and no one is a hundred percent straight.

I am hoping that eventually legal action is levied against organizations that run programs that attempt to "cure" homosexuals of their homosexuality.

 

[Diederick]

I am hoping that eventually legal action is levied against organizations that run programs that attempt to "cure" homosexuals of their homosexuality.

As do I. Much harm is being done directly, and indirectly, by such organizations. The mere idea that homosexuality is undesirable and should therefore be changed is repulsive and forms a wedge in society.

 

[MW0082]

As do I. Much harm is being done directly, and indirectly, by such organizations. The mere idea that homosexuality is undesirable and should therefore be changed is repulsive and forms a wedge in society.

Agreed, convincing people through munipulation and and other techniques to "change" people can only be doing harm. If you like guys, you like guys. If you like girls, you like girls, and if you like both it's your concern and no one else. I still wonder why people are concerned with what others are doing sexually in the privacy of their own home? How does that affect anyone else?

Homosexuality is not a choice, I am living testement for that.

 

[AxisMundi]

According to my religious friend, being gay is one’s own personal choice. He is of the opinion that since God, according to the bible, has made homosexuality a sin; he would not have allowed people to be born gay.
Correct me if I’m wrong, but if he believes that being gay is a choice, doesn’t that mean he is capable of engaging in a homosexual affair at any time? He says he is heterosexual, but if he has a choice in his sexuality, wouldn’t this make him bi-sexual?

A great many people assume that homosexual acts and homosexuality are the same thing.

They are not.

Homosexuality, like the other two major sexual identity catagories, involves much more than mere sex, Gays, like straights, seek the same things from a relationship. Friendship, trust, companionship, mutual support... indeed anything any hetero looks for in a committed relationship is sought by gays too.

Yes, intimacy is a small part of that equation, but it is not the end-all some people belive it to be.

As far as your hetero friend, if he bumps ugly with another guy for just experimentation or whatever, but feels nothing past the personal and instant gratification of sex, he is still a hetero.

 

[AxisMundi]

so a person who is not attracted to those of the same sex, yet has sex with those of the same sex, they are homosexuals?

No, they are heteroes participating in homosexual (as in same gender) sex.

Homosexuality encompases the entire spectrum of relationship criteria, not just sex.

 

[AxisMundi]

I am hoping that eventually legal action is levied against organizations that run programs that attempt to "cure" homosexuals of their homosexuality.

Such legal action would ahve to come from one of their victims, I'm afraid, the same people who these "ex-gay ministries" have bamboozled.

 

[MW0082]

so a person who is not attracted to those of the same sex, yet has sex with those of the same sex, they are homosexuals?

Umm if they are having sex with the same sex they are gay. You didn't specify if the person was doing it for money or other form of value now did you....?

 

[yourhopeboundheart]

Umm if they are having sex with the same sex they are gay. You didn't specify if the person was doing it for money or other form of value now did you....?

No, they are heteroes participating in homosexual (as in same gender) sex.

Homosexuality encompases the entire spectrum of relationship criteria, not just sex.

the two of you disagree, it seems. and i am certainly more inclined to agree with the second post, it seems as though homosexuality can exist in the absence of sex and does not simply exist because of the presence of sex.

 

[MW0082]

the two of you disagree, it seems. and i am certainly more inclined to agree with the second post, it seems as though homosexuality can exist in the absence of sex and does not simply exist because of the presence of sex.

Thats not my point, you stated one is simply attracted and another is having sex. Both are gay, you never said the second doesn't like men. you said he is having sex with them. You may want to be a little clearer..... Besides anyone who has sex with the same sex, regardless of the reason is at minimum bi-sexual....