Why do lots of people think that people choose to be gay?

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It's sorta like that thing where prison inmates claim that they "suddenly became gay" after being incarcerated. In truth they were always closet-bisexual that pretended to be completely straight(just cause they prefer the opposite gender).

So it could obviously work the other way too, with a bi-sexual person pretending to be completely gay(just cause they prefer the same gender)

Lots of people think homosexuals choose to be gay because those people are very, very stupid. End of story.

Many people who think homosexuality is a choice are also like people who think that hating people is justified through whichever faith they follow.

Even though I am Catholic, I'm not gay, but I do want to see more Catholic people be less stereotypical not only about themselves, but also about LGBT people.

I'm a Lutheran, and the same applies to me.

I just came across this website, and this might be a reason people think homosexuals choose it:

Ex-Gay Testimonies

I don't think it's a cut and dry black and white issue, I think it varies person to person, to where maybe some do "choose" to be gay as an escape, such as their culture pushes them to be masculine/feminine and they're just not (more of a trans idea, though) or as a rebellion thing. I don't think it's a conscious decision, in any case, but I wouldn't doubt that a few at least were not born gay.
We may never know.

Ex-gay pundits have a pattern of turning out to still be gay.

Conversion therapy is a crock of dung, and abusive.

There actually was a very small and short lived movement in the early 70's for women to be lesbians for political reasons. They even stated that it was for political reasons. Obviously it didn't work and died out pretty quickly. You can't change your orientation for political or religious reasons, the only thing you can do in those cases is simply abstain from participating in relationships or sex.

In prison it's different and it's not being gay so much as it is doing the best you can with what you have. It's not considered gay, and it's usually not even talked about once you are out. I know lots of guys inside and most of them do that while they are there, but you NEVER EVER joke about it or even bring it up to them. Ever. Same with women although there are fewer women who take that route in prison than men from what I know.

In response, I point you to Truth Wins Out, an organization dedicated to fighting against the deceitful, harmful "ex-gay" industry. I highly recommend you check out their Consumer Fraud Division page, which has extensive information about how and why the "ex-gay" industry is harmful to society.

I don't think it's harmful to society. It's a very small fringe movement and nobody is going to take it seriously except the overly religious zealots. Almost everybody sees it as a joke.

What about all of the gay men who have been harmed by "ex-gay" organizations? There are hundreds (if not thousands; I don't know the exact statistics) of them out there, so why don't you care about them at all?

Also, did you even look at either of the links I provided? If not, then why not? Ignoring those links doesn't make the information contained within them untrue, you know.

How exactly have they been harmed? Just because some nutcase believes that would work doesn't mean that most people believe it works. I'm not talking about the gay people who are harmed by discrimination, that is a different story. I'm talking about being harmed by the actual movement. Sure some people sent their kids to those camps and some adults went there willingly. People also send their kids to all sorts of camps to instill ideas in them but the kids usually grow up and get a clue.

Also, a few hundred people who have been harmed by some fringe nutcase do not constitute society in general.

Read this article (the entire thing, please), and then tell me whether or not you think "ex-gay" organizations are harmful. And please don't respond back to me until you've read that entire article.

There have been suicides associated with reparative therapy, not to mention those who are taught to live a lie, feeling the guilt and shame imposed on them by others.

QuietDove, I'm not reading some long article to tell me what I already know. That ex gay bs is bs. I never said it wasn't harmful to the people who buy into it. It is. However, as most of society doesn't believe in it and sees it for the s**t it really is, it's not harmful to society. I cannot help what some gullible people fall for. Most people know it's ridiculous. Saying it's harmful to society is like saying that the Christian Patriarchy is harmful to women in general. It's only harmful to the people who buy into it, and if they didn't buy into that they would buy into something else equally as stupid.

Kraichgauer, I know that some people have committed suicide over it but more gay people have committed suicide over how they are treated in general by society rather than by what a bunch of fringe nutcases think they can and should do.

Most people know that crap is fringe nonsense, and the type of people who buy into it are the very type that are always going to be making things harder for those who are in any way different than them. If it wasn't this, it would be something else. Most people know it's crap. It's right up there with the abducted by aliens s**t. Most people just write off the believers as the whackjobs they are.

I'm sitting here with my mouth hanging open. I cannot believe that someone could be so cold and heartless to others. Ex-gay therapy has literally caused people to kill themselves, yet you'd rather demean those people and call them dumb (and gullible), than show them any compassion at all. You're nothing more than an overgrown bully, and a bigot to boot.

Get back to me when you're ready to act like a mature, compassionate adult. Until then, I refuse to speak to you any further.

The bolded section in the first quote constitutes an unfounded personal attack. You made a general argument about society as a whole, encountered a rebuttal about society as a whole, and acted as if the rebuttal was a targeted attack on individuals who are affected by the subject matter. Not only is this a disingenuous shifting of the goalposts, it's a reprehensible excuse to lash out at someone who has simply disagreed with you on the extent of the problem.

Mature, compassionate adults do not resort to name-calling when their assertions are challenged.