Being gay isn't genetic

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Homosexuality does have a genetic basis. Everything has a genetic basis and especially when it comes to default behavior. One cannot change one's nature but one can only suppress it. I encourage the OP to look into the ex-gay movement. It becomes clear that sexual orientation has some sort of genetic basis.

Here's some food for thought: it used to be common practice to believe that children were autistic because of their parents upbringing. And then it was discovered autism (surprise, surprise) can be caused by certain genes.

Now, I saw this in a TED talk, a genius woman has done brain scans on some children with autism and discovered a lot of them were misdiagnosed with autism. And they were having mini seizures in their brain. These mini seizures mimicked a lot of the symptoms of autism.

Saying something is the sole, one cause of something is too simple. The world is much more complex than that. Environmental factors also play a role, but I think it is far more genetically based than anything.

So what were those kids diagnosed with eventually? seems odd to change a diagnosis because of a brain scan.

I think there can be various reasons for people's gender preference. I know identical twins that were brought up the exact same way. One of them is gay and the other is straight. I also know other identical twins that are both gay. A girl I know has five aunts, and all of them have one gay off-spring and at least couple of straight ones.

In my case, I'm pretty sure that I was born gay. I was into girls from a pretty young age. I was bullied in school, by the girls. I've been abused by both women and men (so if anything, I should be A-sexual if that should be the reason). My parents repeatedly tried to get me to dress in skirts and dresses when I was little, and to play with dolls and the toys that some people consider to be toys for girls. They eventually gave up on it because I would have none of it. Also, my cousin is gay, and I have loads of gay relatives.

My mom thinks that my attraction to other women is the result of never being emotionally close to my dad. Dunno where she gets that idea, since she was never close to her dad either but wound up being straight.

No. I think genetics and arousal make more difference.

i beleive in the gay gene. most of my family is gay.

I do not think sexuality is as black & white as genetic vs environmental. Saying genetic gives the impression that homosexuality could be inherited & I am not aware of any scientific evidence of a gay gene. Saying it's environmental gives the impression that being homosexual or straight is entirely based on how the person grows up. I believe numerous things can affect someones sexuality.

http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.c ... 053012.DTL

^ seems pertinent to the dialogue, and yet keeps it on the light side. (Mark Morford of SF newspaper).

I believe you are not born gay, and it is a choice.

These responses have been very insightful.

Well, from my own personal experience in life, I feel that I was born this way. I grew up not even knowing what gay was, it wasn't talked about when I was younger and then when I was clued in I was under the impression that it was something that only affected men. The reason I wasn't privy to the realities of homosexuality wasn't because my parents tried to keep it from me or anything like that, there was just simply never a need to discuss it. I never asked about it.

That being said, I don't see how my enviroment contributed to me being a lesbian. I was raised in a stable family with two parents, my mother stayed home with me and my younger sister and my father was in the Air Force. There was no marital strife, no abuse, nothing. My parents were incredibly loving and spent so much time and money trying to figure out why I had such a rough go of things as a kid. (I was never diagnosed with Asperger's as a kid formally, though it was suspected) They encouraged me to do my best with the hand I'd been dealt and always made sure that I was learning something and that they were nurturing me the best that they knew how.

As far back as I can remember I had feelings for girls and a sexual attraction towards girls, but it never registered because I wasn't aware that being gay (or lesbian, rather) was something that I could be. I just knew I didn't like boys and they made me feel "icky". As a child I would tell myself that I would grow out of that "icky" feeling and be "normal" once I was a teenager. That didn't happen. I forced myself into the heteronormative mold to the point of near self destruction for many years.

It wasn't until high school that someone asked me if I could be gay. Which I denied, because, well, girls can't be gay. But eventually it started making sense. Everything I had felt growing up, the crushes, the "icky" feelings towards men and boys. Still, it was a long road out of the closet and I still struggle with accepting it.

I've always been an outcast in life, always been made fun of, always had very few friends and people to confide in and spent my entire school career being bullied for being different. If anything, that kept my homosexuality from coming out. My mind knew (subconsciously) that I didn't need one more thing to be bullied about. What I'm getting at is this- having gone through what I've gone through I would NEVER CHOOSE to be a lesbian. Never. I'm already disliked and somewhat disadvantage for not being part of the neurotypical norm so why in the world would I make myself out to be even more of an outcast? Especially in this day and age where we have people saying that all gay people should be killed by the government and such? I mean really? Who would choose that for themselves?

I've searched and searched for a reason why I'm a lesbian but honestly, there isn't one. This is who I am and this is who I've always been. I don't think it's a choice to be gay but I do think that we have a choice to acknowledge it to ourselves and then to come out of the closet. But who we are is who we are and there isn't anything you can do about that.

I read a study that male homosexuality is more likely to be genetic than female homosexuality.

I think it's genetic though. I mean yeah there are stories like that, or the girl on America's Next Top Model who was sexually abused by a man and is now a lesbian because of it; but how do you explain children from loving families who received both male and female attention being gay?