Is Being Gay A Choice?
 

Some think yes, some think no....but if most animal groups have "gays" I would think it is in fact natural, aka I believe people are born gay.

http://www.nytimes.com/2010/04/04/ma...mals-t.html?hp

The study was done on albatross,not humans. Sorry, too big of a stretch.

hey timmi.. Is being straight a choice? Would you feel comfortable making love to another man?

I'm going to refrain from this "loaded" thread.....it could go on and on....
I'm straight, period.

exactly. Its not a choice for you and its not a choice for people who fall in love with their same gender.

Why would someone choose to live a more difficult life where half the people out there think you are a weirdo and associates you with a pedifile's and a beasteality people (or however those words are spelled)?? Why would someone choose a lifestyle where you are afraid your own family will reject you?

People are gay because they feel comfortable in same sex relationships, and that is natural to them. It is not natural to be in a relationship with someone of the opposite sex.

Basically the same, natural, reasons for you being "straight" just the other way around.

More love in this world can't be a bad thing.

It is interesting that the majority of Republicans that I talk to (not all of course) are FOR gay rights. Only a small minority of the more religious Republican base that I talk to are against it.. for religious reasons only.

I'm not sure why more Republican so - called "leaders" cant be more in touch with the Conservatives who are socially more "left" and why do they cater so much to the religious right? I'm sure there are a lot more Fiscally Conservative but Socially liberal people out there than there are fanatical religious Conservatives. The religious ones have a louder voice though.

Why is equality a "left" thing? Why cant it be an "everyone" thing? You would thing that the Conservatives, based on their beliefs of individual freedoms, would take the side of equality. Most intelligent & compassionate individuals out there, who live there life based on reality, are for equality.

i don't think it's a matter of their being a gay/straight light switch where you have to be 100% one or the other

it's more a dimmer switch. some are in the 90-100% range and those people probably don't have much of a choice. some are closer to 50% and actually do.

those that think you can pray gay away probably haven't thought too deeply about where their belief comes from. with rare exception, gays have been discriminated against for thousands of years. who "chooses" such a difficult path for themselves? what drives that more difficult choice if it isn't biology?

what an odd thing to say.

did someone suggest you weren't?

could discussing this accidently change your sexuality?

i'd guess that most of the republicans you talk to are comfortable having a gay friend. it's amazing how knowing someone makes it more difficult to have a set of rigid doctrinaire opinions about them.

the problem is that in many parts of this country you may have gay friends but they aren't about to tell you.

It would help if you followed the thread before you shot off a response.
I said I was refraining for a long dialog..thereby using period.

while also loudly announcing how gay you're not.

it's okay though. i have wood floors and plantation shutters so i randomly scream out the window that i'm straight so my neighbor's don't get confused.

i understand.

Did you not read his post? He was making a point about homosexuality in animals. You seem to have missed the point.

Read the article,dork!

you are a complete clown!

It isn't just the Republican leadership or a small minority of Republicans that oppose gay marriage. As of a 2008 poll anyway, 75% of all registered Republicans opposed gay marriage:
http://pewresearch.org/pubs/868/gay-marriage

said the extremely straight man.

Fine by me.

I did, and as a result I really don't understand how you misunderstood the point of the thread.

Did you miss the part where it was mentioned that this held to the study on albatross. You can extrapolate that away all you want

me too.

it's a good thing that two very, very, very straight men like you and i could agree.

no one could ever question us being gay. i mean not gay.

I bet that point you made earlier about some people being in the 90%-100% range has him thinking/worried. I anticipate a post from him soon declaring that he is at least 97.4% straight.

HAAAAAAAAAAYYYYYYY CLOWN!!!!

Ugh. Will sit back, get around to some wine in the coming hours, and then come back here.

In the meantime, I'm going to think about all the times I thought being equal and privileged was just too easy, not challenging enough, and how at the age of 9, I hatched the marvelous plan that led me to where I'm at today -- the one where I decided I wanted to pay more taxes than those who make the same amount as me in order to get healthcare, how I want to be told I can't marry someone I love, how I want to increase the chances of getting my skull bashed in at a bar, and how much more fun I figured it would be to be told I was going to hell on a daily basis rather than just accepting my privilege.

I mean, I know we're talking about albatrosses here, so my story is really irrelevant, but should anyone feel like lashing out at timm for his comment, please take my very serious testimony of how I wound up a big queer into account before taking him to task. Come on -- it just sounded more fun! Who wouldn't choose that?! I guess I'm only shocked that more people don't have the same thought process as me and go straight out to a bathhouse!

no one that deep in denial ever acknowleges any amount of gay.

he felt the need to announce he was straight because he partook in a topic about being gay. like gay was cooties and you might catch it.

timm's self assessment is 100% straight. guarenteed.

you guys should write screenplays.

Nice try with this emotional story but if this is part of your diabolical plot to get timm to feel bad for you so that you two become close and eventually you can put one of your gay moves on him....don't bother.
He's straight.

Oh no, I don't wish to convert Timm, I only wish to lend credence to his idea that a story about albatrosses should not be stretched into a commentary on humans, as obviously even a diabolical 9 year old could know that nobody was BORN that way...and had to choose it.

It's obviously a choice, and one made by kids around the country every day, fully understanding the repercussions of what that choice will mean. But, really, by the time you turn 20 and realize just what a bad choice it was, how can you go back? What would your family say? What would your friends say?

I can speak from personal experience -- it's simply too late to turn back. It's just being gay on principle at this point.

very true. I dont tell people who I think may not be comfortable with it.. I havent said a word to anyone in my family - even extended family except my Mom (who guessed it and asked me) my brother (who thought it was better than me dating dudes) and my cousin who is gay. Of course my Dad knows now and two of my Uncles found out... but 80% of my extended family I havent said a word too and dont plan on it (about my sexuality of course).

i've come up with a permanent solution to be sure no one here thinks i'm gay.

thank you.

I must talk to more Independent / Libertarian registered Conservatives.

But yeah... there is also a huge difference of opinion on this by age. Younger generations dont really see the big deal.

i say get married and pay taxes...other than that gl as for how repubs feel ..who knows its a funny thing fine lesbos are ok:D but gay men are nasty.

Timmi's not a bad guy & he was just replying to my question when he said he was straight.

I just would hope he could realize that me or BWS being gay.. or Timmi being straight.. are not "choices".

The article had a lot more than gay albatrosses, I'm sorry if that's all you saw....I disagree with the dimmer switch comment. That would make it seem like everyone would have a propensity to be gay at some point. I don't think so....Which is why I don't believe anyone is truly bisexual at all. They are lying to themselves.

It's not just about albatrosses -- but the first one to condemn the article basically said as much. There are tons of studies out there that are similar and have shown homosexuality in nature over and over and over.

I think I speak for anyone that any talk of albatrosses from here out is nothing but mocking the poster who gave a wise word of caution to not make a jump from them to humans.

Yeah albatross' have big cocks.

Let's talk about what really matters: Who here thinks they have the right to poke themselves and their own personal opinions into someone else's bedroom-love-sex-entire life?

This is not the topic of the thread for a reason. A very simple question, either people are born gay or they aren't...

I have yet to talk to anyone about their sexlife,and probably won't in the future. Please send this "news release" to GLAAD right away,huh?

i wasn't arguing that everyone had a propensity to be gay.

i'm arguing that sexuality is a lot more complex then a simple state of "a" or "b" and that's all there is to it.

guilt can drive you toward simplistic explanations. and most of us don't want to rummage around in the basement enough to find out what actually drives us.

but someone saying they've never, ever, ever, had a passing gay thought is like someone saying they have never, ever, ever, had a passing thought of harming another.

that's why i say most people are somewhere on a sliding scale.