Why do people think homosexuality is a choice?

Answer 1

Because it is. Understand, I am not being judgmental, que sera sera. The life of another is not my own. Neither are their choices. This is an exercise in logic.

Every action of every human being who has lived, currently lives, or will live is a matter of choice. Humans are conscious, self-aware, sentient beings. Although the argument can be made that people often operate on "auto-pilot," this is a metaphor for seemingly autonomous activity. While we may not consciously choose to do or not do a thing, the choice remains.

Here's the thing: those who prefer to be thought of as pro-gay espouse that homosexuality is a matter of genetic predisposition. Genetic predisposition takes the choice out of it. Or, does it? Sorry, no. It might be factual that homosexuality is a matter of genetics, but that has yet to be scientifically determined. The only evidence available to support it is anecdotal at best. Several examples of anecdotal arguments follow.

Other species practice homosexuality, so it must be natural.

Weak argument. What are the individuals of other species really doing? When dogs mount each other, it is believed this is a domination ritual. It has nothing to do with sexual preference. Can't. "Preference" presupposes sentience, self-awareness. The only animal on this planet blessed (or cursed) with self-awareness is humans. Animal behavior is instinctively driven and the purpose of any animal act cannot be easily equated with human behavior for one simple reason, sentience. They don't have it; we do.

Many homosexuals feel different from birth.

Many people feel different from birth, and this leads to a life long search for reasons for that differentness. Some deal with it by experimenting with their creativity and become artists, actors, or authors. Some experiment with it by trying to gain control over others and wind up becoming bullies, criminals, or cops. Still others experiment with sexuality to find an answer. Within the experiment lies the choice. This does not mean that they were genetically predisposed to result in those career or life choices. It could be an element, but again, still not proven.

Sexuality is perfectly normal, whether it is between people of the same or different genders.

No doubt. Sexuality is perfectly normal. As is the act of sex, which is not in itself sexuality; rather, it is an expression of sexuality. The act of sex has one purpose. Pay attention because this is going to draw fire. The purpose of sex is procreation. It is as simple as that. It has no other purpose than reproduction. This is scientific fact. Not assumption. Not belief. The fact that sex acts are pleasurable only reinforce the desire of people to perform it and procreate. Think about it this way, if some negative result is associated with sex, and that is reinforced during every act of sex, the drive to repeat the act of sex diminishes. If say a person became nauseous and vomited during every act of sex, that person would eventually first find it difficult to locate a sex partner, and that person would likely very quickly stop looking for partners and become celibate. Humans, like all life on this planet do not tend to repeat displeasure.

The contrary is true, as I hinted above: pleasurable acts tend to get repeated. Usually as often as possible. If a person has experimented with same gender sexual acts and found it to be pleasurable or even remotely satisfying, they are likely to repeat it. If however they do experiment and suffer displeasure somehow, either through physical distress or pain, or mental or emotional distress, they are not likely to repeat it. In short: feels good, do it again; feels bad, stop doing it. Still a matter of choice.

Let's say for the sake of argument that homosexuality is a genetic predisposition. Okay, so is classic Alcoholism. So by this argument, society should allow the genetic alcoholic to remain untreated, unmolested by criminal law, and permit them to drink themselves into oblivion. What argument works for one must work for all in the same situation.

There may be genetic components to schizophrenia, depression, drug abuse, anger issues, and just about any other human behavior. That does not mean that any behavior that is considered by the majority of a culture to be morally averse should be encouraged without question within that society or culture just because one is genetically predisposed to it; people with ALS are predisposed to genetically, but that does not mean we deny them medical treatment. It does not mean wither that such behaviors should not be examined.

Try this: most people would disagree with the argument regarding leaving the alcoholic alone. I disagree with leaving someone who is in such a self-destructive situation, and who is potentially harmful to others, alone. Most people in fact disagree as well. The fact is, if a genetic alcoholic never takes a drink of alcohol, he will never become an alcoholic. He can choose to not be an alcoholic before he ever becomes one. He can also choose to stop being an alcoholic (at least an active one) once the genie is out of the bottle.

The same is true for any other genetic predisposition.

Let me try it another way. There are two human behaviors that are natural and also practiced by other members of the animal kingdom: nose picking and masturbation, apes do both, especially chimpanzees our nearest genetic cousins, and all apes perform either or both acts publicly--take a trip to your local zoo and stand by the ape habitat and watch for a couple hours. It is safe to say that nearly every member of the human race has engaged in either or both of these activities. However, it would be considered morally reprehensible to one degree or another for anyone to argue that either should be acceptable public practices. No one even dares to discuss either topic openly very often, and even then typically only in closed environments. Neither activity is particularly harmful to anyone. Both are natural, normal activities. Why is there no "Nose-Pickers' Lobby" in Congress? Why are there no college classes in "Masturbators' Literary Perspectives?" Because it would be ridiculous. Much as discussing openly most human behavior choices.

Regardless of what anyone thinks about homosexuality, what two consenting adults do in the privacy of their own home or a hotel room, is between those two adults and really is not the business of anyone not directly involved. Those who are not engaged in the act have no vote; they do not have a choice in the matter. It is entirely up to the two consenting adults. It is what they choose to do. Slapping a genetic compulsion on it does not remove the choice.

So, can we put this discussion to bed now too?

An Alternate Opinion:There is an argument above that asserts that homosexuality is a choice. That debatable assumption doesn't answer your question, any more than my assertion that "people are misinformed".

I think the answer to your question is "fear". It is perfectly normal to fear what we don't understand, and since most of us don't want to be homosexuals, we insist that it's a choice -- a choice we don't have to make.

Without exception, every gay person I've met in the last 40+ years has been able to look back on their past and recognize signs of their sexual preference, so I suspect that folks who think it's a choice haven't discussed this with an actual gay person.

(Of course -- I'm veering into Discussion here -- the whole "Choice/Born gay" argument is irrelevant. Religious preference is also a choice; that does not make it immoral or illegal.)

Yet Another Opinion:Some people experiment with their sexuality. This often occurs either during the teenage years when one's sexuality is beginning to bloom, or during 'college years', when many people are free of their parental or guardian constraints. Also, it is not uncommon to find people who simply wish to be sexually pleasured regardless of whether the person doing it to them is a man or a woman. Especially for people not interested in relationships, there is much more sexual ambivalence. The existence of these people doing these actions may lead others to believe that homosexuality is always a choice, when it may only be a choice some of the time. We should be careful to distinguish between homosexuality of the mindset and homosexuality of the actions.

Also, many people may have simply been told that homosexuality is a choice, without any direct observation of homosexuality.