Homosexuality - Choice? or Genetic?

[AR Husker Fan]

There is a difference between an emotional disposition and a genetic disposition. The former is the result of culture and environment. The latter is the result of the genetic combination of traits. Again, with blue eyes as an example, a person born with blue eyes has a specific genetic dispostion, which is unalterable by environment. A person that is empathetic to others is someone that has been raised in an environment that cultivated respect for others - putting one's self in another's shoes. However, that empathetic disposition can be altered by environment, such as being placed in a continual "eat or be eaten" kind of environment.

[HuskerShark]

AR, Benny, and anyone else that think it's straight up genetic, I have a question for you.

 

If being gay is completely genetic and isn't a 'choice' that is developed from an individual's environment, will we see the number of gays decrease as time goes on? Think about it. If it is becoming more acceptable to be gay, which it definitely is, wouldn't we begin to see this 'gay-gene' start to disappear among humans? If it is a gene that is passed on from parents, the eventual acceptance and legalization of gay marriage will 'allow' more people to 'come out' at a younger age and not be having heterosexual sexual relations and be passing the 'gay-gene' on to the next generation.

 

I really don't think that it's completely genetic, more a disposition, but I really don't know enough about it to say one way or the other.

 

Technically, if it were purely genetic, this is how it would work. It's just like crossbreeding cattle. If your herd has been crossing Hereford and Angus cattle for a long time (Herefords serving in place of the "gay" parent) and then you decide to take your 50-50 Hereford-Angus cross calves and breed them all to Angus bulls, less and less Hereford traits will show up as each generation passes. There will always be traces of Hereford even 20 generations later, but it will be so minimal that the calves will likely look like purebred Angus calves.

[huskerswrkhavoc]

Maybe I just don't get it, but how is eye color a disposition?

 

1.

the predominant or prevailing tendency of one's spirits; natural mental and emotional outlook or mood; characteristic attitude: a girl with a pleasant disposition.

2.

state of mind regarding something; inclination: a disposition to gamble.

3.

physical inclination or tendency: the disposition of ice to melt when heated.

 

Eye color doesn't fit there for me.

[AR Husker Fan]

AR, Benny, and anyone else that think it's straight up genetic, I have a question for you.

 

If being gay is completely genetic and isn't a 'choice' that is developed from an individual's environment, will we see the number of gays decrease as time goes on? Think about it. If it is becoming more acceptable to be gay, which it definitely is, wouldn't we begin to see this 'gay-gene' start to disappear among humans? If it is a gene that is passed on from parents, the eventual acceptance and legalization of gay marriage will 'allow' more people to 'come out' at a younger age and not be having heterosexual sexual relations and be passing the 'gay-gene' on to the next generation.

 

I really don't think that it's completely genetic, more a disposition, but I really don't know enough about it to say one way or the other.

 

Technically, if it were purely genetic, this is how it would work. It's just like crossbreeding cattle. If your herd has been crossing Hereford and Angus cattle for a long time (Herefords serving in place of the "gay" parent) and then you decide to take your 50-50 Hereford-Angus cross calves and breed them all to Angus bulls, less and less Hereford traits will show up as each generation passes. There will always be traces of Hereford even 20 generations later, but it will be so minimal that the calves will likely look like purebred Angus calves.

No. That doesn't take into effect that breeding ("cross" or otherwise) can and does result in traits that new, unique, or different from the parents. Those results derive from the genes of the parents, but the mixture can and does result in traits that don't follow the norm for either parent.

[AR Husker Fan]

Maybe I just don't get it, but how is eye color a disposition?

 

1.

the predominant or prevailing tendency of one's spirits; natural mental and emotional outlook or mood; characteristic attitude: a girl with a pleasant disposition.

2.

state of mind regarding something; inclination: a disposition to gamble.

3.

physical inclination or tendency: the disposition of ice to melt when heated.

 

Eye color doesn't fit there for me.

In biological terms, genetic disposition has two meanings. One is "tendency", as in a genetic disposition to, say, a disease. The other is a trait that is the result of the genetic mix and is expressed physically. In other words, it doesn't necessarily refer to a "tendency".

[Enhance]

Here's why: Every homosexual person that I have ever known throughout my entire life has had some sort of parent issue. Some are neglected, some are abused, some have divorced parents so they have a mental block toward heterosexual relations, and some simply don't get along with their parents, so my view on them is that they turn gay to teach their parents a lesson. It's really as simple as that.

I think there's a lot of grey area in this debate.

 

My roommate is a homosexual. However, there's absolutely no aspect of his life that would have made him "choose to be gay." He has fantastic parents who support him and his decisions, he's an excellent student, is in a caring relationship and has good friends. I grew up with the kid and know him better than anybody, probably even better than his own parents. There's no 'issue' in his life that led him to be gay.

 

And, like AR said, there are still heavy social stigmas attached to being a homosexual. I just can't imagine anybody would choose a life they know will be more difficult than normal. It's like saying 'why yes, I choose to live my life with one leg and no arms, because it sounds like a doozy.'

 

I'm not trying to say being a homosexual is wrong - personally, I think people should do what they think is right for them. My roommate is vehemently against the idea that people choose to be gay. I've heard him say, on more than one occasion, that being gay is the most difficult part of his life. Yet, he still chooses to do it because it's who he is.

[huskerswrkhavoc]

Maybe I just don't get it, but how is eye color a disposition?

 

1.

the predominant or prevailing tendency of one's spirits; natural mental and emotional outlook or mood; characteristic attitude: a girl with a pleasant disposition.

2.

state of mind regarding something; inclination: a disposition to gamble.

3.

physical inclination or tendency: the disposition of ice to melt when heated.

 

Eye color doesn't fit there for me.

In biological terms, genetic disposition has two meanings. One is "tendency", as in a genetic disposition to, say, a disease. The other is a trait that is the result of the genetic mix and is expressed physically. In other words, it doesn't necessarily refer to a "tendency".

 

Can you provide some sort of link to some sort of hard evidence on this? The only things I've seen, even with genetic disposition, points towards a tendency. It talks about the potential environmental things causing the disposition to either occur or stay suppressed..

[HUSKER 37]

As a gradeschooler, discovering my Dad's magazines with pictures of two women going at it really turned me on...But I still have trouble seeing a picture of two guys even kissing, so I'm pretty sure I'm a Lesbian trapped in Chastity Bono's body.

 

But seriously..Haven't you all met some guy that was Married...maybe even with kids...But was Sooo efeminate rhat given the right (wrong?) environment, SHOULD have been gay?

 

Adolescence/hormones are different...There's a period of time when even the wind changing direction will get you hard and you'd probably stilk it in anything that would let you...Maybe even a meat grinder if it was lubed properly.

 

But I think the highest percentage (~51%?) is because of a mutation on a chromosome that I thought some scientist were on the verge of identifying...But that alone isn't usually enough..I have a feeling that it takes a combination of that PLUS an emotionally distant father.

 

The effeminant..effemenen...girly men are the result of the mutant gene but without the distant dad. (but with the changing social acceptance, I feel that may be the case at a lessening percentage of occurances)..

 

That's all an extreme oversimplification, and not all gays are effeminate, but probably the result

of different percentages of "nature vs. nurture".

 

I still have no idea why all women aren't gay.

[carlfense]

Here's why: Every homosexual person that I have ever known throughout my entire life has had some sort of parent issue. Some are neglected, some are abused, some have divorced parents so they have a mental block toward heterosexual relations, and some simply don't get along with their parents, so my view on them is that they turn gay to teach their parents a lesson. It's really as simple as that.

Whoa. Really?

 

I haven't known a lot of gays but the few that I have known had wonderful parents. No issues whatsoever as far as I know. (Other than one had the unfortunate experience of being raised by CU fans in Boulder. Other than their college preference they were great people.)

[It'sNotAFakeID]

AR, you're not assuming that things are either one way or the other, are you? Like either something is purely genetic and unalterable by the environment or is purely the result of the environment? If so, then you are telling a half-truth; you're right with your example (blue eyes being purely genetic), but the majority of behaviors (sexual orientation included) are a combination of genes interacting with an environment to produce a result. Genes only encode for atendency, at least as far as behaviors are concerned. Here's an example:

 

Genes code for either a high activity form of the enzyme MAOA or a low activity form of the enzyme MAOA. A study done examined kids with high MAOA activity who lived in stressful vs non-stressful environments and kids with low MAOA activity in stressful vs non-stressful environments. The low activity MAOA gene(s) have been linked to aggression and criminality but only if the child was raised in a stressful environment. The high activity MAOA gene(s) have no link to aggression and criminality even if the child was raised in a stressful environment.

 

So rarely (as far as behaviors go) is it ever just one or the other. Both genes and the environment are here for a reason, otherwise, why have them if they aren't effecting anything?

 

And here's something else for those of you who think it is purely genetic, a study done on homosexual men showed that a majority of them shared a gene, but that not all of them did.

[knapplc]

Isn't the main point that we "live and let live," not where homosexuality comes from? Sure, the roots of homosexuality are fine for discussion - as long as we don't use that conversation to invalidate who someone is.

 

I haven't commented on this topic much, but I have read the conversation. Good stuff so far. It's telling that we're having a conversation where the majority of us aren't homosexual, yet the tenor of the posts is acceptance, understanding, information. We've progressed beyond the slurs and the total lack of acceptance for the most part. I'm very happy with the progress we're making as a society. I hope it continues, until we get to the point where homosexuality is as accepted as any other form, and we simply have no reason to talk about it.

[HuskerShark]

Isn't the main point that we "live and let live," not where homosexuality comes from? Sure, the roots of homosexuality are fine for discussion - as long as we don't use that conversation to invalidate who someone is.

 

I haven't commented on this topic much, but I have read the conversation. Good stuff so far. It's telling that we're having a conversation where the majority of us aren't homosexual, yet the tenor of the posts is acceptance, understanding, information. We've progressed beyond the slurs and the total lack of acceptance for the most part. I'm very happy with the progress we're making as a society. I hope it continues, until we get to the point where homosexuality is as accepted as any other form, and we simply have no reason to talk about it.

 

I hope I don't get hated on, but I really hope that we don't get to that point in society...

[carlfense]

I hope I don't get hated on, but I really hope that we don't get to that point in society...

I won't hate on you for it but I'm glad that we, as a people, are increasingly accepting.

 

How would you feel if I said that I hope that people are increasingly less tolerant of Christians? (FWIW, I don't hope that.)

[knapplc]

Isn't the main point that we "live and let live," not where homosexuality comes from? Sure, the roots of homosexuality are fine for discussion - as long as we don't use that conversation to invalidate who someone is.

 

I haven't commented on this topic much, but I have read the conversation. Good stuff so far. It's telling that we're having a conversation where the majority of us aren't homosexual, yet the tenor of the posts is acceptance, understanding, information. We've progressed beyond the slurs and the total lack of acceptance for the most part. I'm very happy with the progress we're making as a society. I hope it continues, until we get to the point where homosexuality is as accepted as any other form, and we simply have no reason to talk about it.

 

I hope I don't get hated on, but I really hope that we don't get to that point in society...

 

You hope that you don't get treated the way you treat gays, you mean?

[carlfense]

Isn't the main point that we "live and let live," not where homosexuality comes from? Sure, the roots of homosexuality are fine for discussion - as long as we don't use that conversation to invalidate who someone is.

 

I haven't commented on this topic much, but I have read the conversation. Good stuff so far. It's telling that we're having a conversation where the majority of us aren't homosexual, yet the tenor of the posts is acceptance, understanding, information. We've progressed beyond the slurs and the total lack of acceptance for the most part. I'm very happy with the progress we're making as a society. I hope it continues, until we get to the point where homosexuality is as accepted as any other form, and we simply have no reason to talk about it.

 

I hope I don't get hated on, but I really hope that we don't get to that point in society...

 

You hope that you don't get treated the way you treat gays, you mean?

+1. Ouch.