What is the origin of homosexuality?
353880
i think just as the first person, that we as homosexuals are attracted to the same sex as heterosexuals are attracted to the opposite sex.\n\nhave heterosexuals chosen their lifestyle or are they born that way?  most will say that they are born that way.  as a straight man is inherently attracted to women. they probably can find another man good looking, but does not go further with any action of sex with him. Why? because he is not Sexually attracted to him.  \n\nSame as a gay man, we can find a women absolutely gorgeous but does not want to have sex with her. \n\nWe as humans can recognize beauty that can surround us (as with other people) but to be sexually turned on is something that is a biological feature within us. Any person can physically have sex with anyone we choose. for example,  a straight man can physically have sex with another man but is he gay? or a gay man can physically have sex with a women is he straight? I think that sexuality is a very deep subject that has a ton of variables that can not be simply categorized in to it is this because of that.\n\nhistory has shown that homosexuality has been around for as long as sex has been around.  knowing this i have come to the conclusion that homosexuality is a biologic thing.
334864
A current theory of sexual development, the lovemap theory states that we develop our sexual attractions at a young age, based off of experience and genetics. So whether we are attracted to men or women, short hair or long hair, tall people or short people is determined around the age of 3.\n\nHomosexuality being a choice is very unlikely, because it's not a choice that 5% of the population would make if they were aware of it. Who would choose to be ostracized by society, hated, treated like a second class citizen, given dramatically less chances to find love or be accepted? As such, it appears very likely that homosexuality is not a choice.\n\nThe problem becomes that if you follow the Christian religion, saying that homosexuality is not chosen becomes problematic. It implies that a loving God would curse some of his children to never be allowed true love without damning their souls through sin. So many people prefer to think that Homosexuality is a choice in order to make them fit in with their view of how the universe works.\n\nMe? I was born gay. I didn't choose it. It's who I am. And I'm not ashamed of it.
385270
I personally believe that it is a combination of genetics and environment.  It is never a "choice"...  Some people are predisposed to being attracted to the same sex by genetics, and other people are predisposed only under certain conditions.  There are also people that no matter what happens to them in their life they will never ever be gay.  Being gay is what arouses a person.  For me personally, a man does nothing for me... but a woman I find very arousing.  Its just the way I am, and no matter how I try to imagine myself with a man, it just does not work.  It feels very wrong and uncomfortable.  It does not feel natural.  A woman feels very natural, as Im sure it feels to a straight man.  I am a follower of God, and I believe that as long as we love, we are good.  Hate is what opposes the Lord, not love, no matter what form... whether I love my dog, my child, or my girlfriend, its still love, and only good can come from love.  Hate, ignorance, deception and misunderstanding are not good, therefore they are not following the Lord's path.  \n\nThere are gay animals by the way.. have you ever heard of the Bonobo Chimpanzees?  Look them up and their sexual behavior... you will find they are the most sexually free of any species on the planet, it doesnt matter if you are male or female.
126625
Where's your evidence?\n\nWe all start out female (that's the reason guys have nipples). The gender gene kicks in later and we develop into males and females. Suppose any genetic or hormonal conditions which lead to homosexuality kick in after gender is determined? There'd be no more reason to think that ALL women would therefore be bisexual than there would be to say all men were bisexual.
862435
Homosexuality is determined at birth?  I completely disagree with this assumption.  I am sorry, sinning is a choice, whatever the form.
969192
Read Exodus 20 & Romans 1.  They explain the root reasons of homosexuality.\n\nLean not on your own understanding, but trust in the Lord.
319987
I sort of agree with the second responder here, but I'd elaborate.  Homosexuals didn't exist partly because the word didn't exist, but also people didn't think about sexuality in those terms.  These days, we call someone a homosexual and we refer to it as if it is an innate part of their personality.  Among the Romans (and Greeks, and lots of other places in the world), sexual activity of one kind or another wasn't attached to people as an innate quality but just as something people did.  \n\nThink of it this way: lots of people play soccer.  For the most part, we just think of it as something people do, not who they are (unless they are professionals, but I'm talking generally).  But, some time in the future, we might decide that playing soccer is a really important indicator of who a person is, so we'll come up with a name for *anyone* who plays soccer - not just the professionals.  That's what happened with "homosexual" - same-sex sexuality used to be an activity.  Now it's an identity.
342171
Sexual customs have varied greatly over time and from one region to another. These, as well as the orientation of particular pre-contemporary figures continue to be studied. Modern Western gay culture, largely a product of 19th century psychology as well as the years of post-Stonewall Gay Liberation, is a relatively recent manifestation of same-sex desire. It is generally not applicable as a standard when investigating same-gender sex and historical opinions and beliefs held by other people.\n\nIt is generally accepted that the lives of historical figures such as Socrates, Lord Byron, Edward II, Hadrian, Julius Caesar, Michelangelo, Donatello and Christopher Marlowe included or were centred upon love and sexual relationships with people of their own gender. Terms such as gay or bisexual have been applied to them, but many regard this as risking the anachronistic introduction of a contemporary construction of sexuality foreign to their times.[citation needed] Variations from modern standards of beauty, social roles, sexual positions, and age disparities are of such magnitude so as to render meaningless any projection of modern roles onto historical personages. This does not mean, however, that people in the past experienced the physical phenomenon of homosexual attraction any differently than people experience it today.\n\nWhile some premodern societies did not employ categories fully comparable to the modern homosexual or heterosexual dichotomy, this does not demonstrate that the polarity is not applicable to those societies. A common thread of constructionist argument is that no one in antiquity or the Middle Ages experienced homosexuality as an exclusive, permanent, or defining mode of sexuality. John Boswell has criticised this argument by citing ancient Greek writings by Plato, which he says indicate knowledge of exclusive homosexuality.[citation needed]Michel Foucault and historians following his line of thought have argued that the homosexual is a modern invention, a social construct of the last 100 years.[citation needed] While true of homosexuality as a scientific or psychological category, there are examples from earlier ages of those viewing their sexuality as a part of a human identity and not merely a sexual act. [citation needed] One cited example is the 16th century Italian artist Giovanni Antonio Bazzi who adopted the nickname "Sodoma", which is viewed by Louis Crompton as something analogous to the modern gay identity.\n\n\nThe earliest western documents (in the form of literary works, art objects, as well as mythographic materials) concerning same-sex relationships are derived from Ancient Greece. They depict a world in which relationships with women and relationships with youths were the essential foundation of a normal man's love life. Same-sex relationships were a social institution variously constructed over time and from one city to another. (See Pederasty) The practice, a system of relationships between an adult male and an adolescent coming of age, was often valued for its pedagogic benefits and as a means of population control, and occasionally blamed for causing disorder. Plato praised its benefits in his early writings, but in his late works proposed its prohibition, laying out a strategy which uncannily predicts the path by which same-sex love was eventually driven underground. (See Philosophy of Greek pederasty)\n\nThe Roman emperor Theodosius decreed a law, on August 6th, 390, condemning passive homosexuals to be burned at the stake. Justinian, towards the end of his reign, expanded the proscription to the active partner as well (in 558) warning that such conduct can lead to the destruction of cities through the "wrath of God." Notwithstanding these regulations, taxes on homosexual boy brothels continued to be collected until the end of the reign of Anastasius I in 518.\n\nDuring the Renaissance, cities in northern Italy, Florence and Venice in particular, were renowned for
403385
Depends on who you ask, but neither is. If you read the oldest and purest form of the bible it says nothing about being gay. It is true that the old testament talks about spilling the sperm and wasting, but you have to understand the science (or lack thereof) of the time. They believed that the whole baby was in the sperm and the womb was just an incubator. There for any time a man climaxed out side of a woman, it was killing a child. Many laws in the old testament were built off this belief. \nAnd also note that all the law about this are in the old testament, when Jesus came he said because of his death, the old laws were void. As for the new testament, remember that most of the  books were written by more then person, some books by many of different people. Their students (their intentions may have been good) pieced together teaching and  beliefs from themselves and the disciples. \nMy advice would be to do a lot of research on both sides of the argument, and look with yourself. There is a good book called "Gay theology with out apology" I don't know the author. good luck.
1066258
Darwin's theory of evolution isn't so fickle an idea that it can be disowned by some horny sheep.  Most animals that show homosexual behavior, still mate and breed heterosexually.  Sex feels good to animals too.  And sometimes, sex is just sex.
141630
No, depends who you ask, and no.\n\nMental illness: As has already been answered, the APA ruled that homosexuality was not a mental illness in 1973. I have linked to the APA site for their current take on homosexuality.\n\nSickness: There is growing scientific evidence showing that sexual orientation is determined in the womb, probably due to a combination of genetic and hormonal factors. Sexual orientation is more akin to handedness: sure a left-handed person can be trained to write with their right hand, but that doesn't make them a right-handed person. I have provided a link to some of the current research.\n\nAdditionally, biologists have reported homosexual activity in the animal kingdom, including pair bonding of males. Such things are unlikely to occur if homosexuality was a human choice or the result of an overbearing mother as is often theorized.\n\nSin: Depends who you ask. Sin is subjective and varies from religion to religion. Ask a Hindu if its a sin to eat a cow and they'll say yes. Ask a Catholic and they'll say no. Ask a Jew if its a sin to eat pork and they'll say yes. Ask a Christian and they'll say no.\n\nYet the odd thing about Jews and Christians is that much of their faiths are based on the same book: the Old Testament. The same chapter that denounces pork as a sin also denounces homosexuality. Yet Christians think pork is OK and homosexuality a sin. In fact, homosexuality is about the only item denounced in that chapter that Christians still believe. It may also interest you to note that the word "homosexual" didn't exist until the 1850's, so any Biblical translation that includes that word could be a mistranslation.\n\nSo it really becomes a question of belief. If you believe homosexuality is a sin, then it is. If you don't, then it isn't. The whole concept of sin is foreign to anyone who doesn't believe in God. Native Americans considered homosexuals as special beings who embodied both the masculine and the feminine, and often looked to them as shamans.\n\nYou'll just have to make up your own mind.
597895
You will probably get a lot of comments about how homosexuality is not a choice.  However, the question is not at all hypothetical.  The ancient Greeks faced this problem.\n\nIn the ancient Greek system boys were taken from their families at the age of seven and put in a boarding school.  Homosexual love was a recognized custom.  Each boy had an adult male lover who wooed the boy with gifts, poetry, protection, and training.  They played together naked.  Because it was considered the accepted thing to do, virtually all the men practiced homosexual behavior, and thought it normal and expected.  They choose to be gay, if you will, but it was more peer pressure than free choice.\n\nSo, what happened to reproduction?  That was indeed a problem.  Men did not want to take upon themselves the responsibility of having a wife.  They did not want to do their duty to their nation state by getting her pregnant.  So the government was forced to give special tax breaks and status to those who had children.  A man was not thought ill of if he allowed another man to give him children through his wife.  It was still hard to keep up the birth rate, and this may have had a lot to do with the eventual collapse of the Greek culture.\n\nThere are many more corrupting influences of homosexual behavior than merely the threat to the continuation of the human race.
476920
Homosexuality is quite obviously no more a choice than heterosexuality is.  \n\nIf Homosexuality is a choice – then when did you choose not to be gay?  When did you look at the options, and choose to be heterosexual?\n\nCould you choose to be homosexual?  Then why do you think that other people can, and do?
304881
It really is simple. People are born with their sexual orientation encoded due to hormonal or genetic influences in the womb (see twins study, finger length study, hypothalamus study... all determined in utero).\n\nSexual orientation blooms during the pubescent years as hormones rage and bodies change. Suddenly girls aren't icky to boys anymore and vice versa. Same with gay teens, they suddenly become aware of desires that they weren't before, although most gay people I've met were aware of their orientation long before but never found the words to describe it.\n\nThe recognition of sexual desire and orientation is just part of growing up.
1153634
Nowhere in the Bible does it say God made gays and lesbians.  However, I do believe they are born that way.  \n\nThink about this for a moment......why would anyone become gay?  Look at the hatred and ridicule they would have to put up with all their life.  Do you really think someone would make the conscious decision to live their life under a magnifying glass and hold themselves up for contempt and scorn????\n\nSorry but homosexuality isn't a choice.
1095589
There is no real answer for that question.\n\nHomosexuality has been around for a very long time but since the 1800s it has been considered taboo and often becomes hidden. Most likely the majority of the world is heterosexual with a large portion of the remainder being bisexual. I have never met a homosexual in my life, all of my "homosexual" friends have been in fact bisexual.
852992
still asking this question?? there is NO SUCH thing as being "born gay"...and no concrete scientific proof, either. just another lie and excuse people like to use to explain why they do what they want to do! people do experiment with same sex, and get hooked. known people who've told me this, and now they're "full blown" homosexuals.