is a person born gay ?
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body.docxRunning head: IS A PERSON BORN GAY ? 1
Is A Person Born Gay? 4
Is A Person Born Gay?
Leticia M Taylor
Columbia Southern University
Introduction
Being gay means one is sexually attracted to members of own sex. Such a person identifies with another individual of the same character or the larger community of gay. Sexuality defines a whole range of desires, feelings and other actions relating to sex. The reason behind being gay is an issue that has generated heated debate whether it is biological or acquired.
The question behind the debate is whether homosexuality is learned or a genetic trait. Apparently the issue has created controversy in our culture. Much of the media sources assume the controversy has been solved with all the evidence concentering on the biological basis. Contrary to the perception, the controversy has been poorly studied and researched although there lies credible evidence on both sides of the controversy.
The liberals have argued that being gay is inborn and cannot change thus they should be accepted in the society (Grossman, D'augelli & O'connell, 2002). The activist claims that the different scientific research has proven the issue of being gay has a genetic and hormonal connection. The pro-gay activist says that it is an unchangeable characteristic just like eye color or race. A closer scientific evidence shows both nature and nurture contributes to homosexuality.
The conservatives, on the other hand, tend to believe that that sexual orientation is personal preference chosen by an individual. They think that it is highly influenced by the post-natal influence and events (Miller & Waigandt, 2000). They claim that if the behavior is genetically determined, then it would likely to appear at the same rate in every culture, but clearly the case is different. The debate whether being gay is inborn or not has been widely studied, and it is likely to attract more interest. The gays have advocated for their rights to be observed and enforced thus there is the need to extensively research on which side holds more weight and supported by credible evidence.
Different scientific experiments have supported the pro side of the argument. One of them was carried out by Simon leVay on the brain part called hypothalamus of nineteen cadavers. His results showed that hypothalamus in heterosexual men was larger than that of the homosexuals. Another experiment supporting the argument was on twins by Michael Bailey and Richard Pillard. They compared sets of male twins who were identical to the fraternal twin. In each of set of the twins studied, at least one was homosexual.
The con side of the argument claims that the scientific research lacks enough supporting evidence. The sexual emotions arise due to lack affirmation and closeness in the relationship of the father and other male peers. It thus leads to emotional conflicts that lead to sadness, anger and loneliness. Also, scientists haven’t yet been able to differentiate between the male and female microstructure of brains let alone the homosexual brains of male and female.
The argument between the pro and the con side of whether being gay is inborn or not has been supported by varied opinions and arguments. None has proven to give enough proof of the basis of the arguments. A controversy over the issue has attracted advanced and diverse research. The paper seeks to discuss whether being gay is inborn or acquired.
Literature Review
The chapter discusses the issues relating to whether one is born gay or it is a behavior that is learned. The first part will discuss the history of homosexuality and definition of primary terms of both the con and pro side. The second part will explain the reason behind being gay and various arguments that have been presented by different people on both sides of the controversy. The last part is the conclusion of the literature review.
History
The behavior of the same sex sexual attraction has always been in existence. It was accepted in the ancient world. The Roman and Greek emperors engaged in it. The men were also involved with women. Sapon-Shevin, (2004) stated that decision of sexual partners was entirely an individual responsibility and choice. Historically the behavior has been viewed as sinful or a form of criminality. In the recent decade, the perception of being gay has significantly changed as a result of questionable sexual orientation; biological or genetic rather than etiology.
Gay-It is a person who is attracted to a person of similar sex. Although the word can refer to any sex, “lesbian” is at times used to refer to women who are attracted to other women.
Homosexual- It is a clinical term for persons who are attracted to members of similar sex.
Gender identity- It is the sense of being female, male, a gender, genderqueer and others.
Inborn behavior-It is a behavior that exists from the time when a person is born and can also be inherited from the parents.
Genetics- It is the science of heredity that deal with differences and resemblance of related organisms that result from the interaction of the environment and genes.
Acquired behaviour-It is the behavior of human beings that results from the effects of the environment. For instance behavior as a result of peer or parental influence.
Sexual orientation-It is an enduring sexual or romantic attraction to a person of opposite sex or even gender. The attractions are subsumed under homosexuality, heterosexuality, and bisexuality.
The Cause And Research On Homosexuality
Many factors contribute for one to become gay. The orientation may not be necessary a personal choice. One of the cause is the deficiency of the love of the same sex. A person who is gay may have felt different from a young age. When the person experiences the attraction later, they are likely to naturally re-interpret their past that they have always been gay. Homosexuality is as the result of unmet need for one to bond with same-sex peers and hence continues to adulthood (Joanis, 2000). Another cause may be an unhealthy relationship with the members of the opposite sex. For example, females can hurt a young man by criticizing, smothering, controlling, criticizing and ignoring proper boundaries. Males who have gone through such wounding develop a relationship that is unhealthy in adulthood. They therefore either cling too closely or push them too far away thus disrupting the opposite sex attraction capacity. The relationship between opposite and similar sex have both contributed to homosexuality though they are not the only cause of issues. There are others that have been researched on and represent both debatable and undisputed arguments.
Apart from the personal relationship with members of the same and similar sex, genetics have been said to contribute to one becoming gay. The current thinking in the scientific fraternity is that being gay is caused by the complex interaction of environmental, psychological and possibly biological factors. There exist a handful of scientific research for genetic and biological causes. They include the study of the brain, the twins study and the study on gene linkage. Diverse research has been carried out by different psychologists based gene contribution to one sexual behavior. For example, Dean Hamer, a homosexual researcher, linked homosexuality to DNA that is located at the X chromosome tip. He said that being gay is not purely genetic as the environmental factors also play a significant role. Those against homosexuality argues that there exist no particular master gene that determines whether one is gay or not. Another example is a research carried out by Simon Le Vay, who studied the difference in the brain hypothalamus of heterosexual and homosexual men. Though his research contained an argument that could be scientifically proven, it is said that it lacked enough proof that being gay is inborn. The twin study by Bailey and Pillard promote that being gay is genetic. Among the twins studied the rate of homosexuality was above fifty percent. All of these arguments have been discussed from different perceptive though those who are against homosexuality term these arguments as baseless and insufficient. The argument whether being gay is inborn or not has therefore generated a controversy between psychologists and religion
As discussed in the previous paragraphs there lies a controversy on the cause of homosexuality. In all the argument there exist a counter argument that contains factual information. One can easily tell that it may be due to a combination of factors that include cultural, psychological, social and biological. Even though scientists unequivocally demonstrated brain, bodily or the difference in genetic between those who are gay and the rest of humanity, there still no proves that being gay is inborn (Haggerty, 2013). Even if the public associated or caused by as correlation, synonymous fails to prove causation. The issue has created a battlefield between psychologist and religion where one tries to outdo the other’s argument. Christians, on the other hand, argue that God had a reason when he created male and female differently. Human beings have to change the purpose by acquiring the behavior of homosexuality. Other religions have also risen against the advocates of homosexuality despite the different campaigns to embrace the behavior.
Conclusion
The question of the origin of homosexuality has been a subject in much press, with the general impression based on that genes widely promote it rather than the environmental factors. When one examines the scientific literature, it is not as clear as the news would suggest. Numerous studies that measured hormonal levels but only used proxies for the influence of hormones without having direct proxies indicated an actual hormonal imbalance or hormonal levels. Early childhood abuse is associated with gays but only express ten percent of those who are gay (Horn, 2012). The fact that different sexual orientations are never constant for many people, it's changing over time. It suggests at least some of the sexual orientation is a personal preference. The question on gene influence has been recently studied by use of DNA microarray technology and the results at large extent have failed to pinpoint particular genes as a major factor in sexual orientation.
References
Grossman, A. H., D'augelli, A. R., & O'connell, T. S. (2002). Being Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, and 60 or Older in North America. Journal of Gay & Lesbian Social Services, 13(4), 23-40.
Haggerty, G. E. (2013). Being Gay. GLQ: A Journal of Lesbian and Gay Studies, 19(4), 584-586.
Horn, S. S. (2012). Attitudes about Sexual Orientation. Handbook of Psychology and Sexual Orientation, 239-251.
Joanis, S. T. (2000). Human rights law in B.C.: Sexual orientation. Victoria, B.C.: British Columbia Human Rights Commission.
Miller, D. A., & Waigandt, A. (2000). Coping with your sexual orientation. New York: Rosen Pub. Group.
Ross, J. M. (2002). Introduction to “Being Gay and Becoming a Psychoanalyst: Across Three Generations”. WGLM Journal of Gay & Lesbian Mental Health J. of Gay & Lesbian Mental Hlth., 6(1), 29-30.
Sapon-Shevin, M. (2004). Being Out, Being Silent, Being Strategic: Troubling the Difference. Journal of Gay & Lesbian Issues in Education, 2(2), 73-77.
