Is homosexuality inherited or learned?

[ChibiHorsewoman]

[color=darkviolet]I know I probably should have cleared it with someone before posting but I figured what the hell, there's already a thread on incest so why not this? And just to clarify, this has nothing to do with whether homosexuality is moral or not or whether it's right or wrong. This thread is just about whether it's learned or heriditary and if it becomes something else it can just be closed.

My stance on homosexuality is that it's inherited because since you can't de-gay people you can't de-straight them either.

I can combat the whole, how can it be inherited if two of one sex can't have a couple as well. Although two males would have to adopt a female couple could just be artificially inseminated. In that scenario the gene (hey, I haven't been in school since 2000!) for being gay can be passed on.

Hopefully I'll be able to prepare some better material tomorrow, but I have to try and sort out what I'm going to say and go to bed.[/color]

[Box Hoy]

I say it's learned. I took a health class and my teacher said that everything that happens to you from birth impacts how you will grow mentally. I don't know any details about the whole inherited idea. If you can inherit homosexuality than I believe it's both. It can happen either way. It's not impossible to become a homosexual over time is it. And if you can inherit it than it should go both ways.

[AzureWolf]

[COLOR=blue]There's a group of scientists that have had the world screaming for gay rights ever since they concluded that homosexuality is indeed genetic. While I fail to see how this justifies homosexuality since it's a "defect" and not an allele, the claim basically states that there's a gene on the X chromosome that codes for a particular protein used in a certain part of the brain (sorry for the lack of specifics). In the case of homosexuals, this gene is different (or altered, mutated, or defective), and so proper cerebral development is not possible, resulting in a sexually confused person.

Of course, that's what the claim is. Some of the researchers believe that more than one gene on the X chromosome is responsible, making homosexuality a more complex genetic disorder (hinting at the concept of homosexuality being a type of anticipation and also a safety mechanism). However, those scientists that have done the research haven't really shown anything to prove it. They say they did research to determine whether or not sexual preference is predetermined by genes. But to date, their experimental method and data have not been released, so one can consider it merely speculation for the time being. It's been quite a few months since then - maybe even a year, so the study's specifics might have finally been released. I just haven't bothered to check up on those guys, heh.

Box Hoy, that sounds like Freudian philosophy. I personally think that's a load of crock. While I agree that experiences and oneself can influence his/her sexual orientation, I don't think it's limited solely by your past experiences. Rather, I think it'd be interesting to see what was going on during the present, when a person realizes his/her sexuality. I'm betting that has just as much influence as past experiences, genetics, and ones' consciousness do.[/COLOR]

[Kamuro]

I believe that it depends on the situation. I do believe that some people are, infact, born gay. I'm not saying that its intirely genetic, but people are different, homosexuality is another difference some people are born with. Some are born with a preference for women, some for men.

However, I do believe that in a lot of cases it was learned. My cousin, for example, is a homosexual. His mom actually made him take ballet when he was young, this among other things I believe influenced him with female tendencies. This left him with feelings he couldn't understand and he turned out to be gay. This is just one example of several that could take place to make a person question their sexual preferences and end up becoming a homosexual.

People can study and analyze it all they want, point is, if they're not gay then its really none of their business. Homosexuals go through enough torment and such by their peers, they don't need people observing them like experiments trying to determine the why they are the way they are. No one studies straight people to understand why they're straight, why do it to homosexual. Just cause they're different?

[JT Darkfire]

Personally, I believe that homosextuality is a genetic trait nor a learned lifestyle. I believe it to be a mental predisposition based on the workings of a persons inner psyche.
Everyone has a type, right? I mean, you might find someone more attractive to you than I would, right? It's the same thing. Homosexuals have their prefference based on the same hormones that anyone else would. It is not determined by the world around you, or by who your parents are. It is all about who you are.
I don't need some crackpot to tell me why people are gay. I just accept that they are, and go about my daily life.

[No-One]

If it's genetic, than why are no one in my family gay? That's all I have to say.

[Skye]

[quote name='Box Hoy']I say it's learned. I took a health class and my teacher said that everything that happens to you from birth impacts how you will grow mentally. I don't know any details about the whole inherited idea. If you can inherit homosexuality than I believe it's both. It can happen either way. It's not impossible to become a homosexual over time is it. And if you can inherit it than it should go both ways.[/quote]
[size=1]I think I agree with him, and I am (though not homosexual) bisexual. It does sound like maybe it depends on how you grow mentally, though I still don't think it's voluntary. I mean, who would WANT to be gay in a society that will just condemn them to Hell if they're gay? And Box Hoy pretty much took the words out of my mouth, so that's my two cents. (And one more cent XD: according to my mother, who is not only a medical transcriptionist, she is also bisexual, it ISN'T hereditary.)[/size]

[Dagger]

[quote name='No-One']If it's genetic, than why are no one in my family gay? That's all I have to say.[/quote]
Speaking generally, a genetic trait does not have to manifest in every single generation in order to be inherited.

But anyway, about the specifics--scientists aren't implying that homosexuality and heterosexuality are determined by a simple set of alleles. Assuming that this is indeed genetic, it wouldn't be like the height of pea plants or whatever. I tend to agree with second paragraph of Azure's post--it makes more sense, in my opinion, for homosexuality to be the result of interactions between several genes than the product of a single mutation.

[b]x kakashi x[/b]: Personally I think that's a little silly. Taking the opposite perspective, I have yet to meet anyone who "became" a lesbian because she was a tomboy as a child.

~Dagger~

[Kamuro]

I didn't mean all gay and/or lesbians are made that way because of outside influence, but I believe in my cousins case, it was a factor. He was placed around girls at a young age, he always played with girl toys, never played with boys, and I believe this gave him girlish tendencies. Its natural for someone to rub off on you if you spend a lot of time with them. I believe that as he got older it got harder and harder to relate to guys in any other way other then sexually. I don't believe its silly at all to think of the situation from a different point of view and actually notice a trend in his life. I'm not saying that this applies to all cases. But there is a lot of gay men who express girl tendencies and a lot of lesbians who express man tendencies. Just a thought.

[James]

[font=franklin gothic medium][color=#808080]Basically, nobody really knows the answer to this question. I will say though, that it's impossible to "learn" sexuality.

A straight male doesn't wake up one morning and simply [i]decide[/i] to be straight. This implies that you can logically choose who you are attracted to or who you fall in love with. If that were true, break-ups would never hurt - because you could "turn off" your attraction or love for someone.

So it's obviously not a choice. And it can't be taught. I can't "teach" you to change your fundamental desires/impulses.

Whether it's genetic or not is unknown. I have only recently read a report which seems to lend more evidence to the genetic explanation, but obviously it's still a subject where very little is known.

But then again, think of what we're trying to quantify here. We are trying to scientifically quantify love. And for anyone who has been in love or experienced any kind of attraction, I think it's obvious that quantifying something like that in cold, hard terms isn't easy.

Anyway, Chibi...yes, you should have asked about this thread before starting it. You [b]know[/b] that this has no clear answer and you [b]know[/b] that it'll turn into two groups trying to justify their own points of view endlessly. So I'm not going to leave it open. If you [i]really[/i] want to discuss this subject, I welcome you to voice your opinions on myOtaku or something like that. At least let's go a few solid months before we get back into this cycle. lol[/color][/font]