Why isn't homosexuality a choice? (genuine question)

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Reply 80

username1560589

Original post by Anonymous

Seriously? It seems you've forgotten about then homosexual part of sexual orientation. :tongue:

What do you mean by this?

Reply 81

loveleest

Original post by SemiteLog

Homosexuality is a personality disorder which should be treated.

erm no.

Reply 82

username457532

You can choose to have sex with someone; be in a relationship with someone and what words you use to describe your identity and if and when you want to be open about your identity. You cannot choose who you are or aren't sexually and/or romantically attracted to. Whether on an individual level or an entire gender.

But most importantly: even if being gay or bi or straight or a lesbian or asexual etc. WAS a choice, you should still respect that and allow people their rights ANYWAY. As long as everything is consensual there's no harm and therefore there's no problem.

Reply 83

hexagonalRod

Original post by WoodyMKC

Nah. You don't choose to like pizza, you either like it or you don't because that's how you're wired. Same thing with your sexuality really.

I think it is a choice on a sub-conscious level. But that doesn't necessarily mean it's wrong.

It's like when people try to justify racial preferences, which, imho roots from prejudiced thoughts on the scale of sexual attractiveness. But unfortunately, it's very hard to not be subjective and therefore easy to disregard that it's possible for anyone to be attracted to anyone. It makes it less romantic and robot-like. We all like to believe in our relationships being special, which, again, isn't a bad thing

Reply 84

username1723547

Original post by SemiteLog

Homosexuality is a personality disorder which should be treated.

"It is exploitative for a psychotherapist to offer treatment that might ‘cure’ or ‘reduce’ same sex attraction as to do so would be offering a treatment for which there is no illness"
The UK Council for Psychotherapy

"There is no scientific, rational or ethical reason to treat people who identify within a range of human sexualities any differently from those who identify solely as heterosexual"
The British Association for Counselling and Psychotherapy

"As same-sex sexual orientations… are not diagnosable illnesses, they do not require any therapeutic interventions to change them""recent publicised efforts to repathologise homosexuality by claiming that it can be ‘cured’ are rarely guided by rigorous scientific or psychological research, but often by religious and political forces opposed to full civil rights for people of same-sex sexual orientations"
The British Psychological Society

"The BPC does not accept that a homosexual orientation is evidence of disturbance of the mind or in development. In psychoanalytic psychotherapy, it is the quality of people’s relationships which are explored, whether they are heterosexual or homosexual"
The British Psychoanalytic Council"

The Royal College of Psychiatrists believes strongly in evidence-based treatment. There is no sound scientific evidence that sexual orientation can be changed. Furthermore, so-called treatments of homosexuality create a setting in which prejudice and discrimination flourish.’
The Royal College of Psychiatrists

Reply 85

SemiteLog

Original post by Mactotaur

This is the main problem. These people are not sick/ill in general (some exceptions may have hormonal disorders or somethings similar). This is a perversion in general or mental disorder based on some events that affect their lives.

Reply 86

username457532

Original post by SemiteLog

I'm both queer and mentally ill and I can't work out what's worse: that you think being queer is a bad thing or that you think you can **** on mentally ill people when saying you think it's a bad thing.

Reply 87

username1723547

Original post by SemiteLog

...did you actually read my post? Homosexuality isn't a mental disorder.

Reply 88

Rainbow Student

Original post by jamestg

I have been wondering about this for a while now, this is a genuine question by the way.

Surely it can be a choice?

The same reason that heterosexuality (being straight) isn't a choice

You can choose to acknowledge or ignore it, but you don't choose to be it if that makes sense

(edited 8 years ago)

Reply 89

Tootles

Original post by DamnDaniel2

Thats called gender fluid or confused. Its not a choice. If it was a choice so many people would not have committed suicide for being gay.
Just the way a straight person is attracted to the opposite gender, same with homosexuals. You can't stop that feeling its not possible. You try falling in love with the same gender and you'll see its not possible at all!

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No, that means something else.

Reply 90

Olie

Original post by SemiteLog

And where exactly is your evidence for this? It's funny that you respond to an argument based on evidence from well respected sources in psychiatry with a few vague sentences and no substantial evidence.

Reply 91

username521617

I don't think it's a straight-up conscious choice (as in one does wake up and say "I'm going to be attracted to the same sex now"). However, choosing whether or not to act on certain feelings in their early stages may affect how your sexuality develops during puberty.

The scientific consensus is that homosexuality is likely a product of both biology and environment. Putting yourself in certain environmental conditions, therefore, might have effects.

Reply 92

BefuddledPenguin

I'm bisexual, so I could choose to pretend to be gay or straight, but that's the limit when it comes to choice. If I fantasise about being with a guy, I get turned on, if I fantasise about being with a girl, I get turned on. This has been true since my puberty started.

I can choose which side of myself I present to the world, but when it comes to emotions and lust I don't get to choose how these things are triggered.

Reply 93

SmileyVibe

Its possible it can be a choice in some cases. It's possible for people who experienced some type of trauma to develop the attraction to the same sex to avoid being with the gender who abused them. Like a girl who was abused by men in life and in order to "protect" herself she decided to be with women. Like associating the opposite sex as the abuser so you unconsciously feel attracted to the opposite sex because they don't remind of your abuser. I never been abuse so I can't speak from experience.

I'm not implying all gays are gays cuz of child molestation or abuse in their childhood at all. This elderly woman at my church told her testimony of being "freed" from homosexuality. Her childhood was not rainbows, and cherries at all. She claimed someone telling her sweet things made her feel special and thats why she gotten in a lesbian relationship, and that getting involved in homosexuality can lead to "crossing" into the "lifestyle".

I also heard a testimony of a young man who was a raped by a couple men after being tricked into thinking he was going to a birthday party as a child. He developed feelings for the same sex, and I think now he's straight. Traumatic experiences can mess with your sexuality. Some things are genetic and some things are caused by environments.

(edited 7 years ago)

Reply 94

SemiteLog

Original post by Olie

These people are not physically sick in general. This is why doctors cant find any provable illness. This is a psychological case. These people choose to be homosexuals as contrary to their nature. This is perversion. For example we can observe feminine behaviors on male "female hairdresser". This is not because of they are sick, this is because of they stay under the influence of feminine environment for long time and been affected mentally. An experienced trauma may be another reason, for example facing with sexual harrasment in childhood....

Reply 95

sian.xx

i think its because you cant force yourself to fall in love with an entire gender.
you can maybe force yourself to like one person of the opposite gender, but i dont think liking a entire specific gender is possible..

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Reply 96

popcornjpg

Original post by jamestg

I have been wondering about this for a while now, this is a genuine question by the way.

Surely it can be a choice?

Bisexuality is a choice IMO. Homosexuality, I'm not so sure, I don't think it is most of the time. There is clearly some sort of fault that makes individuals strictly homosexual, it is simply not natural. I'm not condemning homosexuals or labeling them as mentally ill, by the way, I fully support equal rights for all and that includes homosexuals. I just think something must go wrong for a woman to be attracted only to females, vice versa, though I doubt it is psychological and more likely something one is born with.

Reply 97

popcornjpg

Original post by SemiteLog

Not all homosexuals are abused or grow up in an environment of only females/men. I'm 99 per cent confident in saying it is not psychological, but can rather be attributed to something undiscovered in the brain that inverts sexual attraction to the opposite gender.

Reply 98

Dyscopia

Original post by SemiteLog

I beg to differ. There are many homosexuals in the army, which is seen as a "macho" community. Your argument is therefore invalid. Our surroundings do shape us in various ways, but your assumptions are very generalised.

Personally, I do not think it is a choice. It is something one is born with, and cannot change (like all the "conversion" therapies which never have been proved to actually work).

(edited 7 years ago)