How do people become gay
by Fred Penzel, PhD
This article was initially published in the Winter edition of the OCD Newsletter.
OCD, as we know, is largely about experiencing severe and unrelenting doubt. It can cause you to challenge even the most basic things about yourself – even your sexual orientation. A study published in the Journal of Sex Research found that among a group of college students, 84% reported the occurrence of sexual intrusive thoughts (Byers, et al. ). In order to have doubts about one’s sexual identity, a sufferer need not ever contain had a homo- or heterosexual experience, or any type of sexual life at all. I hold observed this symptom in young children, adolescents, and adults as well. Interestingly Swedo, et al., , establish that approximately 4% of children with OCD encounter obsessions concerned with forbidden aggressive or perverse sexual thoughts.
Although doubts about one’s own sexual identity might seem pretty straightforward as a symptom, there are actually a number of variations. The most apparent form is where a sufferer experiences the reflection that they mig
Is a person &#x;born gay&#x;, or is being gay a learned behavior?
Being male lover is not a choice for people. Instead, it appears to be a fundamental part of who someone is. It is not a learned habit. Which also means that people cannot “unlearn” their sexual orientation.
Of course just because we understand it isn’t usually a learned habit, that doesn’t imply that we contain a good explanation for what is going on biologically. We don’t.
What we do know is that there isn’t one single gene that explains homosexuality. Something as complicated as sexual orientation is going to involve lots of genes. And not only that, but it will involve the environment too.
Now by the environment I don’t just mean an overprotective mom or a domineering dad. “Environment” is a catchall for everything that isn’t a gene. For instance, what the fetus experienced while in the mother’s womb can affect its growth and influence action later on in life.
So even though you might await that the environment only causes temporary changes, that’s not always the case. The environment can cause brains to be
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Why Are People Gay? Homosexual By Choice or Is Being Gay Genetic?
Estimates as to the number of gay people in the population range from 1-in to 1-in, so why are some people gay? Are they gay by choice or is creature gay genetic?
The simplest retort is to look at the definition of the word "gay." The legal title gay is a synonym for homosexual, which is defined as,1,2
"Of, pertaining to, or exhibiting sexual long for or behavior directed toward a person or persons of one's own sex."
In other words, % of people experience same-sex sexual attraction or behavior; of course, this doesn't say to what makes people gay. No one knows for certain why any individual is gay, but the current thought is that being gay is not a choice. (read: Cure the Gay: Lgbtq+ Conversion Therapy – Concrete or Hoax?) The reasons people are gay are both physiological and psychological.
Why Are People Gay? – Physiology
Modern science is functional to show that genetics is one of the causes of being same-sex attracted, although some science conflicts in this area. According to Psychology Today,3
"In recent years, evidence has accumulated