Today, people are blessed with the freedom of choice. There is the opportunity to choose your career, your friends, and even the country's representatives. One of the options the general population does not posses is the choice of sexuality.
There is no time,in anyone's life,when they decide which sex they want to be attracted to. It is not a random idea someone woke up with, thinking "I don't want to be straight anymore; I'm going to try batting for the other team."
There are several organizations, such as Focus on the Family, which believe the opposite. "It is rebelion and an attempt to corrupt society," states James Dobson, the Evangelical leader of the organization, "Homosexuality is also about coloring the world with sex, regardless of the consequences. Its most prominent attitude is selfishness -- getting what's mine, what I deserve; getting back at all those who have hurt me, etc"
If homosexuality were just a form of rebelion, then every teenager in America would be testing a different form of sexuality, and, in doing so, sending Mr. Dobson over the edge.
Also, if it were just done out of selfishness, no one would have to worry about keeping their sexuality a secret.
In some cases, homosexual experimentation is very possible among heterosexuals. Curiosity is simply human nature, but if a person is truly born "straight" they will eventually follow that lifestyle. The opposite is also true.
According to the American Medical Association, there is strong evidence that homosexuality is a genetic trait, much like eye color or race, both things that can't be changed.
The American Psychological association agrees saying, "No, human beings can not choose to be either gay or straight. Sexual orientation emerges for most people in early adolescence without any prior sexual experience. Although we can choose whether to act on our feelings, psychologists do not consider sexual orientation to be a conscious choice that can be voluntarily changed."
Another popular myth on the subject is that homosexuality can be cured.
Some 477,000 medical representatives agree that homosexuality is not a disease and cannot be cured. In fact, there is strong evidence that same-sex attraction is genetic.
The Royal Society's Biological Sciences journal stated that male homosexuality is most likely caused when the mother has a resistance to forming her sons Y chromosome.
Also, it is more common for boys with an older brother to be gay for this same reason. The "excess" Y chromosome material is passed on into a region of the X chromosome in the older siblings. When the youngest is born, he has less of the "masculine" Y chromosome, and will most likely be more feminine.
In women, it is mostly caused by a surplus of testosterone rather then estrogen.
Certain "therapies" that claim to "free people from homosexuality" are no more then a ploy to con the insecure out of their hard-earned money.
The fact that homosexuality used to be misdiagnosed as a mental disorder also plays into the chromosome theory. Often, people who don't feel as though they fit in (i,e; through sexuality) are more likely to suffer anxiety, extreme frustration and depression. Homosexual males are 6.5% more likely to commit suicide then heterosexual males.
Insecure feelings cause many other problems among homosexuals. Though they may never feel attracted to the opposite gender, relationships of such are formed out of lack of confidence.
This would explain how someone could "become" gay. It was never a choice, but rather a revelation of character.
Our society as a whole seems "homophobic." We live a country where the fear of same-sex marriage is similar to that of terrorism. Who can blame someone from "hiding in the closet" when the world is as such?
No one can choose sexuality, only hide it. Until homosexual lifestyles become more excepted, there will always be the debate of whether or not it is a choice.