Gays: Were We Born This Way? Is Homosexuality a Choice?

Whether it’s between politicians, family, or friends, there is an ongoing disagreement to the question if homosexuality a choice, or something that people are born with.

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Is Homosexuality a Choice?

There are many who like to say that being gay is, in fact, a lifestyle choice and that those who identify as homosexual are consciously making a decision to love someone of the same gender.

On the other hand, there are those who insist that gay people are indeed born that way, unable to decide their sexual attractions.

Are we Born Gay?

Besides the most obvious argument, that most straight people don’t choose who they fall in love with, (minus cases such as arranged relationships or marriages) most people can agree that everyone, gay or straight, doesn’t ultimately choose who they love.

But is there actually scientific data to back this up? In short, yes, but research and data are still developing as we begin to paint a fuller picture into why exactly some people end up gay, and others don’t.

The most common explanation that homosexuality is something we can’t control is also very flimsy on its own. This being that homosexuality is genetic.

Is There a Gay Gene?

The problem with this is the simple process of how genetic information is passed on – reproduction; something which most gay people don’t naturally take part in. Therefore, how could gay people pass on the “gay gene”?

Logically thinking, this genetic trait would die off after few dozen generations, or become much less prominent over time, eventually disappearing from the gene pool entirely. But the explanation isn’t as simple as a “gay gene”.

Just remember that nearly every species of animal has homosexuality in a small percent of its population. So what exactly is responsible for this unusual characteristic?

Scientists have been able to explain much of this “genetic dilemma” though hormonal related development of a child fetus in the womb.

The Truth is Hormonal

By investigating hormonal levels during pre-birth child development, researchers are beginning to find a correlation between unique hormone levels in the mother and their potential to trigger switches that control sexual orientation, much in the way that hormones determine early physical sexual development, ensuring that a baby’s body develops into either a male or a female.

This hormonal process would act in a very similar way to affect the ultimate sexual orientation.

This is a pretty complex process to wrap your brain around, especially for me, ( I am not exactly an expert in human biology). In the above YouTube video, Lacy from Dnews does a wonderful job outlining this phenomenon in a easier to understand way.

This is an interesting hypothesis into explaining the gaps in the hereditary genetics argument.