Is homosexuality genetic or is it due to factors such as upbringing and environment?

primarily genetics, although in some cases it may be possible for it to be a conscious choice...


Here are news articles relating to genetic manipulation of mice leading to homosexual mate selection. Can't find the report...
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/sc...
http://www.biomedcentral.com/...
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/hea...
http://www.nature.com/nature/...

Fruit Fly and Rat experiments indicate that hyper sexual fruit flies engage is homosexual activity only because there are many more male fruit flies than females, and Rats supposedly engage in Homosexual activity for much the same reasons as Dogs do as a process to enforce hierarchical intentions... All that I know is that for the last 75 years I did not really care either way what people like to lick or suck on... but as of late I have decided that the entire issue is about as interesting as why some dogs become habitual coprophagous... I am tired of having the Homosexual agenda shoved down my throat at every turn and pushed up my backside every time I bend over... So just shut up and live your miserable lives and do the things you like to do instead of looking for excuses for your proclivities. Imagine if all the money spent on these silly studies were put to a cure for the prolapsed anus, or applied to a new school that trains the new specialized therapist, aka the PsychoGyno Omphaloskepsologist...

Now if a person is born bi the upbringing and environment can effect which side they swing more towards but it’s genetics…

Blessings to all and,
May all be well with you ^_^

I really think its a combination of both. I have to go work...so I'm rushed and can't remember what exactly I was going to say.

I highly doubt it's environment, but at the same time it might not be genetics. What it could be, however, are hormone levels before birth. I think homosexual males have a higher level of estrogen than heterosexual males, if I recall correctly.

This has been my theory for a long time, but I won't dismiss the possibility of people being born that way.

Pre-natal hormones seems to be one of the most likely factors.

No one knows for certain. The American Psychological Association says, "For most people, sexual orientation is shaped at an early age through complex interactions of biological, psychological, and social factors. Sexual orientation is not a conscious choice that can be voluntarily changed." The A.M.A., The Academy of Pediatrics, The World Health Organization, and many others organizations, agree with this statement.
I doubt anyone will know before most of us are long gone.

PLASTIC

Truthfully they don't know what causes homosexuality any more than they know what caused a person to be a savant.

But It really doesn't matter if is genetic or a biological makeup or environmental. A person is a person, and how they interact in society is their business and NONE OF ANYONE ELSES!

Genetics and environment always work together. This is why, between one identical twin and the other, that sometimes gene for various conditions are expressed and sometimes not.

The average lay person, however, interprets that in a totally different way than any scientist would. I think the article did at least a half-way decent job of exploring the differences in interpretation and assumptions made between trained scientists and others.

It's probably a combination of different things.

Um.... If Homosexuality were strictly genetic it would have been eliminated by now... that sort of thing doesn't perpetuate. People born with issues related to reproduction sterility, genital malformation, homosexuality simply don't reproduce in Most cases. Outside of factors like Fertility clinics, ClosetCases and copious alcohol consumption homosexuals rarely reproduce.

In some cases I think it must be somewhat genetic.

I've discussed this with my friends who ARE gay. They differ in everything but the fact that it is NOT a choice. Some feel that upbringing played a part, some didn't. There are a number who feel that a domineering mother and a weak or absent father can play a part - but not enough to completely change someone's sexual orientation....just that it may, uh...making them 'swishier'.

As with most things, probably a combination of sorts.

I cannot and will not accept biological behavioral determinism. The very concept is absolutely, positively absurd.

Homosexuality is a developmental arrest. And for proof that the environment is THE influence on homosexuality, I cite ancient Greece. Homosexuality rates hit fifty percent in gay-tolerant (and indeed, gay-fostering) Greek city-states, like ancient Corinth. In ancient Rome, which frowned upon homosexuality, rates never got above one percent. As any *honest* historian will tell you.

Either and/or both

Well think about it... Even if you were genetically gay, you might supress those feelings, or never even realize it, depending on where you live and the people around you.

They aren't born to homosexual parents!

I really have no idea. But if someone is gay, it's no issue. I live and let live. How or why they are gay is for them to decide. It's their business.

I believe it is primarily genetics, although there are certainly some people who choose to experiment with homosexual behaviour. My ex wife left her ex husband and 'came out of the closet' before she met me... she eventually left me and is now with a man again... she doesn't claim to be bisexual, either, she tells everyone she is straight now. So, she CHOSE to 'be gay' for about two years.
Actually, I should have strictly went with "genetics"... I don't think one's upbringing has anything to do with true homosexuality.

I don't know. I know of two siblings who were severely abused by their step mother and they are both gay, one lesbian, one gay male. I think that their abuse as a lot to do with it. I also know a woman who was raped when she was very young and for most of her 20's lived with a woman. Right around 30 she "discovered" that she wasn't really a lesbian and eventually married a man but the assault led to her absolutely hating men for a period of time and convinced her that she was safer with women. I do believe that people can suffer physical or emotional abuse at a young age which leads them to make these choices. Quite honestly, only one person I know who is a lesbian had what seems to be a normal upbringing. Everyone else suffered some serious abuse.

But environment and up bringing can have some effect on how it is manifested in behavior

I think there are those who definitely have something genetically going on. I've been around some young children - boys, for example, who are extremely feminine in appearance as well as actions.



However, it is also evident to me that it can have a lot to do with things that occur while growing up. In either case, I don't think it is a "conscious" choice - something that the individual has control over.

none of the above

There are homosexual people raised in all kinds of conditions, a lot of people who because of their upbringing, wish they weren't homosexual and hate themselves. It's just the way you are.

I also think hormone levels in utero may play a part. In any case, I believe that it is present from birth.

Sorry, folks, but we are not born to be gay. It is not our biological or sexual "default" position.

A person who is gay is disordered sexually -- although he/she may be perfectly normal in every other aspect of life.

We are simply not born or designed to be that way. My hunch is that it's the result of a social environment and culture that has become hysterically obsessed with sex. And which has come to celebrate and promote homosexuality.

I really don't think a person is "born that way." Yes, I know that people cite "science" that says gay people are born that way -- but like anything else, "science" can become highly politicized.

Then why do we see homosexual behaviours in other animals? And if it's because of the environment we're raised in, why are there so many gay priests?

Then how come roughly 10% of every species,, not just humans, is gay? I don't think animals are hysterically obsessed with sex...

Your opinion is based on...

Bias.

Ya think? :^D

But your upbringing and environment have a large role in whether you'll admit your sexuality.

Honestly, I have a gay friend that I knew since I was five and he had a perfectly fine upbringing and was in a good environment. It's just how he is.

I think it's biological, possibly a chemical imbalance or something similar. I also entertain the idea that it comes from some traumatic occurrence in a young child's life. My ex-husband was gay and I saw that he had some real mental instability along with being gay. It seemed like a complete syndrome of different symptoms.

Homosexuality is not a mental illness.
Your ex-husband just happened to be gay AND mentally ill.

And you know who's normal? I'm not saying he was a raving lunatic, at least not all of the time, just maybe a little unbalanced. How do you explain all the personal characteristics that many or most gay men have? Do you think that's just a sexual preference?