Everyone knows that the LGBT community goes through a lot of people giving negative comments or people not really knowing what they go through. But one of the more surprising things that some people say about the LGBTQ community is that being gay or bisexual is a choice. As a gay man, I know this is not true. People seem to think that being gay is a choice instead of something that you are born with. There has been a plethora of research done to show the natural biological fact of sexual orientation.
According to Planned Parenthood, “sexual orientation is a natural part of who you are it’s not a choice your sexual orientation can change over your lifetime.” It goes on to explains how we don’t decide who we are attracted to. Things like boys playing with toys made for girls won’t turn the child gay. People know what they’re attracted to at a very young age. Many people said at a young age they knew they were either lesbian, gay or bi-sexual. It’s not uncommon for your sexual desires to shift over time. It’s called “fluidity.”
Another article from The Guardian further talks about the scientific facts about why sexual orientation is a natural way of life by studying the chromosomes of twins to measure the genetic factors that explain between 25-30% of differences in people’s sexual orientation. Scientist says that twins are the best way to research genetic traits such as genes for sexual orientation. The study showed that two gay brothers share genetic markers X-chromosome.
The most recent study also found shared markers on chromosome 8. But genes are not the only way of explaining sexual orientation.
Girls born with congenital adrenal hyperplasia (CAH), which are naturally increased levels of male sex hormones, they usually have relatively high rates of same-sex attractions as adults. There is so much evidence that proves that being gay, bi or lesbian is a biological trait and not a choice.
Now the bigger question is why do people think it’s a choice? Why do some people just do not understand why it’s biological.
It could be due to the fact that these realities aren’t really taught in schools or sexual education courses. Not enough young people learn about these facts and therefore they become ignorant. The media also likes to block the teaching of sexuality from TV shows, movies, etc so “that kids can just be kids.”
The fact of the matter is we can’t use that excuse anymore. How are we supposed to be progressive as a society if we can’t even teach these principles in school?
If we don’t talk about sexuality especially at a young age, people will become ignorant of things such as if being gay is a choice or not. I understand that some parents might be scared of exposing their kids to the real world too early, but the matter of the fact is the real world already hits us when we’re young, even though some parents don’t want to believe it. When we do implement these facts and ideas into children’s minds, it’ll make the next child who is gay, bi-sexual or lesbian feel included in their community.
