Why does homosexuality exist?
If it is a genetic trait, one would think that absent scientific or medical interference, or absent a heterosexual encounter, the behavior would die with the individual. No genetic material passed to a new generation, no new generation of homosexuals.
However, since we have new generations of homosexuals and as the media would lead one to believe, more today among us than in the past, something else must be happening.
Consider the options:
- Hereditary Genetic trait
- Hereditary Genetic mutation or defect
- Environmental Influence
- Chemical or Substance (Non-Hormonal)
- Hormonal
- Social
I’ve already addressed my thoughts on #1. If reproduction is limited for individuals with a particular trait, say green eyes, the trait becomes less common in subsequent generations. That doesn’t mean eradicated, but certainly less prevalent. In that homosexuality appears to becoming more prevalent, I doubt it’s genetic. But who knows?
As for genetic mutation, I think the same pretty much applies. To practicing homosexuals who have no heterosexual partners or medical intervention, there is no new generation to pass anything on to. And adoption and surrogacy don’t count.
So that leaves environmental influences. I’ve long suspected this anyway but have hesitated to write about it because of the expected backlash and hate comments. But I was so impressed with this thought process that I HAVE to write about it!
Sadly, I doubt anyone will ever do a study on this because quite frankly, people either don’t care or don’t want to know. If someone can show what causes the switch to flip to the other direction, then we get into a world of asking how to flip the switch back? Or should the switch be flipped? We could find a whole new litigious order of legal practice over culpable practices and products. Certainly, industry doesn’t want that and no self-respecting homosexual wants to subject himself/herself to diagnostic testing in order for someone to find out what’s WRONG with him or her!
But what if…?
Sure! What if we take what science tells us about how the fetus is bathed with hormones. What if we take how this hormonal bath affects the sexual identity of the fetus and apply some simple logic. No religion! No platform! Just logic!
Now, add in all of the hormones, man-made and natural, in our foods. Milk! Chicken! Soy! The list could go on.
Take the sexual revolution’s crown jewel, the Pill, and add this in for good measure. Let’s mess with the mother’s natural hormone balances for years and years, sometimes starting as an early teen. Let’s hope that the body cleanses itself of these hormones well enough before a pregnancy. And if not, then what?
Could we have an issue when that naturally occurring hormone bath time comes? I think so.
“According to scientific findings detailed in an engaging, accessible fashion in The Female Brain, the process starts very early indeed. In fact, it is during the first 18 weeks of pregnancy that waves of hormones determine whether a baby’s brain becomes male or female. “Until eight weeks old, every fetal brain looks female.” And then, in male babies, a huge flow of testosterone actually kills off brain cells in the communication centers and fosters growth of cells in the parts of the brain that support aggression and sex. The female baby brain, absent this male hormone bath, “sprouts more connections in the communication centers and areas that process emotion.”
Brizendine clearly lays out the facts. “Although we were taught that sex differences mostly came from how your parents raised you as a boy or girl we now know that’s not completely true,” she writes. “There is no unisex brain. Girls arrive already wired as girls, and boys arrive already wired as boys.” (Source: http://www.compleatmother.com/articles2/baby-brain.htm )
Proving this would be hard for the reasons I already mentioned. No pharmaceutical company wants the liability and no doctor or pharmacist wants it either. Certainly, Planned Parenthood would swing from the highest gallows for its involvement in the Pill trade!
Many of you won’t like this post because you don’t want to accept that homosexuality is (1) hereditary genetic trait, (2) hereditary genetic flaw, or (3) chemically or hormonally induced.
Could it be socially induced? Influence from media? Opportunity? Boredom? Curiosity? You probably don’t like those choices either, opting to say that these social factors only serve to make one more self-aware and to act on their feelings more comfortably. But it’s probably a hard-sell to pin “cause” on these.
That’s fine.
Of course, that leaves one other option—Choice.
If it’s none of the above, then it’s simply a choice.
Now, I know (personally) some who say they were “born this way” and I can’t argue the point with them. But that suggests then that it’s one of the causes listed above. A congenital condition.
“JoAnn Deak reports that the differences in male and female brains start in the womb. “Many female brains have more neurons in certain areas than male brains, as a result of having more estrogen bathe them during fetal development. A hormonal/chemical wash (estrogen for girls, testosterone for boys) actually enhances certain parts of the brain and changes them structurally before birth. Therefore, each of us is born with different hard wiring.” (Source: http://www.pbs.org/parents/raisinggirls/brains/nature.html )
So if it’s chemical or hormonal, they’re right. They WERE born that way! But that doesn’t mean it’s something to be paraded around and celebrated. If it’s truly genetic, it’s a self-defeating trait and should have died off decades ago since purely homosexual individuals could not procreate. I would think that natural selection would find it counter-productive to the continuation of a species and weed it out. (Not that I buy into evolution.)
As for genetic defects, well, hemophilia is a genetic defect but you don’t see “Bleed Freely Pride” celebrations with people cutting themselves and bleeding in the streets! Ever hear of “Huntington’s Pride Marches”? Of course not! So why Gay Pride?
“Hey! Look at me! I’m proud of my genetic disorder and look how I act to celebrate it!”
Ridiculous supposition.
I have no idea what is behind the prevalence (or apparent prevalence) of homosexuality, at least in 21st Century America but SOMETHING is behind it.
Don’t just be a hater… Offer a better suggestion if you have one.
MORE:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Prenatal_hormones_and_sexual_orientation (Best Evidence for my Point. However, it supports a point similar to saying that Thalidomide causes congenital changes too but we recognize those as birth defects. Is homosexuality a birth defect too? It clearly is not in line with nature’s model for procreation in a species.)
http://www.leaderu.com/orgs/tul/psychtoday9809.html
http://www.schizophrenia.com/sznews/archives/005384.html
These kinds of discussions always make me think about alcoholism for some reason. Unless the person believes themselves to be an alcoholic (and that in fact drinking is wrong, at least for them) they will never “get better.” They must make the choice not to act on their impulses and must stay away from anything that might tempt them to drink.
Assuming someone believes in God and the Bible, and therefore that homosexuality is “wrong” – one would think they would need to do what an alcoholic does…make the choice to change, stay away from temptation and use something like the “12 Steps” to help you cope with your “addiction.”
Of course this all comes back to 1) is it a choice? and 2) is it wrong?
When a heterosexual acts improperly on his/her attractions, we find society condemns the “loose” or immoral person—the slut, the whore, the adulterer, the philanderer, etc. Regardless the attraction, the person is expected to control his/her lust and act appropriately.
When a person has sexual desires for children, whether hetero- or homosexual, we condemn that. They are to control if not outright deny their lusts.
When a person has desires towards animals…
The Bible teaches that self-control is to be practiced, not giving in to excess in anything and not giving in to immoral sexual behavior. We are not meant to be creatures that focus so strongly on our sexual and physical gratification, giving way to whatever we desire or can imagine.
I think we innately know what is immoral or not, natural or not. Perhaps’s that’s why some in society have to fight so hard to win acceptance. I wonder if it is more self-acceptance they seek, believing that if/when society sees them as normal, they can see themselves that way too.
I guess my suggestion is that homosexuality has been accepted as a “norm”, not requiring any thought as to cause or cure.
If we were talking about autism, we’d find that it’s not accepted as normal. People have spent countless hours trying to prove or disprove a cause, citing vaccine ingredients as one possible factor.
Not that the two “conditions” are related. Rather, I’m trying to make a point about what is accepted these days as normal vs. abnormal. I’m also trying to highlight how we go about trying to identify a cause and fix when something abnormal enters into the human story. There are some who try to “fix” homosexuality through behavior and thought modification but they often come under very harsh judgment for their theories and methods.