So, in the absence of any bathroom-related scandals recently (or maybe i just haven't been looking hard enough, heaven knows they're there) lets talk about something else. I'm winging this, i haven't done any proper research, i have nothing to present, disclaimer disclaimer. Really, i would love it if you would all make use of blogger's fabulous comment option and we can get a conversation going about this.
Question: are people born gay? can they be? are genetics even involved? is it always a biological trait? can it be changed?
Answer: lets figure that out.
I'll start off the discussion. Personally, i think that there can be no set answer. In the same way that we cant say biology determines gender 100% of the time, i don't think it's right to assume one answer for every person in relation to orientation either. I think we aren't born with sexual orientations, but we may be born with certain predispositions. Some people are predisposed to only ever like members of the opposite sex, some only members of the same. I think the vast majority, however, have the capacity to go either way. Society and surroundings, as well as your relationships themselves, then shape that capacity for going either way. Sexual orientation, then, is less like a continuum and more like a multi-laned highway: you can stay in any number of structured lanes, or you can swerve wildly between them at will.
I think I've answered most of my own questions by now....I'm really curious to hear what other people have to say, so go at it!
(also, hyperlink time. This site has some cool information on the topic of biological sexual orientation, both the pro and the con side. very interesting, good for debates)
In the next section of the class we will learn the legal import of deciding the question about whether homosexuality is a choice. It turns out that if a group's characteristic is considered immutable than it is more likely to be considered in a protected class against discrimination.
ReplyDeleteBut the question shouldn't really matter, because there are protected classes (such as religion) which is not immutable.
Anyway, the debate over whether homosexuality is a choice is usually also wrapped around whether homosexuality is moral (or "natural") or not.
So in some respects I think it's not the right question to be asking.
The right question is Do you think homosexuality is a neutral attribute?