Gilda

I voted "no choice" though this is not universal, at least for females.

I did not choose to be lesbian, nor did my wife. She says she’s always been attracted to girls at least since puberty. Her sister reports the same. My sexuality was strongly affected by environmental influences, but this does not make my attraction to females a choice any more than my inability to use my left hand is a choice.

The evidence for males is very strong that exclusive homosexuality for the vast majority of males is a condition that is present at birth and is the result of a combination of genetic factors and gestational hormones. Specifically, unusually high levels of stress hormones early in gestation may activate certain genes, resulting in an orientation to males. This is likely a natural population control method, a built in response to environmental factors that would produce high levels of stress hormones. In non-human mammals the biggest environmental stressors tend to be overpopulation and scarcity of food, both conditions being served by reducing the population. In male-oriented young transitioning male to female transsexuals, the etiology appears to be very similar to that of gay males, though this group is a minority among MTFs. What accounts for the difference isn’t precisely known, but it is thought that the timing of the anomalous hormone levels probably plays a factor.

The evidence for lesbians is far more muddled. There are lesbians, those who exhibit strongly masculine characteristics, or the “bull dyke” stereotype, who seem to have unusual hormone profiles, which in this group points to a biological, though not genetic cause. This also seems to be the most common etiology for FTM transsexuals, who can be difficult to distinguish from very butch lesbians at times. The most common correlation, however, is to acute childhood abuse/trauma, either physical or sexual, as either a victim or witness. Lesbians are far more likely than straight women to have had one or more male abusers in their childhood, teen years or early adulthood, or to have lived in an environment in which they consistently witnessed abuse by males (ie, usually a father/boyfriend abusing their mother). Out of this group, there appears to be two subgroups, those whose sexuality was influenced such that they are rendered incapable of forming the type of bond with a man that a heterosexual relationship requires. Others report simply giving up on ever finding a man capable of meeting their needs sexually, or with whom they can connect emotionally. This last group can fairly be said to have chosen homosexuality, and it seems that even with those for whom it was not a conscious choice, environmental factors outside the womb play a bigger part than genetic or hormonal factors.

Regardless of the etiology, therapy for lesbians tends not to make them straight, even when they’ve resolved the issues related to their past trauma, and “reparative therapies” tend to have about the same success rates as with gay males, with is to say very little, and tend to do much more damage psychologically than help. The goal of therapy for most reputable mainstream therapists who deal with homosexuals is to help them accept who they are and deal with the stresses that accompany their orientation.

Recent studies have show that gay males tend to have certain brain functions that are in line with those of heterosexual females, and lesbians, regardless of etiology, have brain functions, particularly those dealing with the reaction to pheromones, that coincide with heterosexual males, though right now it’s strictly correlational. In other words, we know that lesbian brains tend to respond to women like straight male brains, but we don’t know if that’s the cause, or the result of the homosexuality. Did the differences in brain structure cause the behavior or did the behavior lead to a difference in brain structure? We don’t know, and it would take a longitudinal study to find out.

So with males, it seems they’re born that way, and with females, a minority are born that way, while a majority are the result of environmental factors which lead some to choose homosexuality and others have their orientation influenced in that direction as a result of trauma.

As far as personal experiences, I’m certain that my homosexual orientation is a result of sexual abuse at the hands of several men initially in childhood and later in early adulthood. I’ve had sex with men enough times to know that it’s not possible for me to find either physical release or emotional connection to any man, including one very gentle and understanding boyfriend I had near the end. Grace, on the other hand, has identified as gay since puberty, and never reported any attraction to men at all. She does exhibit some of the common physical features of women with an unusually high level of androgen (for a female) during childhood and puberty, in that she’s unusually tall, has some mildly androgynous features, enjoys sexual dominance, and has always been a bit of a tomboy, never really interested in girly things. Well, other than me. My sister, an MTF transsexual, has been overtly effeminate and identified as female since she was four years old and strongly oriented exclusively to males since the onset of puberty. For none of us was our sexuality a choice.

So, short answer, is it a choice? For males, no, and it seems to be an inborn characteristic. For females, environmental factors are much more important,. For a large portion of females the answer remains no, but for a significant minority of females, it is a choice.

The key thing to remember in all this is that regardless of the cause, there is no good reason to treat homosexuals unfairly or to discriminate against them. How something comes to be the way it is has little to no relation to the value of that thing. Different does not mean sick, and it does not mean bad, and it does not mean harmful. Homosexuality may in some cases result from trauma or other environmental influences, at least in females, but there is nothing morally wrong with it, nor does it harm the individual in any way.

And as my final bit of support for my positions, I'll note that I seem to be in agreement with Ustwo on the major points here, and, to paraphrase him from a few days ago, when Ustwo and I agree on something involving sex, it must be true.

Gilda

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I'm against ending blackness. I believe that everyone has a right to be black, it's a choice, and I support that.

~Steven Colbert