Being gay is a fetish.

[vorlon13]

Good list, but they left off Terry Dolan

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Terry_Dolan_(activist)

[thesummerqueen]

Sexuality is NOT like cultivating your flavor palate. I've never heard such bullshit.

[robvalue]

Where does this crap come from, this misinformation? Do you think it's mainly religious propaganda?

I don't think I've met anyone ever who thinks it's a choice.

[Esquilax]

In Australia they have this substance they eat called Vegemite.  Basically it is a jelly made from used up brewers yeast.  The rest of the world thinks the substance is pretty vile but the Australians have chosen to like it.  They have cultivated a taste for it.  Could homosexuality be the same?  Could it be something people with a certain pre-disposition cultivate a taste for?  

I think homosexuality can be a choice in very much the same way cultivating a taste for Vegemite is a choice.  I'm sure some Australians always remember liking Vegemite and would claim they don't have a choice but to like it.

I'm one of those who would say I always liked the stuff, and didn't have to cultivate a taste for it. Why on Earth do you think that merely demanding that it's a choice anyway invalidates that? Why do you think your mere assertion counts as any kind of argument?

'Course, Heywood is ignoring me, he's run off in a huff and attempted to take the ball with him, but reducing what little credibility he has is always rewarding, especially when he's reduced to arguments that are tantamount to putting his fingers in his ears and yelling "it's a choice! It's a choice!" over and over.

[LostLocke]

If homosexuality was a choice, that would mean that by default heterosexuality is also a choice.
I don't know about the rest of the straight guys here, but I never chose to be straight.
A choice implies that you made a conscious effort to be attracted to girls instead of guys. You looked at and considered both boys and girls, and ended up going with girls. I can't speak for everyone, but I never went through that phase. I basically just went to school  one day I realized, I like girls. I liked that their legs were suddenly 60x longer than their body, and that their shirts seemed a little too tight for them.

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I'm sorry, what were talking about?

The lifestyle is certainly a choice.  

Being attracted to members of the same sex isn't a 'lifestyle', anymore than being attracted to members of the opposite sex.

Unless of course you mean the 'having sex with people of the same sex'. Sure, you choose to do that. Just like straight people chose to have sex with people of the opposite sex.
So what?

[thesummerqueen]

There are a lot of Christians who do note that difference and insist that even if you are attracted to the opposite sex, you shouldn't ever act on it.

[LostLocke]

There are a lot of Christians who do note that difference and insist that even if you are attracted to the opposite sex, you shouldn't ever act on it.

That's true. Hadn't thgouth (<-- spellcheck wants to change that to 'goalmouth'.... what the fuck is goalmouth?   ) of that.
But by 'lifestyle' I'm also wondering if he means things like... rampant sex (because straights are never overly sexually active) or drugs (because straights never do drugs) sexual abuse (because straights never sexually abuse each other) etc....

[Esquilax]

There are a lot of Christians who do note that difference and insist that even if you are attracted to the opposite sex, you shouldn't ever act on it.

Which is, of course, yet another lie used to cover their bigotry: while the bible specifically states that gay sex is an abomination, and says nothing about gay marriage, I don't think we'd find a single "if you're gay, just be celibate because that makes me more comfortable" christian who would not be against celibate gay marriage too.

[John V]

I really shouldn't have to say this, but the thing you identify as isn't necessarily the thing that you are, and especially with cases of sexual orientation there are outside social pressures, many of them religious, some of them not, that are a factor, beyond strictly accurate reporting.

you don't have to say it. I already have, noting that bis are pressured to report as gay.

How many times have we heard the story of closeted gays or bi folk, afraid of reactions from society? Particularly from heavily religious families that indoctrinate their young people so heavily; it's hardly surprising that people come into themselves and change their label. Sexuality is a gradient, not a dividing line; you can discover things about yourself that you had never known before as time goes on, that hardly means that it's a choice.

Adding or dropping a team as an adult sounds like making a choice to me.

Regarding the twin issue, some studies indicate that a genetic propensity is influenced by other environmental factors both pre-natal and early in life; say it isn't purely genetic, but is set by a series of factors beyond your control at a young age. Is that a problem? That's still not a choice you get to make, you know...

Any studies along those lines that I've seen stop well short of saying they prove that sexuality is set at a young age. Links would be helpful.

[abaris]

The lifestyle is certainly a choice.  

So you're saying repressing one's sexuality and lead a miserable life is the way to go. I bet you never met a gay person in your whole life, cause if you did, you might have just talked to them instead of letting your ass do the talking about things you clearly don't understand and don't want to understand.