Why am i homosexual
by Fred Penzel, PhD
This article was initially published in the Winter 2007 edition of the OCD Newsletter.
OCD, as we know, is largely about experiencing drastic and unrelenting doubt. It can cause you to doubt even the most basic things about yourself – even your sexual orientation. A 1998 research published in the Journal of Sex Research establish that among a team of 171 college students, 84% reported the occurrence of sexual intrusive thoughts (Byers, et al. 1998). In order to possess doubts about one’s sexual identity, a sufferer deserve not ever have had a homo- or heterosexual experience, or any type of sexual experience at all. I have observed this symptom in adolescent children, adolescents, and adults as well. Interestingly Swedo, et al., 1989, found that approximately 4% of children with OCD experience obsessions concerned with forbidden hostile or perverse sexual thoughts.
Although doubts about one’s have sexual identity might come across pretty straightforward as a symptom, there are actually a number of variations. The most obvious establish is where a sufferer experiences the thought that they might be of a different sexual orientation than they formerly believed. If the su
Across cultures, 2% to 10% of people report having same-sex relations. In the U.S., 1% to 2.2% of women and men, respectively, identify as male lover. Despite these numbers, many people still consider gay behavior to be an anomalous choice. However, biologists have documented homosexual conduct in more than 450 species, arguing that queer behavior is not an unnatural choice, and may in fact play a vital role within populations.
In a 2019 issue of Science magazine, geneticist Andrea Ganna at the Broad Institute of MIT and Harvard, and colleagues, described the largest survey to date for genes related with same-sex behavior. By analyzing the DNA of nearly half a million people from the U.S. and the U.K., they concluded that genes account for between 8% and 25% of same-sex habit.
Numerous studies have established that sex is not just male or female. Rather, it is a continuum that emerges from a person’s genetic makeup. Nonetheless, misconceptions persist that same-sex attraction is a choice that warrants condemnation or conversion, and leads to discrimination and persecution.
I am a molecular biologist and am interested in this new study as it further illuminates the
Why Are People Gay? Lgbtq+ By Choice or Is Being Gay Genetic?
Estimates as to the number of gay people in the population range from 1-in-20 to 1-in-10, so why are some people gay? Are they gay by choice or is organism gay genetic?
The simplest respond is to look at the definition of the word "gay." The designation gay is a synonym for homosexual, which is defined as,1,2
"Of, pertaining to, or exhibiting sexual longing or behavior directed toward a person or persons of one's own sex."
In other words, 5-10% of people experience same-sex sexual attraction or behavior; of course, this doesn't say to what makes people gay. No one knows for certain why any individual is gay, but the current thought is that being gay is not a choice. (read: Cure the Gay: Queer Conversion Therapy – Concrete or Hoax?) The reasons people are gay are both physiological and psychological.
Why Are People Gay? – Physiology
Modern science is functional to show that genetics is one of the causes of being queer , although some science conflicts in this area. According to Psychology Today,3
"In recent years, evidence has accumulated that a homosexual orientation is inherited. Study of family history reveals that homosexua
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