Heidi Troester

PSYC 101
Research paper

Is homosexuality a choice or are you born that way? People have been asking this
question for so many years now. There have been studies after studies to answer this question,
yet scientists have not proved conclusively what causes homosexuality, although recent studies
suggest physiological factors. For people to come out or even think their different there has to
be examples and those examples lead to choices in life to live as a homosexual.
There are reasons to believe that homosexuals are made not born. An example of this is
extremes of sexual re-conditioning. American men who go to prison young and spend 10 or 20
years there, and when they get out, many are what the activist organization Stop Prison Rape
calls "functioning bisexuals." For years, they have conformed to the sex system in men's jails
and prisons, which includes "married" cellmates, gang rape of new young inmates, and
systematic brutalization of gay inmates. These men were straight when they were first
sentenced, but in prison many reach the point where they like sex with men. A similar thing is
happening to women, as we send more and more females to prison. Women prisoners are
commonly brutalized by male guards. Lesbian relationships are common in prison. In a word,
women too are sexually impacted by the prison experience. This point of view comes from a
Patricia Nell Warren an investigative journalist and novelist who focus on free speech and gay
and lesbian issues.
Americans who say individuals cannot change their homosexuality is 43 percent of
people surveyed and are more sympathetic to the gay view on these issues than the 44 percent
who see it as a choice. Just over half, among those who think sexual identity cannot be changed;
it is much lower, less than a third, among those who think being gay or lesbian is a choice.

Everyone has their own opinion on whether its a choice or we are born that way, some
take a negative spin on it and completely deny any evidence or reasoning that they may be
wrong. For example someone against biological: "Homosexuality is an unnatural act -- period,"
said Warren R. Whitted, a 72-year-old retired minister here. "They're human beings, but you
can't encourage their life style." As with other points, there was a strong split on the acceptability
question between people who view homosexuality as a choice and those who do not. Of those
who consider it a choice, only 18 percent rated it as acceptable, compared with 57 percent of
those who regard it as something gay men and lesbians cannot change. Once again, there was a
split between men and women, with 42 percent of women calling homosexuality acceptable,
compared with only 30 percent of men.
In general, Scientists found people want their children to have as little contact with
homosexuality as possible, a position that may stem from arguments by the religious right, not
borne out in statistics, those children can be taught to be homosexual and that homosexuals are
prone to molesting children. More than half of those surveyed said they would not permit their
child to watch a prime-time television situation comedy with gay and lesbian characters, to read
a book containing a story about a gay couple or to play at the home of a friend who lives with a
gay parent.
All of this information leads me to believe yes there are reasons to believe that
homosexuals are born different from heterosexuals, but people make choices every day to live a
certain life style and those choices come from seeing and mimicking other life styles like an
example that people follow. So yes I do believe that homosexuals are born that way but their life
and choices are shaped around someone elses example of what they thought homosexuals
should act and live like.