Why is it that some people are gay, and others aren't?

Message Bookmarked

Bookmark Removed

I don't want to sound critial or anything like that but i would like some honest answers! I have never met a gay person before, and since there is at least one gay person on this thread, I thought I'd ask. What makes a person gay? Is it because they were abused sexually? Is it because they dislike the oposite sex?

― Gale, Tuesday, 5 March 2002 01:00 (twenty-four years ago)

Not to sound like I'm being facetious, but isn't it because they are sexually attracted to members of the same sex and not sexually attracted to members of the opposite sex?

― electric sound of jim, Tuesday, 5 March 2002 01:00 (twenty-four years ago)

i chose the lavendar pill .

― anthony, Tuesday, 5 March 2002 01:00 (twenty-four years ago)

Genet said worrying about being Gay was like worrying about his eyes being green, i belive that , \\. Maybe the whole Freudian stuff is true , maybe its biological. DO you know what ? It doesnt matter

― anthony, Tuesday, 5 March 2002 01:00 (twenty-four years ago)

i think it does matter, in the sense of it being crucial that it's not a minority thing, it's not a difference oppositional to the usual heterosexuality. like gale why not investigate why people "are" *not* attracted to or sleep with people of the same sex or identify as such. also, you in all likelihood have met many people who aren't "straight", without realising it.

― elizabeth anne marjorie, Tuesday, 5 March 2002 01:00 (twenty-four years ago)

i've never been able to figure out why peopel are heterosexual. I mean,men and women fight so much, they are always bashing and killing each other, and then wanting expensive divorces afterwards.

Mind you, I like women and I wasn't sexually abused, but it's just an attraction thing - i've had very satisfying relationships with women and others, but I guess I just prefer...

Blondes

― QUeen G, Tuesday, 5 March 2002 01:00 (twenty-four years ago)

If the mother has mint tea ten minutes or so after eating a fluffernutter, the child will be gay.

― mike hanle y, Tuesday, 5 March 2002 01:00 (twenty-four years ago)

(To be honest I HAVE worried about the colour of my eyes from time to time)

― Sarah, Wednesday, 6 March 2002 01:00 (twenty-four years ago)

Well come ON, they change COLOUR!

― Sarah, Wednesday, 6 March 2002 01:00 (twenty-four years ago)

i like both sexes. i haven't been abused sexually.

― di, Wednesday, 6 March 2002 01:00 (twenty-four years ago)

i don't think its got anything to do with being sexually abused. i think it'd be interesting to find out if its in the genes (big problems for Chrisitans..) or if its environment. i think most people just know don't they? i like the idea of being attracted to people, not just people of a certain gender. and what is it to be gay anyway, is it someone who engages in gay acts or who they're attracted to or what? someone isn't neccessarily gay if they have gay sex, not even bisexual... or is it something someone is. its all very confusing and i've gone completely off topic sorry!

― fran, Wednesday, 6 March 2002 01:00 (twenty-four years ago)

for heavens sake.

Endless postulature over nurture vs nature...

― misterjones, Wednesday, 6 March 2002 01:00 (twenty-four years ago)

It's a bit like asking why some people are SO HAIRY - it's not a hugely important question to most people's everyday lives but it's still an interesting thing to think about in the gap between Neighbours and Wogan. It's interesting because the answer to the opposite question - "Why are people hetrosexual?" is so obvious.

Anyway, why ARE some people SO HAIRY?!

― Billy, Wednesday, 6 March 2002 01:00 (twenty-four years ago)

stop avoiding the real issue - what is the difference between neighbours and owgan?

― QUeen G, Wednesday, 6 March 2002 01:00 (twenty-four years ago)

Harold Bishop

― electric sound of jim, Wednesday, 6 March 2002 01:00 (twenty-four years ago)

Both sides of the nature and nurture argument strike me as simplistic. It seems clear to me that it's a combination of both - that there is a base sexual impulse that is then shaped (or even totally changed) by one's experience and (largely received) personality.

It's no more a "choice" to be gay/lesbian/etc. than it is to have a natural aptitude for maths. But like that aptitude, it can be followed up on, ignored, focused on exclusively or augmented with other characteristics. Not all people who are good at maths will be come mathematicians or behave as if numbers are the most important part of their lives, and not all same-sex attracted people will come out and/or act upon their attraction, or feel the need to embody the lifestyle that said attraction implies. Some people can be good at maths or have an attraction to the same sex, but live most of their lives in such a way that they never consciously realise it.

― Tim, Wednesday, 6 March 2002 01:00 (twenty-four years ago)

Hooray for Tim! That's the best answer to this question that I've ever heard.

― Kim, Thursday, 7 March 2002 01:00 (twenty-four years ago)

I don't know but right now I'm fucking miserable.

― maryann, Thursday, 7 March 2002 01:00 (twenty-four years ago)

it's not a hugely important question to most people's everyday lives but it's still an interesting thing to think about

!
well it fucking stomps all over my days quite frequently. it's not just like some interesting little quirky thing.

― elizabeth anne marjorie, Thursday, 7 March 2002 01:00 (twenty-four years ago)

Hey, sorry, what I meant was that being gay and all the issues that go with it are important to lots of people's lives all the time, but asking WHY is largely irrelevant. It's a scientific question which has an answer somewhere down the line, but from day to day you know if you're gay, you know if others are gay, you live a gay life or don't, you ask more whats and hows than whys.

― Billy, Thursday, 7 March 2002 01:00 (twenty-four years ago)

One thing I was going to include in my extended analogy: like a proficiency at maths, an appreciation for same-sex engagements can be learned even if you don't have a natural aptitude, if a) you attend class, and b) you find the right teacher.

― Tim, Thursday, 7 March 2002 01:00 (twenty-four years ago)

Gale, you probably *have* met gay people before. There's a fair few of them about. Unless your peer group is really homogenous. I am not sure if homogenous is the right word. The OED is no help.

― alix, Thursday, 7 March 2002 01:00 (twenty-four years ago)

With Tim's post in mind, I've decided to tutor a select few cute, skinny indie boys. Any interested young men wishing to sign up may contact me directly.

― Sean, Thursday, 7 March 2002 01:00 (twenty-four years ago)

I am on an internet board where people solicit gay sex. I never thought I'd ever end up here. Call the Daily Mail.

― N., Thursday, 7 March 2002 01:00 (twenty-four years ago)

On the off-chance that looks like a serious comment intended to cause offence, it's not. The Daily Mail sucks ass.

― N., Thursday, 7 March 2002 01:00 (twenty-four years ago)

Hi Alix, What does OED mean?

― Gale, Friday, 8 March 2002 01:00 (twenty-four years ago)

Oxford English DIctionary

― anthony, Friday, 8 March 2002 01:00 (twenty-four years ago)

You must be logged in to post. Please either login here, or if you are not registered, you may register here.