...news media and therapeutic experts have bought into the deception that a few individuals are naturally born gay and can't help it. Nothing could have been further from reality. Homosexuality has been practiced for a large number of years. Basically, homosexuality is characterized as sexual relations between like sexes (i.e., two guys or two females). Numerous people today think that gayness is a part of who a human truly is from the moment of creation. The "genetic and unchangeable" theory has been effectively promoted by gay activists and the mainstream media. Is homosexuality truly an inborn and typical variation of human nature? For a few individuals yes, and for others no. According to Jeffrey Satinover, MD, Founder and former Director of the Sterling Institute for Neuropsychiatry and Behavioral Medicine “There is not any evidence that indicates that homosexuality is 'genetic', and none of the research itself claims there is. Only the press and, sadly, certain...
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...trying to figure out whether it’s our genetics or the environment we are surrounded by that determines the characteristics of us human beings. I think its safe to say that society accepts the fact that our genes establish biological factors such as our height, blood type eye color etc. What about our social behavior? Genes explain anatomy of a human being but they don’t explain why some people act the way they do. It can’t explain why some people are smarter then others, why people are more violent then others or why some people choose to be homosexual. Those types of social characteristics are determined strictly by your surroundings. Our society, environment, education and parental/neighborhood behavior are part of what makes us who we are. Genes can determine how you look but can’t determine how you act. Homosexuality is a hot topic of debate among us in today’s world. From same-sex marriage to Gays and Lesbians adopting children with their partners; there is a lot of ethical questions to be answered when it comes to those topics. When trying to answer these questions we need to get to the root of the issue, is homosexuality a choice or is it something you are born into? Nature or Nurture? Some popular arguments that I will be critiquing in this paper in support of gay marriage are as follows: 1. Homosexuality is a result of genetic and biological factors. 2. Homosexuality is god-given. Homosexuality is a result of genetic and biological factors that result...
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...Homosexuality: Is it a Choice? Alisa Johnson March 10, 2016 Liberty University EDUC 600 Abstract For decades there has been an ongoing debate over whether being homosexual is genetic or a choice. After many researchers conducted a multitude of trials and test there is still no definitive answer to the question. Even after all the data that has been collected affirming that it is in fact genetic, there have been leaks found in those test that suggest there is some bias on the researchers part. A lot of the researchers who have conducted successful test are in fact homosexuals themselves. There have also been discoveries that complete information was disclosed at time of trials being conducted. So, instead of picking random people and conducting the trials, people where purposely chosen who were homosexual prior to the beginning of testing. Homosexuality: Is it a Choice? Sexual orientation has to do with the sex of our preferred sex partner. It is the trait that predisposes us to experience sexual attraction to people of the same sex ourselves (homosexual, gay, or lesbian) to persons of the other sex (heterosexual or straight), or to both sexes (bisexual) (Simon, 2011). There have been a multitude of studies and research done on homosexuality and whether it is in fact an act based on biological, social or psychological stimulus (Knight, 2000). Since the early 1990s, there have been activist arguing that scientific research has proven homosexuality has a direct link...
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... | | |Homosexuality: Nature or Nurture | | |Ryan D. Johnson | | |April 30, 2003 | | |[pic] | | |In recent decades, many hotly debated topics have come under the scrutiny of sociobiologists, trying to determine their causation | | |and origins. One such topic is homosexuality. Originally thought by the American Psychological Association (hereafter referred to | | |as APA) to be a mental disorder, research into its causes, origins, and development have consequently led to its removal by the APA | | |from its list of diagnoses and disorders [1]. Many different theories can be found regarding the root of homosexuality, as far back| | |historically as Ancient Greece. The current debate is whether or not homosexuality is a result of nature: a person's environment | | |and surroundings, or of his...
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...The Nature versus Nurture Debate Sharon Turzai Western Governors University The Nature versus Nurture Debate Nature versus nurture, a debate of the influence of genetics compared to a persons’ environment has been, and continues to be a debate of scholars over many years. On one side of the argument there stands “heritability, a measure of the degree to which a characteristic is estimated to be influenced by heredity” (Wood, Wood, & Boyd, 2011, p. 247). The individuals’ environment or how, where and with whom the person was raised would be the other side of the discussion. On one hand, some believe that nature, the genetics of a person is what decides how a person shall end up in life. Many have argued that intelligence, personality, and even sexual orientation are decided by a person’s genetics. On the other hand, some have stated that it is the individuals’ environment, or nurture that molds the person. Some of course argue that both genetics and environment make up a persons’ destiny. “Today, most psychologists agree that both nature and nurture contribute to intelligence, but they continue to debate the relative contributions of these two factors” (Wood et al., 2011, p. 247). There has been much controversy regarding the nature versus nurture debate. The dispute that develops with the debate comes much from the social and political inequalities that is seems some of the research results in. There are many examples of such issues. Some individuals have...
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...I chose to talk and research about if homosexuality is caused by a defective gene. To start of I would like say that I personally think it’s someone’s personal preference when it comes to sexuality. I also think people are born gay it’s just who they are and it is part of their personality. I myself don’t think there is any genetic or heredity nor necessarily a defective gene, but it is believed to be gay gene. However, no major gene for homosexuality has been found despite numerous studies searching for a genetic connection. It was also believed that homosexuality was a mental health illness. In 1973 the American Psychiatric Association stopped labeling homosexuality as a mental health illness (Corey et al, p.124). According to researchers at the University of Tennessee, Knoxville, they found a clue known as epigenetics. This clue can possible tell whether a man was gay or straight by monitoring small changes in how his DNA functions after birth and this is known as epigenetics (Rice et al. 2012). There is several biological theories such as the hormonal and the epigenetic theories (Rice et al. 2012). In 2012, a new theory has introduced that combines aspects of the genetic theory with the hormonal theory (Rice et al. 2012). This is known as the epigenetic theory, this theory draws on research that will reinforce the hormonal theory as well know as the functions of epi-marks (Rice et al. 2012). This model would explain homosexuality on the basis of the epi- mark managed...
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...Do you have any recollection or memory of your own self before you were born? Do you remember shifting through a menu similar to that of McDonald’s and selecting the color of your hair? What about the color of your skin, or maybe your height? Of course you don’t. However, if you were given the opportunity to completely change the person you’ve worked hard to mold into what you currently call you, would you take it? Again, you most likely wouldn’t. Your physical body, your thoughts, imagination, personality--all make up the whole you. You didn’t choose to be you, you just are. Sadly, throughout the course of history, we, as a collective society, have scrutinized those who were considered “different” simply because we were scared. No matter what the textbooks or historians say, discrimination is the direct result of fear and ignorance. It is a superficial, false hate. How would one define this false hate? Well, if we were to go with the literal definition, according to Webster’s dictionary, hate is the feeling or animosity toward someone[1]. Another widely accepted description of hatred is that it’s very similar to love, often blinding, and making people prone to believe things that are definitely not true. Oftentimes, many of us fall victim to this, and feelings of animosity and prejudice begin to stir in our minds; sometimes these feelings are reflected in our actions. What’s more, the sad part is that same prejudice and feelings of hatred have no backbone—they can’t be supported...
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...I would like you to write on homosexuality, with a special reference to the ancient world and to other cultures. To what extent does the social understanding of sexuality in the ancient world and in other cultures illustrate the notion that heterosexuality, bisexuality, and homosexuality are cultural constructions? Devote most of your paper to offering a clear explanation of the concepts, and only a final section (no more than 20% of your paper) to your critical assessment. Homosexuality behavior varies from culture to culture, but it is heavily practiced in the Africa, Asia, Pacific Islands and native America. The three basic forms of sexual practices that are known around the world are transgenerational, transgenderal, and egalitarian. Transgenerational is the sexual practice in which the people involved in sexual intercourse have a different or often large age gap, in transgenderal the individuals are of the opposite gender, and in egalitarian the partners are socially viewed the as the same gender (Grenberg pg.2). In cultures like the Coerunas Indians of Brazil, the homosexuality that was practiced heavily was trangenerational. Older men healers in these societies would consider it a ritual and a common way of life, to take a young boy healer into the forest for a long period of time to engage in sexual activity for the purpose of transferring his special powers into the boy. In a number of New Guinea cultures like the In the other cultures,what cultures? an older...
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...Anh Huynh – Brett Lavigna Afiwa Tapoyo Kay Dishner English 1302.006 1 February 2013 Homosexual marriage Back in the time, homosexuality was viewed as very negative and people did not even talk about that. However, nowadays it has changed and homosexuality has become more socially accepted. Getting to that point people believe that same-sex marriage should be legalized. Because some people have still not accepted this practice, it has created a big controversial issue. People have conflicting opinions about homosexuality in regards of nature, equal rights, and impacts over the population. Being homosexual for most people are not a choice, it comes from genetic characteristics. There is a twin research shows that if one identical twin is gay, the other twin is also likely to be gay. Moreover, if in the family have people are gays or lesbians, it will be high percent for a baby to homosexual characteristics. This means that genes are important in deciding sexual orientation (Greg). However, somebody think it is not normal and different from law of nature. If we are straight, it does not mean we assume everybody like us; because everybody is not the same. Nevertheless, even if homosexuality seems to be genetic for some, the nature has made women and men predisposed to be together. The law of the nature wants for every species to form couples only between male and female. Even the shape of genitals proves that. A woman’s vagina has a hollow shape, in sort that the penis which...
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...introduction Homosexuality is sometimes also defined in terms of an attraction, preference, orientation, or identity. The term "orientation" is particularly favored by those who are promoting public acceptance of homosexuality.[2] Genetics and Claims of the immutability of homosexuality For more information please see: Homosexuality and Genetics A common argument is that an inclination to homosexuality is inborn and immutable. It is widely believed that the public will become more accepting of homosexuality if they are convinced that it is inborn and immutable. For example, neuroscientist and homosexual Simon Levay stated: "...people who think that gays and lesbians are born that way are also more likely to support gay rights."[3] Research into the issue of the origins of homosexuality suggests that adoptive brothers are more likely to both be homosexuals than the biological brothers, who share half their genes which suggests that homosexuality is not genetically caused. [4][5] This data prompted the journal Science to report "this . . . suggests that there is no genetic component, but rather an environmental component shared in families".[6][7] However, in regards topsychosocial and biological theories in regards to the origin of homosexuality, Columbia University psychiatryprofessors Drs. William Byrne and Bruce Parsons stated in 1994: "There is no evidence that at present to substantiate a biological theory. [T]he appeal of current biological explanations for sexual orientation...
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...as shyness and psychological illnesses can all be traced back to our genetics; traced back to nature. I...
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...Homosexuality: A Case of Nature versus Nurture By Robert L Smith Instructor: Mr. Simbarashe Chiduma A RESEARCH PAPER Submitted to Baker College in partial fulfillment of requirements For class: Soc 201 Winter 2012 Homosexual is defined as: “of, relating to, or characterized by a tendency to direct sexual desire toward another of the same sex” (Webster’s Dictionary, 4th ed., 2003) The nature approach is based on a chance that humans are born with a specific gene that determines if they will be homosexual. "In other words, some people are born gay." (Johnson, 2003) The nurture approach tells that people are influenced by their surroundings. In this approach, "A nurtured gay person is one that is 'made' gay." (Johnson, 2003) Originally the American Psychological Association (APA) had deemed homosexuality a mental disease. The debate now- a-days revolve around if sexuality is based on nature, a person’s environment, or based on nurture, a person’s upbringing. Alfred Kinsey pioneered one of the earliest experiments in the 1930s. Kinsey’s research resulted in little besides putting the word homosexual into the common language. Karen Hooker completed the first psychological test in 1957. The research was put together to investigate the relationship between homosexuality, psychological development, and illness. The subjects were given three tests, the Rorschach, TAT, and MAPS. She determined that there was no link between social determinism of sexuality...
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...The Gay Gene Benjamin C. Bell Jr. Abstract This paper is an expose on one of the prevailing discussions on the gay gene. It has long been debated as to whether or not a person who has embraced has lived gay or lesbian is born that way. The question being is this an act of their own volition or are they born that way. On one side there are those who assert that people are biologically predisposed to such a lifestyle and cannot help but pursue same sex relationships. On the other side there are those who argue it is an issue of will, and one of choice. I believe the current research is inconclusive on both sides. The data is up to date and the results are a testimony to how much ignorance there is about this controversy. As we attempt to understand those whose sexual point of reference we question we must remember that all human beings are the Creator’s offspring and should be treated as such no matter how we feel about their sexual orientation. We must employ respect and reason as we journey down the road to understanding this intriguing subject. People may be different in their sexual expression and it may concern us to no end. The truth of the matter is if their behavior is in our estimation deviant, no matter how wrong we think it is we have a responsibility to treat them in a way that is respectable and proper. People are at liberty to express themselves sexually as they deem it fitting for them. This paper is designed to deliver a biological and scientific perspective...
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...Historical and Scientific Perspectives on Homosexuality Alton Masters Psy/265 – Psychology of Human Sexuality June 7, 2013 Professor Belden This paper is all about the historical and scientific perspectives on homosexuality. In this essay we will be discussing the historical, biological, and psychological perspectives on homosexuality. We will also go over the impact that these perspectives may have had on the way homosexuals perceive themselves. Also included will be an analysis of the experiences of coming out and adjusting as a gay individual. Lastly we will talk about how these historical, biological, and psychological perspectives have impacted mine own sexual orientation and how they have shaped the way I view homosexuality. Historical Perspectives on Homosexuality Homosexuality, be it gay or lesbian, has existed throughout history. There have been many different attitudes towards homosexuality including tolerance in some societies, open encouragement in others, but in most societies this behavior has been condemned. While homosexuality has mostly been condemned, this was not always the case. A couple of examples are the ancient Greece and Rome. In Greece is was common for established males to form sexual relationships with adolescent males at about eh age of the adolescents growing their first beard. “Romans described highly feminine gay men who dressed flamboyantly, had showy hair styles and mannerisms, and cruised certain neighborhoods, searching for partners...
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...Philosophy Final Paper For this paper I chose the topic of gay marriage. I chose gay marriage because I know that there has been a lot of controversy over the subject. People either say gay marriage is unnatural, immoral, and wrong or to not let them marry is discrimination and not equal treatment. The first article is arguing for gay marriage and the second article is arguing against it. While both articles give some good arguments, the first article is definitely the stronger of the two. I myself am against gay marriage, but both of these articles pose good points, but also some flaws. The first article I read was from USA Today arguing that the problem with not allowing gay marriage is that it’s not equal treatment. They start out the article with giving a premise saying that traditionalist only see marriage in religious terms and that they say by common definition, marriage involves a man and woman. I think this argument is weak because the premise isn’t really supporting the conclusion, its just saying that a certain group of people thinks that way. After this they propose the premise saying that judges look at marriage as far from a religious matter and that the state gives married couples privileged treatment under law. I think this premise is weak because it doesn’t really explain how they homosexuals are treated unequal, it’s just saying what privileges married couples get. Next he goes on to give the premise that homosexual couples, even some together 20-30 years...
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