CT Poll: Can You Change Your Sexual Orientation?

[ptgatsby]

It's not nearly that cut and dried, and you can't assume everyone who presents as homosexual has the same underlying root causes in their orientation either.

In one sense it is cut and dry - every human is born as a latent bisexual. This isn't to say that it will ever be activated, but there is no absolute hard wiring that causes you to be one or the other. The majority of the environment triggers heterosexuality... but you change that environment and it can flip around. Once you accept that part, it becomes easier to see how there can be a multitude of environmental factors that push you one way or the other.

You can start with the evidence for pre-birth effects (hormones, genetics, etc)... then you start with the childhood effects, then you start with the social reasons (I mentioned the biggest one, but there are others). You can finish it off with a nice dose of repression (why are there so many heavy moral police that act so contrary to their beliefs?) and other topics like that, where the attempt to repress moderate thoughts leads to extremes.

On the surface, it is fairly simple - and it can be changed. In theory. In practise, we just don't understand the majority of the factors that cause the shift.

And IMO, it's a waste of time. It is largely environmental and isn't genetically dominant by any stretch of the imagination. It's a real non-issue.

 

[lowtech redneck]

In one sense it is cut and dry - every human is born as a latent bisexual.

um, could you explain the reasoning behind that? I know humans rely less on instinct and more on socialization than other animals, but isn't sexual attraction instinctual in nature? I agree that there is no hard-wiring involved and environment plays a strong role, but wouldn't it make biological sense for most people to be born with stronger heterosexual tendencies? I always figured that the minority born with stronger homosexual tendencies was simply a consequence of natural mutation, staying at a low level due to the fact that people with such genes are less likely to reproduce...

On the subject at hand, I think its possible, and I think its likely that a significant proportion of the population has at least marginal bisexual tendencies that have been weakened ("repressed" has perjorative conotations that I do really agree with in this instance) through socialization. For people who engage in homosexual activities in the context of strong societal disapproval, I think their homosexual tendencies are quite pronounced. I have experience with strong brain chemistry affects (I have severe obsessive-compulsive disorder), and I have read that it is possible for people with my mental illness to "change" their brain chemistry over time through mental conditioning, but that constant (and often painful) effort is needed to maintain that mental state. If the same dynamics are in play for homosexuals attempting to become straight, it would certainly explain the constant "temptation" they experience.

I must say, this is one of the few discussions on this topic I've engaged in where most people are willing to treat it as a fun mental exercise rather than a crusade (from either perspective).