What Causes Homosexuality? Essay Example

Before I start, I would like to ask a question to every one of you here. Is being gay a choice? This has been the question by many as almost everyone believes that being gay is a personal choice that no one had dictated you to become one. According to the Oxford Dictionary, homosexuality is defined as being sexually attracted only by the members of one’s sex. From the question earlier, two answers can only be formulated. Whether it is a yes or a no. Any members of the LGBTQ+ community would strongly disagree that being gay is a choice because they believe that ‘they were born this way.’

There are a lot of notable homosexuals known today. You guys do know Ian McKellen, right? Ian McKellen is widely regarded as one of the greatest stage and screen actors. Well, we do know him as Gandalf the Grey, the wise wizard in the film series Lord of the Rings. He was born in a world where homosexuality was deemed wrong. In fact, according to him, you could even get imprisoned because of this. He was forced to hide his sexuality, even to his own family. He did say that liking the same gender is natural. He, later on, came out in his later years.

If being gay is not a choice, then what causes homosexuality?

Two arguments explain homosexuality. The first one is nature arguments. The biological perspective on the cause of homosexuality. What does science tell us about homosexuality? The other is the nurture arguments. The psychological perspective on the cause of homosexuality. How do environmental influences explain homosexuality?

Let me start with the biological perspective. Years of study have indicated that being gay is not a choice. It is already present within those people since birth. Here’s proof. A recent study conducted by Andrea Ganna et. al. (2019) to see whether there are genetic markers in their DNA that are linked to their sexual behavior. They analyzed the DNAs of more than 470 000 people from the United States and the United Kingdom. The data came from the UK Biobank and the private company 23andMe, as well as the responses of the participants to the questions about their sexual behaviors, sexual attraction, and sexual identity.

They found five genetic markers that are connected with same-sex behavior. Some of these were correlated with same-sex behavior in men, others in women, and some in both. However, when you the human genome as a whole, this accounts for about 8 to 25 percent of the variation in same-sex sexual behavior. 

The researchers stated that these genetic markers may partly influence sexual behavior, although these could not predict whether a person is gay. They even stated that it is a natural part of our diversity.         

On the other hand, is the psychological perspective. We all do know the concept called tabula rasa which is a Latin phrase meaning “blank slate.” This concept is used in philosophy to posits that humans acquire all or most of our behavior from environmental influences. So, from a child that is nothing becomes something as he/she continues to acquire almost all of his behavior from the environment. So, from this concept, we can say that a person becomes gay caused by their environment.

First of all, “Everything starts at home.” According to an article written by Dr. Saunders (1997), male homosexuals often have a dominant, supportive mother and a weak, remote, or hostile father. Lesbians may have had a dysfunctional mother-daughter relationship, a view that was popularized by Elisabeth Moberly. So, a person becomes gay because they lack the bonding that they need with their parents.

Also, culture, such as tradition, religious beliefs, and political factors, has a big impact on influencing homosexuality. They dictate what is accepted in the society they live in. For example, if your society has a cultural belief that being a homosexual is okay, it gives you the idea that being one is okay. No one is restricting you not to become one.

The last is the peer group environment. Your peers are the only people you can share what you cannot share with others. Your peers provide you the comfort for you to ‘fit in’ and the support and acceptance in the path of accepting the homosexual label which will, later on, lead to gender confusion in the adolescence period (Dr, Saunders, 1997).