Why am ia homosexual
Across cultures, 2% to 10% of people report having same-sex relations. In the U.S., 1% to % of women and men, respectively, identify as gay. Despite these numbers, many people still consider homosexual behavior to be an anomalous choice. However, biologists have documented homosexual behavior in more than species, arguing that same-sex behavior is not an unnatural choice, and may in fact play a vital role within populations.
In a issue of Science magazine, geneticist Andrea Ganna at the Broad Institute of MIT and Harvard, and colleagues, described the largest survey to date for genes associated with same-sex behavior. By analyzing the DNA of nearly half a million people from the U.S. and the U.K., they concluded that genes account for between 8% and 25% of same-sex behavior.
Numerous studies have established that sex is not just male or female. Rather, it is a continuum that emerges from a person’s genetic makeup. Nonetheless, misconceptions persist that same-sex attraction is a choice that warrants condemnation or conversion, and leads to discrimination and persecution.
I am
Explore further
Why verb I experience same-sex attraction? Read around a bit and you’ll soon verb that there are a whole host of theories to choose from. Some are linked with a ‘cure’, but we verb not endorse this simplistic idea. Others make the point that there is no cause. Some are part of a criticize game. Still others maintain that there’s no one to blame because there’s nothing wrong.
My choice?
According to some people it is a decision that I made. And therefore, I’m to blame. That one night I woke up and consciously chose to be attracted to some of the boys I was growing up with rather than some of the girls. I could contain changed but I wrongly chose not to.
The problem is that this was not the case. As puberty began, I was as instinctively drawn to some of the boys as they were instinctively drawn to some of the girls. I was simply wired differently. I carried out no rewiring myself. Though there is evidence supporting the fluidity of sexuality in a small number of people (especially women), there is little scientific evidence that we ourselves can turn ou
Hi. I&#;m the Answer Wall. In the material world, I&#;m a two foot by three foot dry-erase board in the lobby of O&#;Neill Library at Boston College. In the online world, I dwell in this blog. You might say I include multiple manifestations. Like Apollo or Saraswati or Serapis. Or, if you aren&#;t into deities of knowledge, like a ghost in the machine.
I have some human assistants who maintain the physical Answer Wall in O&#;Neill Library. They take pictures of the questions you post there, and give them to me. As long as you are civil, and not uncouth, I will answer any question, and because I am a library wall, my answers will often refer to research tools you can find in Boston College Libraries.
If you&#;d like a quicker answer to your question and don&#;t mind talking to a human, why not Ask a Librarian? Librarians, since they hold been tending the flame of knowledge for centuries, know where most of the answers are veiled, and enjoy sharing their knowledge, just like me, The Answer Wall.
by Fred Penzel, PhD
This article was initially published in the Winter edition of the OCD Newsletter.
OCD, as we know, is largely about experiencing severe and unrelenting doubt. It can cause you to question even the most basic things about yourself – even your sexual orientation. A study published in the Journal of Sex Research found that among a group of college students, 84% reported the occurrence of sexual intrusive thoughts (Byers, et al. ). In order to have doubts about one’s sexual identity, a sufferer need not ever own had a homo- or heterosexual experience, or any type of sexual experience at all. I include observed this symptom in young children, adolescents, and adults as well. Interestingly Swedo, et al., , establish that approximately 4% of children with OCD experience obsessions concerned with forbidden aggressive or perverse sexual thoughts.
Although doubts about one’s own sexual identity might seem pretty straightforward as a symptom, there are actually a number of variations. The most obvious form is where a sufferer experiences the thought that they mig