The Gay Gene Debate

I know that I'm gay since I was in kindergarten.

Rebirth, go to sleep...go to sleep...its 3.20 am already. Jeez.
 
My parents are both 'straight' to use a label, and they produced me ('gay'), and a 'straight' brother and sister also. Same genes, same environment.

I believe genetics have the majority to do with how someone turns out, but yes, environment also will have an effect. Their are plenty of "Gay" pornstars who are actually 'straight' for a graphic example.
The genetic portion is the same as who comes out left and right handed, who has freckles, why a mole decided to grow there. It is all perfectly natural, and has been happening since the dawn of humans, and it's only the Western Culture of recent times that has labelled it, packaged it, and decided what was the "RIGHT WAY" and what was the "WRONG/BAD WAY". So many cultures have had homosexuality exist in it, with no problems! Animals also can show this behaviour, with no problems!

It aint goin away, so people will just get used to it again one day.

And for the record, I can't wait to marry and have kids! Already engaged!

You're in engaged! aww congrats :flowers: I wish you all the best :kickass2:
 
I'm not surprised. That just shows ignorance. How can you beat someone up or kill someone because they're gay? F*cking stupid people out there, man. Heartless people too.
 
oh this one here:

This man's murderer went to a motel with him, killed him, stuffed him in a suitcase, and threw his body in the lake. He laughed and partied afterwards with relatives. His murderer was not charged with a crime. It is lawful to murder gay men to protect yourself from sodomy in Kentucky.

is just sick :glare:


Lucky we don't have a law that allows us to kill ignorant people to protect ourselves from stupidity...


If I remember right was this one:

Gwen Araujo. Murdered by three boys
2167137172_193975b882.jpg

about a transexual who got killed after the boys found out she was a he? :no:
 
God, reading about those cases is simply heartbreaking :no: It's as if we're not even talking about people anymore...

I don't know how anyone carrying so much hate could even call themselves human. Even animals are more accepting of one another.

I'm not surprised. That just shows ignorance. How can you beat someone up or kill someone because they're gay? F*cking stupid people out there, man. Heartless people too.

Sadly, it's not only about being gay, it's simply about being different. And it's happening all over the world. People get beaten up for dressing or wearing make-up in a certain way, or for having certain jobs. Kids die because they're goth, punk, emo, whatever, you name it. Some a$$holes just can't walk the streets without feeling disturbed by those who aren't like them.

About a month ago, I took part in a discussion about whether people are more tolerant nowadays than in the past. Everyone was saying how nobody cares how you are and you're free to do anything. But those making such claims probably have no idea how painful it can be to some to simply be themselves.

The way I see it, society being more tolerant is just a mask meant to hide what happens behind the curtains. Too bad not many care enough to want to know the truth.
 
God, reading about those cases is simply heartbreaking :no: It's as if we're not even talking about people anymore...

I don't know how anyone carrying so much hate could even call themselves human. Even animals are more accepting of one another.



Sadly, it's not only about being gay, it's simply about being different. And it's happening all over the world. People get beaten up for dressing or wearing make-up in a certain way, or for having certain jobs. Kids die because they're goth, punk, emo, whatever, you name it. Some a$$holes just can't walk the streets without feeling disturbed by those who aren't like them.

About a month ago, I took part in a discussion about whether people are more tolerant nowadays than in the past. Everyone was saying how nobody cares how you are and you're free to do anything. But those making such claims probably have no idea how painful it can be to some to simply be themselves.

The way I see it, society being more tolerant is just a mask meant to hide what happens behind the curtains. Too bad not many care enough to want to know the truth.

So true about society.

But like I was pointing out tho:

Anybody that's got a problem with this:

scalia_kiss_in.jpg


...is sick. I mean really... it's just a kiss between two men. What's the big deal.
 
Of course sexuality is not a choice. Why would a teenage boy choose to be gay? So he can get beat up more? No. It's predetermined and I'm glad more and more scientific research is being done to support that. I think the more and more people begin to realise sexuality is predetermined, the less and less discrimination there will be against people who's sexuality is not straight. Someday people realise it's as silly to discriminate against people who aren't straight as it is to discriminate againt people who aren't white. Because people can't change their sexual orientation as much as they can't change their race.
 
Of course sexuality is not a choice. Why would a teenage boy choose to be gay? So he can get beat up more? No. It's predetermined and I'm glad more and more scientific research is being done to support that. I think the more and more people begin to realise sexuality is predetermined, the less and less discrimination there will be against people who's sexuality is not straight. Someday people realise it's as silly to discriminate against people who aren't straight as it is to discriminate againt people who aren't white. Because people can't change their sexual orientation as much as they can't change their race.

Unfortunately that kind of information will not reach our local newspapers, magazines and TVs. It will not be accepted no matter what. Sure we do have internet but it would not reach majority of people. What makes it worse is homosexuality has and will continue to be 'filtered' not just by majority of the public themselves but also by the government. Every religion and culture in my country does not accept homosexuality and transsexuality.
 
i think an important issue that hasn't been mentioned here is twin-studies which focuses a lot on how much genetics and environment plan out because there are many identical twins where only one is homosexual.

this is so far the largest study conducted and it states that of the factors contributing to sexuality, ~37% (men) and ~19% (women) corresponded to genetics and 64% (men) and 65% (women) corresponded to environmental factors for an individual twin.

http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/18536986

Genetic and Environmental Effects on Same-sex Sexual Behavior: A Population Study of Twins in Sweden.

Långström N, Rahman Q, Carlström E, Lichtenstein P.
Centre for Violence Prevention, Karolinska Institutet, P.O. Box 23000, 104 35, Stockholm, Sweden, niklas.langstrom@ki.se.

There is still uncertainty about the relative importance of genes and environments on human sexual orientation. One reason is that previous studies employed self-selected, opportunistic, or small population-based samples. We used data from a truly population-based 2005-2006 survey of all adult twins (20-47 years) in Sweden to conduct the largest twin study of same-sex sexual behavior attempted so far. We performed biometric modeling with data on any and total number of lifetime same-sex sexual partners, respectively. The analyses were conducted separately by sex. Twin resemblance was moderate for the 3,826 studied monozygotic and dizygotic same-sex twin pairs. Biometric modeling revealed that, in men, genetic effects explained .34-.39 of the variance, the shared environment .00, and the individual-specific environment .61-.66 of the variance. Corresponding estimates among women were .18-.19 for genetic factors, .16-.17 for shared environmental, and 64-.66 for unique environmental factors. Although wide confidence intervals suggest cautious interpretation, the results are consistent with moderate, primarily genetic, familial effects, and moderate to large effects of the nonshared environment (social and biological) on same-sex sexual behavior.​
 
Film Explores Desperate Lives of Gay Muslims
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By Duke Helfand
Los Angeles Times


LOS ANGELES -- “A Jihad for Love” might not be the blockbuster movie of the season, but the new documentary about the plight of gay and lesbian Muslims is enjoying a degree of acclaim as it casts light on a subject often shrouded in mystery.

The film’s gay Muslim director, Parvez Sharma, has spent the past year touring theaters and festivals.

“A Jihad for Love” was the documentary centerpiece last week at Outfest, a gay and lesbian film festival in Los Angeles. On Aug. 1, it opens in West Hollywood and Palm Springs.

Filmed surreptitiously in 12 countries over six years, the movie offers a window into the distraught lives of gay and lesbian Muslims as they struggle to reconcile their sexual orientation with their devotion to a faith that condemns their way of life.

Some are beaten or imprisoned. Others are forced to flee their homelands. Several have their faces obscured in the film to protect their identities and their families from reprisals.

But Sharma, 35, a former journalist in India, said he did not intend to attack Islam but to open a dialogue about a dilemma that forces people to endure lives of quiet desperation.

And therein lies the meaning behind the film’s title: Jihad, often equated with holy war, literally means “struggle” or “to strive in the path of God,” he said.

“I know there is a deep hunger for this film,” said Sharma, who shot the movie, his first feature documentary, in Egypt, Turkey, India, South Africa, France and other countries.

“There are vast differences among Muslims on how to deal with homosexuality,” he added. “For the most part, they choose to ignore it as long as it is kept private.”

The problem for many of Sharma’s subjects, he said, is that they refuse to keep silent or ignore their desire to love despite the risks. And that invariably leads to conflict with their faith, their families, their countries and themselves.

Consider the experience of Mazen, a 20-something Egyptian who in the film is arrested in a police raid of a gay disco and then raped in prison. He flees to Paris before a second, longer prison sentence can be imposed. Still, he maintains his faith. “I’m sure God has a reason for all that has happened to me,” he says. “I know that he is always with me.”

And then there is Maryam, a devout lesbian also living in Paris who maintains a long-distance relationship with her partner, Maha, in Cairo.

In one of their visits, Maha asks: “Why can’t we be together and at the same time live with God?”

Maryam replies: “I don’t know if it’s possible. I don’t know.”

To make “A Jihad for Love,” Sharma teamed with producer Sandi DuBowski, who made the 2001 documentary “Trembling Before G-d,” which depicted the struggle of gay and lesbian Orthodox and Hasidic Jews.

Although the two films tackle similar terrain, Sharma’s movie was especially difficult to make because of the dangers, including police surveillance and the threat of arrest, which he was able to avoid.

Sharma — who wears jeans, red rimmed glasses and a necklace with a gold pendant featuring the name of God in Arabic, “Allah” —said he often posed as a tourist while filming, and he sandwiched his interviews between innocuous footage.

“The biggest struggle was to establish relationships of trust with each of the people in the film,” he said.

His movie debuted in September at the Toronto International Film Festival. Since then, it has been shown at festivals in Germany, Mexico, Brazil, India, Greece, Turkey, South Africa and England. Sharma said friends also have ferried copies into Iran, Pakistan and Malaysia for underground screenings.

The film has generated some backlash. The government in Singapore has banned it, Sharma said, adding that the Muslim Judicial Council in South Africa has declared he and Muhsin apostates. And Sharma said he has received death threats on his blog, which otherwise features positive feedback to the film.

At last week’s Outfest screening, several Muslims in the audience — gay and straight — said they were pleased to discover that Sharma portrayed Islam in a respectful manner.

“As a Muslim woman, I found your film incredibly beautiful and spiritually inspiring,” Nagwa Ibrahim, 30, a civil rights attorney, told Sharma during a question-and-answer session. “I was very moved by the humanity of your film.”

Sharma said the perseverance of his characters, and their willingness to speak openly about their struggle, renewed his own commitment to Islam — a subject he will be addressing when his movie is shown in other cities.

“I found deep respect for the religion ... through these people, through their immense religiosity,” he said. “I have come closer than I have ever before to deep, profound faith.”

http://www.nevadaappeal.com/article/20080730/NEWS/152683736/1060/ENTERTAINMENT&parentprofile=-1
 
^ It's a very touching article. Really moved my heart. Hope I can see the movie one day^^

The situation for gays in Islam is proof enough that it's ridiculous to even imagine that someone chooses to be gay or even worse, does it for fun :rolleyes: Who would put themselves through such pain and torture unless they really had to endure it? ...

:no:

Thanks for posting, Rebirth :)
 
I loooove every1 i cant believe pple can treat pple this way

i love me some gay pple (lol) all the ones i kno have a great sense of humor are kind loving and caring...im 4 gay all the way lol
 
i think an important issue that hasn't been mentioned here is twin-studies which focuses a lot on how much genetics and environment plan out because there are many identical twins where only one is homosexual.

this is so far the largest study conducted and it states that of the factors contributing to sexuality, ~37% (men) and ~19% (women) corresponded to genetics and 64% (men) and 65% (women) corresponded to environmental factors for an individual twin.

http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/18536986
Genetic and Environmental Effects on Same-sex Sexual Behavior: A Population Study of Twins in Sweden.

Långström N, Rahman Q, Carlström E, Lichtenstein P.
Centre for Violence Prevention, Karolinska Institutet, P.O. Box 23000, 104 35, Stockholm, Sweden, niklas.langstrom@ki.se.

There is still uncertainty about the relative importance of genes and environments on human sexual orientation. One reason is that previous studies employed self-selected, opportunistic, or small population-based samples. We used data from a truly population-based 2005-2006 survey of all adult twins (20-47 years) in Sweden to conduct the largest twin study of same-sex sexual behavior attempted so far. We performed biometric modeling with data on any and total number of lifetime same-sex sexual partners, respectively. The analyses were conducted separately by sex. Twin resemblance was moderate for the 3,826 studied monozygotic and dizygotic same-sex twin pairs. Biometric modeling revealed that, in men, genetic effects explained .34-.39 of the variance, the shared environment .00, and the individual-specific environment .61-.66 of the variance. Corresponding estimates among women were .18-.19 for genetic factors, .16-.17 for shared environmental, and 64-.66 for unique environmental factors. Although wide confidence intervals suggest cautious interpretation, the results are consistent with moderate, primarily genetic, familial effects, and moderate to large effects of the nonshared environment (social and biological) on same-sex sexual behavior.

When was it done? I'd like to read the whole study. Can't help it... it's still part of my interest even when I'm not actively working in research anymore. Let's have a very carefull look at the statistics they must have done.
I do remember a guy named Bailey (?!) of Northwestern University in the US, he did lots of studies... and well it's a sensitive field.

Also it's always interesting what's the tool to 'measure' or 'confirm' homosexuality... when you're for example doing such with a survey so just asking ppl I guess not everyone is answering 'honestly', sometimes we find homosexual tendencies in ppl and they really wouldn't know or even don't wanna know.

I do think as long as it is an obvious social... well let's call it disadvantages to be homosexual... or even not 'normal' however ppl really interprete normality... that long just a survey without added measurement of sexual arousal to pictures etc. will not do alone.
I'm 41. I know many ppl of my age still would never admitt to being homosexual and many do live heterosexual just not really happy because of not finding the strength for themselves because of wishing for an 'easy' life because of the way they were brought up and because of their parents wishing to have 'normal' children only.

Because we're raised often already a directing way... for example while I was brought up and even at my years in University it was still called sexual 'orientation' as if one could willingly move a steering wheel to this.
That's pretty misleading without that ppl are really obviously sensitive to it.
 
i linked to the original PubMed page, in case you missed it:

http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/18536986

it was published just over a month ago. i'm off uni for the summer so i don't have full access to PubMed but maybe you have? i'd like to read the whole article as well.

as for "measuring" homosexuality (lol) i think they just go by their subjects' word. where it's monozygotic twins, i think with only one being homosexual suggests more complex factors than just genetic.

-------

and again, there is no such thing as "choice" - that's just a comfortable homophobic explanation that makes no sense. there are obviously many differing factors for the many different individuals in determining true sexuality and i don't believe any of them are by choice.
 
lol well thanks I checked the link but I'm not subscribed there either and often abstracts are just written in the (very directed orientation) of the examiner uh... well read my siggy if needed for explanation.
So I just do like to have a look on the statistics myself.
as for "measuring" homosexuality (lol) i think they just go by their subjects' word. where it's monozygotic twins, i think with only one being homosexual suggests more complex factors than just genetic.
well that's the difficulty and the challenge in research I think... you have to make it measurable and that's what makes the look at the complex factors so interesting. But if you only ask ppl you'll only get all in all how ppl want to see themselves... not necessarily how they really are.



and again, there is no such thing as "choice" - that's just a comfortable homophobic explanation that makes no sense. there are obviously many differing factors for the many different individuals in determining true sexuality and i don't believe any of them are by choice.
we do agree.
 
Proudly Out: Serving in Silence No Longer
07.29.08 By Libby Post

Something extraordinary happening last Wednesday on Capitol Hill—the House Armed Services Committee’s Military Personnel Subcommittee held the first hearing in 15 years on the military’s Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell policy. The last time Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell hearings were held former Georgia democratic senator Sam Nunn led his homophobic cavalry on a witch hunt using every gay as sexual predator stereotype in the book to undermine President Bill Clinton’s efforts to lift the ban on gays in the military.

Using the bunks of a submarine as a backdrop, Nunn raised the specter of unassuming straights sleeping next to closeted gays. He left the rest to homophobic imaginations that conjured images of gays groping their straight comrades in the night and straights too scared to drop the soap in the showers.

It never occurred to Nunn that gay soldiers could be just as professional—perhaps even more so given the pressure they were under—than straight soldiers. Besides, after a hard day of duty gay soliders are just as tired as straight soldiers. All they want is a good night’s sleep so that they can get up the next morning and serve with honor.

It has taken 15 years and over 12,000 discharges of capable, professional and honorable lesbian or gay service members for Congress to finally decide to take another look at Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell.

The members of Congress who want to repeal Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell have the public on their side. A recent Washington Post-ABC poll found that 75 percent of Americans think gays and lesbians should be able to serve openly. In 2001, 62 percent thought we should be out in the military up from 44 percent in 1993 when this whole flap began.

Last week's hearing featured retired Marine Staff Sgt. Eric Alva, the first person injured in Iraq, and Joan Darrah, a retired Naval captain.



Alva, who lost his right leg after stepping on a land mine, was not out to his superiors but he was out to his unit. And, they didn’t care. His unit’s cohesion didn’t erode one bit. Alva was a respected leader and when hurt his comrades risked their own lives to save him.
Alva told the committee: "The land mine may have put an end to my military career, but it didn't put an end to my secret. That would come years later, when I realized that I had fought and nearly died to secure rights for others that I myself was not free to enjoy."

Joan Darrah, one the other hand, left the military of her own accord but not without a lot of soul searching. When I first spoke with Darrah a few years ago she told me the chilling story of leaving the Pentagon on 9-11 just moments before one of the planes crashed into the part of the building where she had been meeting with staff.
If she had stayed a few moments longer, Darrah wouldn’t have been around to testify yesterday but even more importantly no one would have known to contact her partner because no one in the Navy knew she had a partner because she couldn’t come out under Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell.


continued here: -> LINK
 
just watching news coverage now of the Lambeth Conference held every 10 years in Britain which will include a discussion on homosexuality in the Anglican church. more than a quarter of the 880 bishops boycotted the event just because of being open to discussion.
f_doh.gif


but it's funny how they're now only ever mentioned because of that one issue. it's also very sad.
 
they should be open to discussion and not turn their backs, their faith doesn't teach them to turn their backs when things get hard. I think the sad truth is they just don't have an argument against homosexuality so they just abstain for discussing it.
 
Good grief...

Women jailed for 'indecent' beach acts

From correspondents in Dubai
August 31, 2008 07:00pm


TWO foreign women have been jailed for a month for kissing and fondling each other and engaging in "indecent acts" on a public beach in Dubai.

The Dubai Court of Appeal upheld the one-month jail sentence handed down by a lower court to the women, a 30-year-old Lebanese national and a 36-year-old Bulgarian who both pleaded not guilty, 7Days newspaper said.

Prosecutors had charged the women with kissing, groping each other and "indecent acts in public," the paper said, adding that this was the first case of its kind in the United Arab Emirates, a federation of seven states including Dubai.

According to police reports, the two women were seen being intimate with each other on Al Mamzar public beach between Sharjah and Dubai in April.

They will be deported after serving their sentences.

The UAE, an oil-rich Gulf country comprising some 5.6 million people - most of them foreigners - has positioned itself as an international business hub and major tourist destination.

It maintains a conservative social order, repressing homosexuality and prostitution.

http://www.news.com.au/story/0,23599,24270990-1702,00.html?from=public_rss
 
I wonder if the indecent acts were actually indecent acts, and I wonder if it had of been between a man and a wife would they have just been given a fine? :scratch:
 
I don't know if there's a gene or not, but many lesbians look alike. Not the 19 year old college ones, but the older, stocky ones, especially. Hell, even K.D. Lang and Ellen DeGeneres look alike. I'd love to use picture comparison, but I don't know a good site to browse for everyday, middle-america middle-aged lesbians.

Too bad the 19 year old ones don't look alike. I could tell you where to find those :D.

Seriously though, it's a very touchy subject and I am not a biologist or scientist or whoever studies this stuff, but there is likely at least some type of link to genetics and homosexuality, and it's pretty visible in women.
 
Is that sarcasm? I'm sorry, I'm having trouble telling. If so, I didn't mean to say they all look alike. I just meant that in the case of many middle-aged lesbians, a lot of them look alike. Not all. I don't even know what the portion would be. I just know that since I've worked a lot of customer service jobs and see people from all walks of life, lots of time, the "butch" lesbians or the less-feminine ones tend to look a lot alike, and it has little to do with things some people blame it on, like their hair being short or whatever. It's facial and body structure.
 
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