Do you think we are born gay?

[EssJaye]

I want to know how many people think that we are born gay.
I personally think I am born gay, ever since I was in kindergarten,
I'd catch myself admiring the little girls.

So, I think we are born gay the same way some ppl are born straight.

[chained butterfly]

I used to think we chose to be gay. It wasn't even because of religion or anything but that changed when I saw something that said gay people were born that way and it kinda made sense. I mean, it was me who was kissing the girls in first grade.

[Zach1992]

I don't know if I was born this way, but I was a pretty girly little boy. The other boys played with cars, I played with Barbies & My Little Pony.

[theJosephDean]

Originally Posted by Zach1992

I don't know if I was born this way, but I was a pretty girly little boy. The other boys played with cars, I played with Barbies & My Little Pony.

I remember playing with my brother's Ninja Turtle action figures and make them invade my sister's Barbie Doll house and attack them. I was maybe five? That might have been the first sign something was different

[alan t]

Yes, for sure. I always preferred to play with the girls, and my parents say I loved to dance until I was 4.

[Eric]

I believe I was born gay but I also believe that someone's environment growing up contributes toward their behavior when they are older. I don't buy into the mentality of 'being raised by the mother makes you gay' that applies to men, but I do think the more feminine gay guys were influenced more by their mothers than by their fathers. Although I'm not the best example because I was mainly raised by my mom and I'm as masculine as they come. Exeption that proves the rule?

[x2x2x2x2y2]

I think I was born gay. I remember looking at boys when I was like 6 and wanting to kiss them. Also, I used to play dress up with my niece. And barbies. And I made my mom buy me an easy bake oven. And I used to sing girly songs. I swear, my family should've seen all the signs. Lol

[Rikudo]

Personally no. I think we are all born as blank slates. But as a kid was basically asexual I didn't play with dolls or cars I tended to stick with the gameboy.

[Hoppip]

I think of it like language. There's a huge theory by Noam Chomsky called Universal Grammar. Sparknoted: you're born with a genetic predisposition to learn any natural language in the world, but it's your environment that determines which bits you keep and refine (English the vs. French le) and which ones you slough off.

As for sexuality, I imagine there's some sort of critical period in the womb for hormones, but also a critical period in childhood and adolescence where our sexuality becomes refined and sculpted from our prenatal framework. I think yes, it's genetic, yes, it's hormonal, and yes, it's even environmental - but I think there's a certain age when it all gets solidified and becomes irreversibly permanent.

EDIT AGAIN:

Also, when I say environmental, I don't mean necessarily Skinnerian reinforcement-and-punishment psychology. I mean to what extent the individual's brain reinforces its own thoughts and feelings (of sexuality). I imagine that gay children are not only predisposed to be gay, but they take on that sexual-typing through repeatedly thinking and feeling "gay thoughts." The thoughts themselves reinforce what's already been pre-programmed to occur (more cognitive, in a sense?).

EDIT FOR THE THIRD TIME:

And by gay thoughts I mean thoughts that are gay. Nevermind.

EDIT, BUT THE FIRST ONE:

I think I was born gay. I remember looking at boys when I was like 6 and wanting to kiss them. Also, I used to play dress up with my niece. And barbies. And I made my mom buy me an easy bake oven. And I used to sing girly songs. I swear, my family should've seen all the signs.

^ I had the same experience as this.

[Walolas]

I don't really know. Never really been attracted to anyone that someone near me wasn't (maybe I was just mimicking behavior around me?).

I do remember though listening to that chick that sung for the Titanic movie and backstreet boys, playing with polly pocket, dancing at a young age, and wearing my mother's jewlery before I just ripped it to shreds for no reason...

[starfish]

I used to think we were born gay, not now I'm not so sure. The human brian continues to develop for several years after birth. So we very well could be exposed to something after birth that causes us to become gay.

What has made me rethink my position, is I have recently met several gay guys who have a gay sibling, but other siblings who are straight. In about half of the cases that gay sibling is a girl. It just seems odd that multiple but not all children would be gay. That makes me wonder if external factors play a role.

What ever the cause I am fairly certain that it happens early in our development. A common theme among gay people I have met, is stories of atypical behavior from a young age.

[x2x2x2x2y2]

Originally Posted by Jyupisseondeo

but I think there's a certain age when it all gets solidified and becomes irreversibly permanent.

I kinda also think this too.

[8bit]

I believe people are born gay.
Masculinity/Femininity have nothing to do with your sexuality.

[Hoppip]

Originally Posted by x2x2x2x2y2

I kinda also think this too.

You used the wrong emoticon. I think you meant or .

[Swamp56]

This thread has been created many times.

Yes, I think that we're developed this way. As starfish pointed out, our brains do not stop developing for years, so it's hard to tell if it is before or after birth.

I also see sexuality as a spectrum whereby most people are near the heterosexuality side.

Originally Posted by Starfish

What has made me rethink my position, is I have recently met several gay guys who have a gay sibling, but other siblings who are straight. In about half of the cases that gay sibling is a girl. It just seems odd that multiple but not all children would be gay. That makes me wonder if external factors play a role.

Recessive genes?

With a recessive gene, you must have 2 inherit it from both parents in order for it to activate. For example, if each parent has 1 gene for blue eyes rather than 2, they will have brown eyes. If their child were to inherit blue eye genes from both parents, then the child would have blue eyes. At the same time, a sibling of the child could have gotten either 2 brown eye genes, or 1 of each and ended up with brown eyes.

[TeddyJavier]

I definitely belive I was born gay. I knew I was gay before I knew what gay was.
So it's not like it was a decision. And there was no event that caused me to become gay.
I wasn't raised by a single mother. Or around a bunch of girls. I wasn't traumatized by anthing like being abused mentally/physically/sexually.
So that only leaves me being born this way.

[SaiRev3]

I don't think I was born gay. XP I used to like girls when I was littler but then I found men more attractive later on.

[thevre]

No I don't think people are "born" straight or gay. Sexuality is developed... like mentioned above, the same way they learn language. I know I sure as hell wasn't having any serious sexual attractions when I was 5.

[Chip]

Search the archive. As Swamp56 says, there have been lots of discussions of this, but there was one particularly good thread recently that brought out a lot of discussion back and forth on the different viewpoints (and some points in between).

[4 seat]

Sometimes I do. Not sure though.