Being gay disorder?

[kylegf2011]

Somebody told me the other day that homosexuality is a disorder, he said there is nothimg wrong with it, its just different from what nature intended. This person said it cant be cured, because its not a disease, its a disorder, but that made me think think that anorexia is a disorder too, and some people overcome it, becuase if they dont they die. So is homosexuality a disorder? and if so is it possible to overcome it?

[Owen]

If you only define a disorder as that which is not typical, then yes, homosexuality counts. But from a psychological perspective, the word "disorder" has certain connotations. It implies that the disorder either causes the person who has it distress, or that it makes it difficult for them to function in society (or both). Homosexuality (in a progressive society) is neither of those things. So while, by this person's definition of the word, it is technically a disorder, the word "disorder" is too burdened with negative connotation for one to responsibly call homosexuality a disorder.

Anorexia is a disorder in the negative sense of the word (causing the sufferer distress), and it's also different from what "nature intended". But here's the thing: anorexia causes the sufferer distress in the form of physical harm, and homosexuality doesn't. As such, there's a reason for an anorexic person to try to overcome their anorexia, and such a reason doesn't exist for homosexuality (Again, that's assuming the gay person lives in a progressive society. If they don't, the problem is with the society, not the gay person.)

Now, I've never had anorexia, but I do have anxiety, which is a disorder, and here's what I can say about my experiences with anxiety: you don't "overcome" it the way you overcome a cold or the flu. It's something that stays with you long after you've "overcome" it; you just learn how to live with it. Your mind stays "badly wired", but you learn how to circumvent that wiring, and with therapy, you can try to rewire it enough to live in spite of it, but the effects stay with you. So while something like anxiety (and, I assume, anorexia) can be "overcome", that doesn't mean they are "cured".

So while homosexuality could probably be "overcome" in this sense, it wouldn't be "cured". The gay person would still be gay; the best that would happen if they tried to "overcome" it is that they'd learn to be happy living a heterosexual lifestyle. But they're still gay, and they'd still be happier living as a gay person, and since doing so doesn't cause themself or anyone else harm or reasonable distress, there's no reason they shouldn't.

[Artemicion]

Um...I don't think being gay is a disorder. It only becomes a "disorder" when you end up trying to be straight then go into depression without knowing the source of it. That should probably be named "closet-disorder" or something...

Plus, disorders are suppose to cause undesirable effects to health right? I don't see how being gay can cause health problems directly anyways.

EDIT: Owen expressed it much better above.

[Ridiculous]

As the rest of the post has been replied to much better than I could have by the above posters, I'll just focus on this line:

its just different from what nature intended

Nature doesn't intend anything. There aren't any plans, or goals or anything like that. Things just happen. We can do whatever we want, however we want. There isn't anything intrinsically better about being straight than there is being gay, and it certainly isn't the case that humans are supposed to be straight.

[Beachboi92]

if nature didn't intend for you to be gay you wouldn't be gay… neither would the thousands of animal species that exhibit homosexuality. This person has no idea what they are talking about because the scientific community does not classify homosexuality as a disorder. Homosexuality in itself causes no physical or mental distress nor is it a result of emotional distress. Things such as depression and anxiety that occur at a higher rate in lgbt youth are a result of the environment not of the teens orientation. If you compare it to say anorexia you see the disorder is a result of emotional distress about your appearance and is often associated with body dismorphia where one sees themselves as worse looking than they actually are say as a result of fat or acne. In turn they don't eat which results in mental and physical effects that are not healthy as a result of the disorder.

Homosexuality on the other hand does not result from emotional or physical distress nor does it cause any other emotional or physically harmful effects. You just are gay there wasn't anything leading up to it and all the negative shit surrounding it is a result of the way certain people in society stigmatize lgbt people not from the actual orientation of the lgbt person. Im no scientist but that is how i understand it.

[LookingGlass]

Nature is organized chaos.

someone once told me that sexuality is on a spectrum (some people are on the left, some are on the right and for most people they are along the spectrum and making choices along that spectrum. that stuck with me because to me it meant that human sexuality is really fluid but society and other things make us believe that there is no fluid nature to sexuality it is either black or white. i'm sure sure if it is a disorder or not or some genetic mutation or whatever else people will say.what i do know is that if it is genetic, then how can that be because is not like gay people are reproducing (well historically that is) so how were they passing on the "gay gene". unless people that were "straight" were actually more fluid on the sexuality spectrum but decided to live thier lives as straight and actually passed on gay genes. i don't know. all i do know is that i just think that i dont think that kids and adults would spend all this energy beating theirself up about something that they could easily fix or change.

[lazyboy]

I would suppose it would depend on how you define the word "disorder". Sounds like your friend is defining it as, "A natural personal quality that is not like my own, and that I don't understand and can't conveniently explain any other way."

In other words, he makes it sound like, "YOU'RE disordered, and I'M perfectly healthy," *pats your head*, "but don't worry, I like you anyway."

You've been silently dissed.

[Hana Solo]

I agree with lazyboy

[Debug]

" is a psychological or behavioral pattern that is generally associated with distress or disability, which is not considered part of normal development or the person's culture"

Does being gay cause distress or disability aside from the bigotry experienced by people who are gay? Nope... its a perfectly healthy sexual orientation and naturally develops. Doesn't seem like a disorder to me.

[WSPXRT]

Owen just dominated that thread. Strong work.

[Lexington]

Owen did a great job summing up the main points. I'd say homosexuality is a "disorder" the same way being left-handed is a "disorder". Left- handers do some things a bit differently than most people do it, and they may have to make some minor adjustments in their day-to-day lives. But society just kind of lets them be left-handed because any "cure" would be far more damaging than just letting them be, and frankly, if anyone has a problem with someone being left-handed, it's clear that they're the ones with the problem.

Lex

[DhammaGamer]

In what way is homosexuality not a product of nature? That doesn't even make sense. Anything that occurs EVER is a product of nature. People who try to seperate human expression and interaction from every other universal interaction are ignorant. Not that they are "bad" or anything just ignorant.

Homosexuality is most definitely NOT a disorder. In fact, it can actually be seen as advantageous for human society since it places less strain on shared resources. Gay people do not produce children, but they are an additional resource in educating, caring, for, and helping to provide for children and society in general. As the population increases the number of homosexual people increases as well. It is a perfectly natural phenomenon.

[biAnnika]

Homosexuality was seen as a psychological disorder and had a DSM (Diagnostics and Statistics Manual) code of its own...until it was DECLASSIFIED as a disorder in the early 1970s.

Neither the psychological nor the medical community have seen it as a disorder or tried to "treat" it in the past 40 years (when it was found wholesale ineffective to do so).

And as Beachboi pointed out, the charge that homosexuality is unnatural is equally ridiculous, as it occurs in virtually every mammalian species on the planet.