Is Being Gay Gay A Choice?

The 'is being gay a choice' argument really grinds my gears. I mean, you tell me the day, time and place you decided to be straight! Of course it isn't a choice. After all - who would choose to be gay? Because identifying as homosexual runs the risk of: hate crime, homophobia, being disowned by your family and friends, discriminated against, isolated and ostracised from society. You have less rights than your heterosexual peers and cannot legally get married. Ask a straight person if they would ever date someone of the same sex...I guarantee they will say no, it seems unnatural, wrong - well that's exactly how dating someone of the opposite sex feels to a gay person. Gay people are born gay, just like straight people are born straight. For starters the word 'homophobia' is particularly annoying: Dislike, prejudice and hate against gay people is not a phobia, like claustrophobia or arachnophobia, it is an evil hatred of someone for the way they are born. Religious views are not an acceptable reason to identify as a homophobe, because the Bible preaches love and acceptance, not hate.

Below is a quote by the amazing Morgan Freeman about so-called homophobes. I love it and I hope you will too! 

"I hate the word homophobia...it is not a phobia, you're not scared...you're an asshole!" 
Morgan Freeman

So, I hope we got that cleared up: being gay is not a choice. It is the way we are, and no-one knows why people are gay. Maybe it is a gene, or something in our brains or our hearts, but does it really matter why we are the way we are? As long as we are law abiding decent loving citizens, which most of us are, does our sexual orientation (not preference as some people call it - it is not a preference because it is not a choice) really matter at all?

Below is a quote by Stephen Fry and Chely Wright, both of whom are gay.

“At least 260 species of animal have been noted exhibiting homosexual behaviour but only one species of animal ever, so far as we know, has exhibited homophobic behaviour — and that’s the human being. So ask which is really natural.”
Stephen Fry

"I hear the word 'tolerance'—that some people are trying to teach people to be tolerant of gays. I'm not satisfied with that word. I am gay, and I am not seeking to be 'tolerated'. One tolerates a toothache, rush-hour traffic, an annoying neighbour with a cluttered yard. I am not a negative to be tolerated." 
Chely Wright

And lastly, I have quoted an excerpt from the brilliant novel 'Sing You Home' by America writer Jodi Picoult. Zoe is the main character and she is fighting for the right to use her frozen embryos which she created via IVF with her ex husband to impregnate her now civil partner Vanessa. Below Vanessa is talking about how she never chose to be gay.

Vanessa-Sing You Home:
“First homosexuality is not a lifestyle, it's who I happen to be. Second I didn’t choose to be attracted to women I just am. Did you make a choice to be attracted to women? Was it during puberty. When you graduated from high school? Was it a question on the SATS? No - homosexuality isn’t a choice any more than heterosexuality is. And I know this because why would anyone choose to be gay? Why would I want to put myself through all the bullying and name calling, why would I want to be stereotyped and looked down on by people like you, why would I willingly pick a lifestyle as you call it that is such an uphill battle?”.

This great video illustrates how people often misjudge the choice argument and when the question is reversed "When did you choose to be straight?" It often makes them rethink it.

This amazing video shows how anyone can have a gay child  and being gay is something that one has no control over as people are born gay. Plus, gay parents won't have gay children, always. After all, most gay people's parents are straight not gay.