Sexual behavior is pretty self explanatory. It’s the layer that people have the most conscious control over, but is heavily influenced by both identity and orientation.

Orientation is the deepest layer. Lots of people have wondered what causes a homosexual orientation rather than a heterosexual one. In truth, no one knows exactly what causes homosexuality, but then no one knows what causes heterosexuality either.

The best science suggests a genetic role, but this is not definitive. Twin studies have shown that if one identical twin is gay there’s a 50% chance the other is too, while if they’re non identical twins the chances are 25% (roughly). This kind of crunching of the numbers is typical of a whole range of traits where there is a strong, but not total, genetic influence.

There are also psychoanalytically based theories which focus on the early relationship between the child and his parents. While these are interesting, they lack the support of empirical studies, and in truth I’ve never noticed any difference between the parents of gay kids and those of heterosexual kids. Most parents of gay kids also have hetero kids, anyway.

In thinking about the role of sexual abuse, it’s worth remembering that most gay people were never sexually abused as kids, and most kids who are sexually abused don’t turn out as gay (although gay kids are over-represented among the victims for the reasons I’ve outlined above).

Hope this is useful. Cheers!

snout, thanks and well put. The discussion has been very educational and thought provoking for me so far.

It's nice to have a discussion where ideas seem to be able to be worked through with little of the battleground atmosphere that marks so many threads.

R0bert

Celivia,

Thank you for your post..

I never meant that enviroment can cause homosexuality..I meant enviroment can perhaps predispose us to 'choose' homosexuality.

Wether we choose or not whether we believe our cause is thru gentics, either way..we re homosexual.

I think both states are valid.

Thanks for your input everyone, its been a pleasure talking with you all.

Snout your veiws have been food for thought certainly..thank you for your candor.

Robert,

Thank you also for your input I didnt want to close without including you in my post.

I will check back from time to time..