Young Writers Society

I know some people who 'made' themselves gay. But truly i would say people are born that way and it is those people who fake the sexual orientation that make people question whether it's a choice or not.

It's just a disorder.

I believe that being homosexual is indeed something you are born with. But, I don't think there's anything wrong with trying to alter the preference of a homosexual, if it is true that it is a sin to be gay.
Look at this way, people are all born sinners. We all do things that are wrong, as a natural born trait. We often try to better or "fix" ourselves. Therefore, if one believes that homosexuality is a sin, it makes sense that it would be a birth trait, and there is nothing wrong with trying to change it.
If one had said; "I was born a procrastinator, so don't ask me to change. I can't change," they would be argued with. Just because something is a born trait, doesn't necessarily mean that it should be automatically forgiven.
However, many people disagree with homosexuality qualifying as sinful behavior. Here is where I stand: Extramarital sex is undoubtedly wrong. So, in my opinion, if two gay people wait to be sexual until after marriage, I have no objection. This is why I support gay marriage.
It is argued that in the bible, two people of the same sex "lying down together" is an "abomination" against God. However it is also in the bible that "thou shall not lie", and "thou shall not covet" etc. How many people on this Earth have never told a lie, or coveted, or broken any other commandment? None. We all sin. Therefore, the argument of homosexuality being a sin, whether valid or not, is irrelevant.

On another note, I compare homosexuality to other sexual preferences, including necrophilia and pedophilia. Look at the similarities; one who is of these preferences did not choose to be. They were born this way. So, if it is not fair to punish a homosexual, then is it not fair to punish a pedophile? A pedophile did not choose of his own free will to be a pedophile. So is it unethical to imprison one? I don't have an answer myself, it's just something that we should consider.

It's just a disorder.

NicholasStone, care to provide some citation, a reference, studies, anything?

On another note, I compare homosexuality to other sexual preferences, including necrophilia and pedophilia. Look at the similarities; one who is of these preferences did not choose to be. They were born this way. So, if it is not fair to punish a homosexual, then is it not fair to punish a pedophile? A pedophile did not choose of his own free will to be a pedophile. So is it unethical to imprison one? I don't have an answer myself, it's just something that we should consider.

There is quite a clear difference. Homosexual relationships are between two consenting adults, just like heterosexual relationships. Pedophilia, on the other hand, involves child abuse. There is no comparison here.

Interesting pedophilia was brought up. It is now being classified as a sexual orientation just like homosexuality, since it is classified as natural. I read this in a science research paper in school, but I can't remember which one exactly though.

But it dealt with the new cases of child abuse and pedophilia. So apparently that and homosexuality can be coupled in some way, as far as being natural and being sexualities go.

Paedophillia can't be considered an orientation, because 'young' isn't a gender.

It's a paraphillia.

There are only 4 possible sexual orientations - being attracted to the opposite gender, being attracted to the same gender, being attracted to both genders, or being attracted to neither gender.

Tell that to the researchers.

They use the same argument as they do for homosexuality.
They say pedophilia, sexual attraction to children, is natural, so it is a sexual orientation. These are not my words, mind you. I just read the research paper.

Then they're using the terms incorrently. Whether or not they're 'natural' has nothing to do with it. What's the title of the paper, and who are the researchers?

EDIT: Here's a research paper from 2012 asking if homosexuality is a paraphilia. It comes to the conclusion that it's not. Is Homosexuality a Paraphilia? The Evidence For and Against

Taken from the conclusion:

Overall, homosexuality and the paraphilias appear to share the features of onset and course (both homosexuality and paraphilia being life-long), but they appear to differ on sex ratio, fraternal birth order, handedness, IQ and cognitive profile, and neuroanatomy. Although there have been some reports on prevalence and on physical height, these literatures are not yet reliable enough to be informative. Thus, considered together, the existing data seem more consistent with the conclusion that homosexuality is a characteristic distinct from the paraphilias.

The bolded is relevent to our discussion.

I can't even say how abhorrent it is to compare homosexuality with pedophilia, and offensive to survivors of child abuse. If you make that kind of statement, you can't forget what article it came from, people get lynched over these assumptions. Statistically speaking heterosexual males are by far the majority of child sex offenders, I haven't seen anyone try to link it with being a hetrosexual male, nor should they.

Statistically speaking heterosexual males are by far the majority of child sex offenders.

This is actually completely false, Kit. There is a great amount of evidence and statistics that point to the fact that child sex offenders are more often homosexual. Get your facts right, please. It's very misleading.

However, let's not compare homosexuality with pedophilia. It's pretty discriminatory. This is not heading in a good direction.

In any case, if you want to throw out statistics -- any of you! -- you might as well cite where they are coming from.

I appologise, I was exceptionally angry, I misspoke.
It is inaccurate to make the comparison between gender preference and pedophilia, because they are two quite separate things, and in my saying that men who abuse young girls are hetrosexual is not actually true. From what I've read, basically "children" are their sexual preference, gender doesn't much come into it. This article references a number of studies that have come to similar conclusions.

http://psychology.ucdavis.edu/rainbow/h ... ation.html

One in five women in America will be sexually assaulted in their lifetime, more than a third of them before they are 18.
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-us-canada-16192494
99% of the offenders are male.
http://www2.ucsc.edu/rape-prevention/statistics.html
Does this mean I, as a woman, should be prejudicial against men? Hell no. My man is less likely to hurt a fly than I am. Our gender is not the defining characteristic of who I am, nor who he is. Sexual assault is not sex, it isn't about intimacy or love between equals, it's about having power over someone, about hurting them. To say that someone is gay, therefore they are into little boys is as specious as saying, because they are straight they want to sexually assault a woman.

(Also that article mensions study where they showed pictures and measured their, um, man reactions accordingly. Wow, I am glad I am not a scientist. Or a labrat. They do actually say that method is antiquated, but still, sucky job)

People are being executed for being gay, and they do it because they think gay people are pedophiles, so we really do have to tread lightly on this.

Alright, let me restate this.
First off, I don't think any of you read the rest of what I wrote. If you did, then you would realize that I have no objection to two gay people being a married relationship, and I was just suggesting that other sexual preferences be taken into consideration.
And, yes, necrophilia, pedophilia, fetishes, etc. are sexual preferences, just like homosexuality or heterosexuality, etc. I don't want to offend anyone by saying this, but I hadn't even realized that it would come across as offensive. It's really just a basic fact.

All that I'm trying to say is that if we are not allowed to judge someone for something that they are born with, then we shouldn't be allowed to judge anyone of any sexual preference.
I understand that pedophiles are not safe to have in a community, as they are a danger to children, but what if you yourself was born a pedophile? What if you had been told many times that it was wrong and wished you could change? I am not defending child abusers, and I am not saying that anyone of a different orientation is the same as a pedophile.
All I'm saying is that I feel bad for the lack of sympathy there is for people who were born into a dangerous sexual orientation. Looking at all of this as relatively a 'bystander', I've just noticed how hypocritical this world truly is.
Being a pedophile is something that can't be controlled, just like any other sexual preference. And yet we ask pedophiles to change? Just the same way as we refuse to ask homosexuals to change? And this is not hypocritical? Again, I am not defending child abusers.

Really, it all comes down to a matter of morals and opinions. Being homosexual is relatively decided to be something one is born with, but should it simply be forgiven because of this? Many things are natural born traits, and they are not forgiven. This is the only point that I was trying to make while bringing up pedophiles, so don't feel the need to scold me for "comparing" them to homosexuals.

And, yes, necrophilia, pedophilia, fetishes, etc. are sexual preferences, just like homosexuality or heterosexuality, etc. I don't want to offend anyone by saying this, but I hadn't even realized that it would come across as offensive. It's really just a basic fact.

Citation needed. As far as science can tell, homosexuality isn't a preference.

Being a pedophile is something that can't be controlled, just like any other sexual preference. And yet we ask pedophiles to change? Just the same way as we refuse to ask homosexuals to change? And this is not hypocritical? Again, I am not defending child abusers.

Pedophilia presents a very real danger to society. A child cannot meaningfully give consent towards a sexual action. While a pity pedophiles, society does not accept them because they pose a direct threat. This is why we ask pedophiles to change, or undergo therapy to bring their urges under control.

Homosexuality poses no such threat. It does not harm society in any way.

This topic has been beaten to death. There are two other threads on the same issue. Let it die.