Homosexuality: Nature vs. Nurture

Sexual orientation is something that people hear about daily in the news, media, and daily lives of others, especially when it comes to the field of psychology and the nature versus nurture debate. For being as commonly debated and discussed as it is, there are many questions that come along with it: what is sexual orientation, how do people know their sexual orientation, what causes homosexuality, is it normal, is it possible to change, and can wanting LGBT, lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender, youth to change lead to suicide?

Sexual Orientation

The question of what sexual orientation actually is and how to define it is a very common question within itself. Sexual orientation, as a whole, is a pattern of various types of attraction including, but not limited to, emotional, physical, and sexual that is described as if it were any other human characteristic (“Sexual Orientation and homosexuality” 1). Labels are used to create an easier way to identify with a particular group of attractions. These labels are gay, lesbian, and bisexual (“Sexual Orientation and homosexuality” 1). Based on these attractions and labels, people are given a sense of identity and from there on come the relationships with the particular sex they feel most attracted to. This is where the most common debate comes up: is homosexuality a choice or is something people are born with?

How Do People Know?

Feelings of attraction to members of a particular sex, in both heterosexual (straight) and homosexual (gay) people, emerge starting in middle childhood to around early adolescence (“Sexual Orientation and homosexuality” 1). Typically in men, they start forming attractions to a particular sex (whether it be same or opposite) at about 13 years...

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...ity itself.

Works Cited

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Huegal, Kelly. GLBTQ The Survival Guide for Queer & Questioning Teens. Minneapolis: Free Spirit Publishing, Inc., 2003. Print.

Robison, John Elder. "Love the Homosexual, Hate Homosexuality." Psychology Today. N.p., 11 Jul 2011. Web. 7 Feb 2012.

"Sexual orientation and homosexuality." American psychological association. N.p., 2011. Web. 4 Feb 2012.

Tanner, Lindsey. "Gay Teen Suicides (And Straight) More Common In Politically Conservative Areas." Huffington Post. The Huffington Post, 11/1. Web. 3 Feb 2012. .

Trapp, Robert. The Debatabase Book. 3rd ed. New York: International Debate Education Association, 2007. Print.