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argumentative essay about homosexuality
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The argument of nature v. nurture in regards to homosexuality is a topic of intense debate. Those for it, in this case the side of nature will be addressed in ‘for the argument’, defend their reasoning fiercely and there seem to be a significantly larger amount of them. Those against it, in this case the side of nurture will addressed in ‘against the argument’, also defend their reasoning with ferocity but there are significantly less of them. This paper will discuss both sides of the argument, citing peer-reviewed journals/articles, and discussing evidence used to support each side. In each case the evidence will be thoroughly discussed and in the conclusion the evidence will be summarized and my opinion will be stated in the conclusion. As stated in many other papers about this subject, the purpose of this paper is not to prove if homosexuality is right or wrong, but to establish a thorough and unbiased understanding about the biological and/or social source of homosexuality.
For the Argument
The first serious attempt to explain sexual orientation by means other than a person’s social interaction or religious influence was be Von Kraft-Ebbing. His argument, in its most basic form, was that it was ‘inborn’ (Ellis & Ames, 1987, 234). As we gained more knowledge on the endocrine system in the 20th century two men, Magnus Hirschfeld and Auguste Florel speculated that hormone imbalances could result in homosexuality. Genetic factors began to be considered in the 1940s. Since then there have been numerous studies attempting to prove the genetic predisposition to homosexuality. The earliest experiment in biological research began in 1938 with the research of Alfred Kinsey. Kinsey was studying human sexuality with the goal of discoverin...
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...sexuality–heterosexuality. Psychological Bulletin, 101(2), 233-258.
Homosexuality: biologically or environmentally constructed. (n.d.). Homosexuality: biologically or environmentally constructed. Retrieved March 26, 2014, from http://jrscience.wcp.muohio.edu/Research/HNatureProposalsArticles/Homosexuality.biologicall.html
Johnson, R. (2003). Homosexuality: Nature or Nurture. AllPsych Online. Retrieved March 26, 2014, from http://allpsych.com/journal/homosexuality.
Knight, R. (n.d.). Born or Bred? Science Does Not Support the Claim That Homosexuality Is Genetic. Homosexuality and Islam, 1-13.
Pickering, R. (n.d.). CMF publications. Christian Medical Fellowship, 19-28.
ProCon.org (2011) Peer-Reviewed Studies on the Origin of Sexual Orientation Since 1990. ProConorg Headlines. Retrieved March 26, 2014, from http://borngay.procon.org/view.resource.php?resourceID=000006
In Brandon Ambrosino’s “I am Gay – but I Wasn't Born This Way”, the author states his reasoning as to why he believes he chose to be gay. Being one of the few who questions the born this way ideology, Ambrosino, along with other LGBTQ activists, are “cast as homophobic, and their thinking is considered backward”(par 10). However, just because an argument like this is popular, it doesn’t necessarily mean it’s true. Even scientific organizations like the American Psychological Association (APA) believes that people have no control over their sexual orientations, however, no findings have been found that determine if sexual orientation is determined from hormones, genetics, or cultural influences(par 21), therefore contradicting the previous claim.
Malory, Marcia. "Homosexuality & Choice: Are Gay People 'Born This Way’." www.huffingtonpost.com/2012/10/23/homosexuality--choice-born-science_n_20033 . N.p., 25 Oct 2012. Web. 10 Apr 2014.
The first possible cause of homosexuality is genetic factors. Homosexuality is a trait from birth (Buchanan, 2000). Studies found that identical twins share many common traits. A study found that identical twins normally share homosexual behavior if one of them is homosexual. This proved that genes are likely to cause homosexuality. In addition, according to (Santinover, 2002), homosexuality is a heritable behavior. Based on heritability studies, almost any human trait is heritable including the homosexual behavior. He stated that behavioral genes are found in specific chromosome. Thus, the behavior is obviously heritable. Moreover, Italian University of Padova (2004) believes that homosexual trait is passed from mother to male offspring by natural ...
This represents a change in avenue of attack, not a broad ideological shift from historic eugenic arguments. Similarly, the search for the "gay gene," while a relatively new scientific concept, is highly reminiscent of previous understandings of queer sexuality, which located deviance in physical and/or hormonal "abnormalities." The idea that queer people's queerness is loc...
I first checked out a site written by a supporter of the "gay gene." http://voyager.dvc.edu/~bmckinney/www.pilot.infi.net/~susanf/aolgay.htm is written by Don Robertson. Don Robertson is a gay teacher of biochemistry and molecular biology. In his article, he states that many experiments have proved the genetic connection to homosexuality. He names some of the experiment's methods but he doesn't include who ran the experiments, where they were done, why or why not they would be reliable or whether they would have the same results if the experiments were repeated. He comes up with figures like if one identical twin is gay there is a sixty- percent chance that the other identical twins will also be gay. This is included to prove that since identical twins share identical genes, they must have had the "gay gene" passed down to both of them. This claim brings up a few problems.
10.7 million Americans consider themselves Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, or Transgender, which is about 3.4% of our population. How does homosexuality occur? Is a man gay because of a missing father and an overbearing mother? Is a woman gay because of her desire to please her father by showing that she is worthy of the love she cannot seem to receive from him? Recently, most studies on the genetic liabilities of homosexuality have focused on men, but it is believed that the observations from these experiments also apply to women. Homosexuality is not strictly genetic, but epigenetic, and has characteristics of a hereditary trait.
Halperin, D. M. "How To Do The History Of Male Homosexuality." GLQ: A Journal of Lesbian and Gay Studies 6.1 (2000): 87-123. Web.
Genes are thought to play a critical role in sexual orientation, however which genes are actually contributing this effect is unknown. There are some genes being explored carefully, but there is no strong evidence existing. An example that demonstrates the correlation between genes and sexual orientation is twin studies. Evidence shows when one twin is homosexual the other twin will have a 50% chance of being homosexual as well. There seems to be a high concordance rate of sexual orientation between family members (Broderick & Blewitt, 2015). It is evident, biology play a significant role in the development of sexual orientation, however much research is still being conducted to prove its
What controls a human's sexual orientation? The long-standing debate of nature versus nurture can be extended to explaining human sexual orientation. Is it biological or environmental? The biological explanation has been gaining popularity amongst the scientific community although it is only based on speculations. It is argued that sexual orientation is linked to factors that occur during sexual differentiation. The prenatal exposure to androgens and their affect on the development of the human brain play a pivotal role in sexual orientation (2). Heredity is also part of the debate. Does biology merely provide the slate of neural circuitry upon which sexual orientation is inscribed? Do biological factors directly wire the brain so that it will support a particular orientation? Or do biological factors influence sexual orientation only indirectly?
Sexuality is a fundamental part of our self-discovery, involving much more than just being genetically or anatomically male and female and it is not defined solely by one 's sexual acts (Ministry of Education 1989, p.79 cited in Gourlay, P 1995). The notion that sexuality is fixed and innate disregards the social aspects that impact ones’ sexualities. Gagnon and Simon (1973) further commented that sexuality is a feature of social
Though many researchers will agree that homosexuality is not genetic, still, others beg to differ. HRC.org published an article entitled “Guide to Coming Out,” the article states ‘sexuality and gender identity are not choices any more than being left-handed or having brown eyes or being heterosexual are choices…The choice is in deciding how to live your life.’ With society always shoving their view into the minds of Americans second of everyday, it is not that hard to see where the confusion arises.
Osmundson, Joseph. "'I Was Born This Way': Is Sexuality Innate, and Should It Matter?" Harvard Kennedy School. N.p., 2011. Web. 11 Feb. 2014. .
Somerville, Siobhan. "Scientific Racism and the Invention of the Homosexual Body." Gender, Sex, and Sexuality. New York: Oxford University, 2009. 284-99. Print.
The sexual orientation of a person has been a critical debate over the past several centuries. For several...
Even though it is against nature, some individuals are born with complete desire to same sex. Abraham Verghese in his article A fresh look at homosexuality said, “While welcoming and agreeing with a positive perception of homosexuality, it is difficult to accept the position that homosexuality is a normal psychosexual development. A normal variant cannot be considered completely normal. It is, in fact, an aberration in the psychosexual development, caused by genetic and psychosocial factors for which the person is not responsible. There are research findings, which suggest that there are structural differences in the brains of people with homosexual orientation.”(qdt pg 1) This quote proves the claim of having a different biological format for homosexuals from any normal heterosexual. These cases are completely helpless and have nothing to do with being homosexuals; it is a natural stimulus that they were born with. Therefore in such cases, it is critical to understand that they have no control over their unnatural