"Born That Way"

Our primary social and educational structures are always in place to support heterosexual individuals for their sexual identity formation, as almost every one of us holds an accepting attitude towards heterosexuality in our mainstream society.  However, such an attitude is rarely present in the case of the homosexual individuals. Although homosexuality is in fact, based entirely on personal experiences of exploring one's own sexuality, emotions, and feelings, which are also the same fundamental elements that heterosexuality is based on, many may find homosexuality as degradation and a shameful thing.  After the decision made by the American Psychiatric Association (APA) to delete homosexuality from its list of pathological disorders in 1973, homosexuality is being looked at from a different point of view. For centuries, homosexuality has been condemned as a God-forbidden sin in many cultures around the world. However, homosexuality is not a sin, for it is biologically determined and not something one embraces through time. Furthermore, an individual does not have the ability to change his/her sexual orientation as no scientific studies have provided sufficient evidence on the success of alternating one's sexual orientation through artificial means. 

Many conflicts between those who pursue homosexuality and those who oppose to it escalate from disagreement over the natur of homosexuality. Such arguments are closely tied to the ancient "nature vs. nurture" debate in another context on whether homosexuality is innate or acquired. Homosexuals argue that their sexual leaning is an immutable, inborn trait and "healthy psychological condition developed in the early years of life." (Bender 133).  Formed by nonpsychiatric professionals in 1973, the Independent Association of Lesbian and Gay Psychologists soon takes on a position to build a psychology of their own at the meetings of the American Psychological Association.  It didn't take long for them to come to the conclusion that homosexuality is not an acquired mode of behavior by conscious nor can it be stopped or altered at will. The theological and moral perspective shifts because if it's the way one is born, then it ceases to be a sin. Homosexuality cannot be learned; it's not something voluntary, nor something one embraced through time.

Contrary to the belief shared by many, our sexual orientation cannot be changed through artificial means. There is no proven evidence in the existence of any type of therapies or medicines capable of  "curing" homosexuality. In 1950's, many psychoanalysts concluded that homosexuals are unhappy and suffering people and that there are no healthy homosexuals. Doctors even concluded that the real reason why homosexuals cannot be cured is not because of his perversion but his  "ignorance of the possibility that he can be helped". (Herman 64) However, it is impossible for psychiatric-psychoanalytic treatment to cure homosexuality and in certain cases; patients alter their behaviors in result of conformity and social pressure.  The biological basis of sexual orientation is a research area that is coming out of the closet. According to the studies of Simon LeVay, he sees the  "scientific evidence of a biological determinant of gayness as a crucial factor in preventing psychiatrists, lawmakers, and citizens in general from slipping back into believing that homosexuality is a mental illness – or that it is criminal or immoral."  (Robertson 36) Simon LeVay's 1991 study of INAH [3] claims that one of four particular groups of cells (called INAH 1, 2, 3, and 4) of the brain was twice as large in heterosexual men as in homosexual men or in women. From such finding, LeVay is able to suggest that there is indeed a biological difference between heterosexuals and homosexuals. Furthermore, a recent study reveals that among lesbian women, 48 percent of their identical twins, 16 percent of their fraternal twins of the same sex, and 6 percent of their adopted sisters were also lesbians. Sexual identity is already rooted in a person's biology before his birth.

Homosexuality bears a significant amount of similarities with heterosexuality. Sexuality is a straightforward physical and biological reality for human beings. The emotional and psychological bond of a heterosexual couple and that of a homosexual couple are identical. A heterosexual person has a sense of his sexuality when he experiences sexual attraction from another member of the opposite sex. Vice versa, a homosexual person has the assurance of his sexual orientation through the sexual attraction from another member of the same sex. One's feelings of being a man or a woman may fluctuate; both of these identities may exist at once. The only difference between a heterosexual individual and a homosexual individual is that a heterosexual person recognizes his/her gender identity as separate from his/her biological sex and it is extremely difficult for homosexuals to do so.