Another one on "Sexual Preference..."

I was answering Jules in a previous post I called "The Gays," and realized that my comment was really too long for that format. So, I thought, why not give it it's own post? Jules contends that no one is born anything, neither straight or homosexual. I think perhaps with humans this might be so. Think of it this way...if two boys were dropped onto an island and grew up in complete isolation with no outside interference or cultural influence, would their natural sex drives cause them to be attracted to each other? On the flip, if the same thing were to happen to a male and a female, would they not figure out how to "do it," and procreate? I would say that both are likely, just as Jules seems to infer. Here's how I responded to his commentary:

Hi Jules, I have no idea how someone "gets to be," or "becomes" homosexual. I've heard where boys and girls have felt attracted to their same sex since they can remember, then again, "life-forming" events take place years before our "life time memories" begin. Mine started at 4 years, but a lot can happen to a person in those first four years of "unremembered" life... Genetics as a cause seems suspicious to me, since homosexuality can't possibly be a "trait" that is "passed down" through generations; that would require it to be one that would help propogate the species and that just can't be... In fact, it's contrary to maintainence and continuation.

I think its more about societal acceptance and awareness of the possiblity of homosexuality. Other cultures, such as the Greeks in Helenic times, completely accepted homosexuality and it was common for soldiers to have "partners" and "lovers." To the Greeks, and somewhat with the Romans, sex with another man or a with a boy was societally acceptable and so became a common and even the more desirable sexual "option." Many men, if not the majority, kept wives and families while preferring to be with their young boyfriend for most of the time.

Besides, there exists all sorts of other sexual variances and preferences, some barely tolerated by societies such as multiple partners, and others considered taboo, like bestiality, pedofilia, and incest, among a host of others. Interestingly, there are cultures high in the Himalayan foothills that accept incest and pedophelia as normal; those sexual "variances" exist because those respective societies see them as "okay" behavior, and so to them, there's no question about being "born" with a penchant for children, its just another way of obtaining sexual gratification.

Homosexuality in the Philippines and in many parts of the rest of the world becomes problematic because it flies in the face of the common religion. Yet, there is an element in those same societies, often driven by the homosexuals themselves, that seeks to make the rest of society accept them as normal and moral. The problem here and in much of the world is that there is not a single Semitic religion that accepts homosexual sex as moral. It is forbidden by Christians, Muslims and Jews alike. The Catholic church in the Philippines certainly doesn't "bless it" as okay behavior, on the contrary in fact; although it seems that many individual priests are willing to "turn a blind eye."

All I can say is, I'm thankful I'm straight. It must be tough for those that are not. Sexual appetites, no matter the persuasion," are difficult, if not impossible, to constrain and everyone who has one considered to be culturally "out of bounds" or borderline, seeks approval and acceptance for it... It's a struggle that has been going on since mankind started forming societies, and might in fact be the cause of the formation of many "sub-cultures." A good example: San Francisco!