Facts vs Myths about Homosexuality

Especially since science has never conclusively proven the existence of ... well, anything. The scientific theory is to simply make educated guesses, then disprove and refine those guesses until we have a useful theory. But no theory has ever been proven to be true, only accepted as 'good enough' for the moment.​

 

Fact: Anecdotal experience does not equal universal truth. While it can be informative, it is also a common way in which stereotypes and myths are formed. It isn't that relating truthfully one's personal experiences somehow equals lying. One can be completely candid and truthful about a personal experience with a particular demographic, yet it still wouldn't necessarily represent what is true of all or most of the identified group.

Gay people don't share a common set of experiences beyond the fact of their orientation. Certainly you can find groups of gay people who do share a common set of experiences based on other things; economic status, social status, location, etc. etc. etc. The more of these other factors they share in common, the more it may seem that there's a common thread to their being gay, but it's an illusion. For example, as a gay man raised in a rural setting, I don't identify with gay urban 'culture'. Just one factor among a host of others that can shape people's perspectives in very different ways.

 

Even though what I'm about to relate is anecdotal...and maybe I should follow my own advice for heteros and shut up, because I'm not gay

My brother and his partner would love nothing more than the subject of thier sexuality never being brought up by anyone.

I believe the world might be a less iritating place for them if they were back in "the closet"...but I think that ignores the prevous, and obvious, neccessity of coming out. In a perfect world, where there is no stigma about being gay, we could all just keep what happens behind the bedroom door to ourselves.

But no...Christians have the bible that tells them it's wrong...and gay haters of all types with all thier reasons...and people who are just made to feel icky when they imagine gays kissing............have opinions about it.

And I hate that.

 

People don't want to hear about how proud you are of yourself for getting jollies on someone who has the same sexual organs you do.

 

Translation....I don't have any arguments left, so I'll just be a jerk.

 

So lefties aren't normal, redheads aren't normal, people over 80 aren't normal, people with an IQ above 135 aren't normal, billionaires aren't normal...I guess we could be in worse company.

Your logic stinks, but you knew that.

 

Fact: People are born gay. Science has not found the exact reason for left-handedness either. However, it doesn't really matter at all. Every homosexual knows that they were homosexual all their lives. makes no difference at all what you think.

If you put any stock in science, I would cite you the latest research. But for you...it would be a waste of time.

 

OH HELL. GAY MOM is GAY?? I thought Gay Mom was the Mom of a GAY KID. Well. LOL

 

Getting my "jollies on"?? Is that what you you think about when you hear homosexual??? Weird. I don't think about other people's sex lives.

 

Nope, my daughters are both hetrerosexuals. One has two children and the other is getting married in November. We went to get my dress yesterday.

 

That's funny.

You're trying to get everyone on PF to think about YOUR sex life.

Its disgusting, tasteless, and shows how little CLASS you have

 

For crying out loud, no it's not normal to be gay; but neither is it normal to be black, to be left handed, to stand 5' 11", or to have an I.Q. of 195. Normal means average, unexceptional. Normal is a statistical result of mediocre performance, insignificant luck, average choices, and/or unambitious goals. The only folks who think normal is an admirable objective are the ones in the bottom 50% of any sample.

It's silly to obsess on who's "normal" or "not normal" -- because it's ok to be exceptional, being average isn't that special, and because none of us are entirely normal.​

 

Ah, Myths vs. Facts. Fun, no?

Earlier, I introduced the fact that homosexuality is not normal by the common definition of the word "normal" (usual, average, typical). That fact has not been refuted (as it is indeed a fact). 1 in 2 or 3 is normal. Maybe even 4 or 5. But 1 in less than 20? Now that is what we call an anomaly.

This time, though, I would like to introduce and address a myth. Now a myth is something which is commonly believed to be true, but is in fact false. Earlier, we learned that the sum total of Gs, Ls, Bs, and Ts in America is 4%, but when gallup asked Americans how many people they THOUGHT were gay, they said 25%! http://www.gallup.com/poll/147824/adults-estimate-americans-gay-lesbian.aspx Now how did such a myth become the common conception? Could it be that people tend to use the common definition of words, and the media had been pounding them over the head with the idea that homosexuality is "normal"(i.e. usual, average, typical)? So when asked their perception (I guess just to see how well the propaganda is working), people came up with a number which would be on the low end of "normal", nowhere near the actual (anomaly) number. No doubt most people were thinking, "Now I don't know that many gays, but they must be out there. I see them all the time on TV. They must all live in San Francisco, Hollywood, and such places". So, yes, there definitely ARE myths about homosexuality being spread...so let's all get out there and fight that ignorance.

 

I don't even think much about my sex life. I'm much too busy. So why do you??? You must have a reason??

 

They come closer and closer to really understanding the genetics of sexual orientation all the time.

The study I cited stated that sexual orientation in gays starts surfacing between 5 and puberty, which is about the same time frame in which heterosexuals start to fancy others.

Gay haters tend to be the same people that call themselves conservatives these days, but they're mostly just Christian social fundamentalists or Tea Partiers...and they like things black and white.

If you tell them it's genetic...they just fall back on the same type of pseudo science they use to discount Natural Selection, or when they're really stupid, "evolution" itself.

It's just my opinion, but I try to impress on them that the gay people I know, are not gay because they're mischevious, or wicked, or because they up and decided to reject the bible and America.

 

OP. nuff said, hypocrite.

 

I can give you a whole list of myths if you want to start fighting them.

 

???????????

 

But they wouldn't be ofended if you told them about your heterosexuality, if you were.

There are many factors that go into being gay...but there are very few that go into dissapproving of being gay. It's much easier to hate than it is to understand.

 

well just do one at a time. I mean 10 pages now and you've not done the first one??

 

Welcome to the intardwebs, m'dear.

 

You see what you're doing here, though? You're doing the very thing you're condemning others for. You're completely ignoring the facts and clinging to the myths that validate your current beliefs. The truth of the matter is that the vast majority of support for the "born this way" argument is anecdotal. It's based on testimonials by gay people who claim they've always known they were gay. This is fine for a personal belief system, but it is not science. It does not utilize any verifiable empirical testing that will conclusively prove that people are born gay or what makes them gay.

I understand that this is a personal issue for you and that it might be difficult to acknowledge what is uncomfortable, but if you expect other people to do it, you have to be willing to do it, yourself. It works both ways. And I'm not trying to pick on you here either. So I hope you don't feel like I am.

 

There have been a lot supplied by others, but here goes:

Myth One: Homosexuality is a choice

Myth Two: Homosexuals are pedophiles

Myth Three: Homosexuals only think about sex

Myth Four: Homosexuals are unrepentant sinners

Myth Five: Homosexuals are perverted

Myth Six: Homosexuals all spread HIV

Myth Seven: Homosexuals can't reproduce

Myth Eight: Homosexuals should not be able to marry

Myth Nine: Homosexuals shouldn't be around children

Myth Ten: Homosexuals are evolutionary dead ends

I thought I'd start with a group of ten. Hows that??

 

It's based on the absence of any other accepted theory. If you we can't figure out how something was created, the default assumption is it was always there.​

 

Let's put the "normal" debate to rest, shall we? The disagreement is based largely in different shades of meaning that people assign the word.

Fact: Homosexuality is not normal in the statistical sense of how often it occurs within the population. In this context, it is not "usual", "typical", "average", "common", "standard". It does, however, occur with enough frequency to qualify as expected to a certain degree.

So then we have to consider other ways in which the word is commonly used. One of these is the use of the word as a proxy for arguing that homosexuality does not conform to standards of morality. The trouble with this usage is that views on morality are not themselves universally standardized, arguments to the contrary asserted by moral absolutists who view the world in strictly black & white terms notwithstanding. So perhaps homosexuality doesn't conform to some people's moral standards, but it arguably does for others'.

Then there is use of the word to designate a person who is in the normal, functional range with respect to intelligence, learning, managing emotions, grasp of reality, etc. Contrary to what opponents of homosexuality would like everyone to believe, the majority of gay people qualify as normal in this sense of the word as well.

Then there is the use of the word to describe one's lifestyle. There is a misconception that gay people have an abnormal lifestyle, one very different from a typical heterosexual. This is expressed by opponents of homosexuality in attacks employing stereotypes of gay people as hedonistic, drug abusing, disease spreading, sex addicts. It's a misplaced focus on the minority, and does not describe a typical gay person. In point of fact, there is no such thing as a "gay lifestyle", since gay people have the same diversity of lifestyles as heterosexuals. As with most things, it's the extremists that stick out and get noticed, helping to perpetuate the perception of the entire group as having abnormal lifestyles.

So to a gay person who tries to live what in their view constitutes a morally good life, who is normal psychologically, and whose lifestyle is indistinct from their heterosexual neighbors with the singular exception of their orientation (and their marginalization in society because of it), it can feel very insulting to be called "abnormal". We know that you don't mean it in the statistical sense. We get that you have this image of us as emotionally unstable people leading destructive lives, obsessed with sex and sexuality. That doesn't mean we have to conform to your illusions of us, or feel any less insulted by it.

I have no doubt that someone will now endeavor to prove to us just how "abnormal" homosexuals are in every sense of that word. Fair warning that if you portray yourself to me as an obstinate bigot who thinks they know more about gay people than any actual person living with a same-sex orientation, I will ignore you, potentially without notice or comment. Same goes for adrenaline junkies trying to get their fix through combative confrontation. Don't expect me to indulge or engage with you. I have better things to do with my time.