NY Gay Pride Weekend

[Dunkopf]

Quote:
Do you mean more people are becoming gay or that more are coming out of the closet. Since it's a genetic issue, I think the overall % stays pretty close to the same. Of course if they make gay marriage legal in Colorado I might decide to be gay. That's a valid argument right?

 

[Dunkopf]

Quote:
I think some religions are just more tolerant of people that don't follow what to them is the norm. My daughter used to babysit for a church that catered to gay people. I just asked her what denomination they were and she said they were not specifically attached. She said the preacher was married as a heterosexual.

Unfortunately it seems like groups with strong or directs religious affiliation are leading the charge against alternative lifestyles.

Does anyone know if Ted Haggert started a church for everyone or did his rehabilitation take hold?

Since Ewe Sheep is asking questions. I would like to ask a question. The scientific theory is that gay people are born that way as a matter of genetics. I subscribe to this theory. My question is where does bisexuality fir in? I think sexuality is kind of like a scale with one on one end and the other on the other end and shades in between. Can this be explained by genes though? At least the in between areas.

 

[Yay Chicks!]

Quote:
I think some religions are just more tolerant of people that don't follow what to them is the norm. My daughter used to babysit for a church that catered to gay people. I just asked her what denomination they were and she said they were not specifically attached. She said the preacher was married as a heterosexual.

Unfortunately it seems like groups with strong or directs religious affiliation are leading the charge against alternative lifestyles.

Does anyone know if Ted Haggert started a church for everyone or did his rehabilitation take hold?

Since Ewe Sheep is asking questions. I would like to ask a question. The scientific theory is that gay people are born that way as a matter of genetics. I subscribe to this theory. My question is where does bisexuality fir in? I think sexuality is kind of like a scale with one on one end and the other on the other end and shades in between. Can this be explained by genes though? At least the in between areas.

There are mainline churches that are "Open and Affirming." I belong to one of them. Every Sunday the pastor greets everyone with, "No matter who you are, or where you are on life's journey, you are welcome here."

 

[billfields]

Yay Chicks! :

There are mainline churches that are "Open and Affirming." I belong to one of them. Every Sunday the pastor greets everyone with, "No matter who you are, or where you are on life's journey, you are welcome here."

Me too! "You are welcome here whoever you are, wherever you come from and wherever you are on life's journey....." You UU?

As for how people get to be gay, we get to be that way the same way straight people get to be straight and bi folks get to be bi....that's just who we are. 'Nuff said. Looking for causes ultimately means looking for cures and I for one do not think heterosexuality needs to be cured. Straight people are fine just as they are!

 

[I have WHAT in my yard?]

I don't think looking for causes means looking for cures. I am hoping that understanding of causes means understanding it is natural and not a "dis ease".

They are learning huge amounts about the number of babies who are gender indeterminant. They're just learning so much more about how sexuality is determined that we should know by now that this isn't an either/or issue.

Like Dunk said - It's more of a continuum with people ending up at all aspects of the spectrum. It is more than what gender you look like and more than what gender you are attracted to. There is also what gender's hormones you produce and what gender's biology you produce both internally and externally. (It is not as uncommon as people think for people to actually have BOTH organs to one degree or another.)

I'll post the link to the talk about gender. This is very tame I showed it to my 9 year old.


It's called Is Anatomy Destiny? http://www.ted.com/talks/alice_dreger_is_anatomy_destiny.html

 

[Dunkopf]

I would like to see more research done. The primary argument is that it is nurture not nature. Therefore exposure could be infectious. To me that's ridiculous but I have heard and read many people making that assertion. If they could find the gene and prove it the issue would be put to rest with the exception of people that don't except scientific data.

 

[welsummerchicks]

Dunkopf: Since Ewe Sheep is asking questions. I would like to ask a question. The scientific theory is that gay people are born that way as a matter of genetics. I subscribe to this theory. My question is where does bisexuality fir in? I think sexuality is kind of like a scale with one on one end and the other on the other end and shades in between. Can this be explained by genes though? At least the in between areas.

From what I have read, no one has really studied bisexuality much; I recall reading one study where participants could only participate in the study if they were gay, not bi. I don't mind that, they probably think their study will get fewer negative reviews if they don't 'muddy the waters', I even think their reviewers early on recommended that for that very reason.

Personally, my feeling is that it basically goes in the same category as homosexuality as far as being 'born that way'.

Everything the body does is controlled by 'genes' - every chemical reaction, every single thing the body does. They aren't all genes we inherit; genes are also used as messengers, as part of long series of processes that the genes we inherit may set up, but not actually execute, day to day.

I think that gay and bi behavior is controlled by the way the brain operates. I don't blame people for what they are born like, but I do expect people to take responsibility and treat other people decently.

I used to sit for a little boy, starting at age 2. His mom had horrible trouble getting him to eat. One day he was about 5, he came and sat on my porch with me and seemed like the saddest little kid in the world. He looked at me searchingly and said, 'I wish I was a girl'. His mom just seemed to HATE him, always comparing him to his older brother. WHY? I think because he was born different, she sensed that and she hated it. I don't think her picking made him DIFFERENT, I think he was born that way. I think her picking made him MISERABLE, though.

 

[Yay Chicks!]

Quote:
Me too! "You are welcome here whoever you are, wherever you come from and wherever you are on life's journey....." You UU?

As for how people get to be gay, we get to be that way the same way straight people get to be straight and bi folks get to be bi....that's just who we are. 'Nuff said. Looking for causes ultimately means looking for cures and I for one do not think heterosexuality needs to be cured. Straight people are fine just as they are!

UCC

I, too, would be concerned that a genetic cause might lead to people looking for cures - specifically, parents who could not bring themselves to accept a gay child...which, in turn, could lead to societal pressure toward a "cure." My hope, however, is that there would be more general acceptance to a proven 'born that way' outcome. But first and foremost, I agree that it just does not matter how people get to be one way or the other or any way in between.

 

[Hippie Chickie]

Quote:
There is a scale called the Kinsey scale that deals with homosexuality. Basically it shows how people can fall into one extreme or the other on homosexuality versus heterosexuality. Or they can fall somewhere in the middle and be considered bisexual.
I'm not sure how accurate it is. For instance I don't consider myself bi, rather heteroflexible. If the right girl caught my eye I would most likely ask her out but right now I am more comfy with guys.

 

[Dunkopf]

I agree it doesn't make a difference. However right now gay people are denied a very basic legal right that straights have. To me that is discrimination. If there was irrefutable proof that it was nature not nurture then there wouldn't be a legal leg to stand on for those that feel they should be deprived of that right. At this point they can bring up that ridiculous argument about someone marrying their sister or their dog because it is their choice to be that way.

At any rate. Congrats to NY. I hope the results stand and equal rights continue forward.