What causes Homosexuality?

Homosexuality : Is it Genetic?

A tremendous amount of research has been conducted over the past 20 years attempting to link homosexuality to various genetic, hormonal, and neurological factors. To date, this research has raised interesting hypotheses, but failed to produce any concrete evidence.

Commentary from scientific literature shows that evidence is lacking for a simple genetic or biological explanation of homosexuality. Evidence does not support the hypothesis of a gay gene.

“It’s important to stress what I didn’t find. I did not prove that homosexuality is genetic, or find a genetic cause for being gay. I didn’t show that gay men are born that way, the most common mistake people make in interpreting my work. Nor did I locate a gay center in the brain.”
[LeVay, Simon, PhD. (March 1994). Sexual Brain. Discover.]
(Dr. LeVay Simon is also a gay activist)

“There is no one ‘gay’ gene. Sexual orientation is a complex trait, so it’s not surprising that we found several DNA regions involved in its expression.”
[Mustanski, Brian S., PhD. (Jan. 27, 2005). University of Illinois news release on A Genomewide Scan of Male Sexual Orientation. Human Genetics, vol. 116. ]

“While some authors have speculated about the existence of ‘genes for homosexuality,’ genes in themselves cannot directly specify any behavior or cognitive schema. Instead, genes direct a particular pattern of RNA synthesis which in turn specifies the production of a particular protein. There are necessarily many intervening pathways between a gene and a specific behavior and even more intervening variables between a gene and a pattern that involves both thinking and behaving.“The term ‘homosexual gene’ is, therefore, without meaning, unless one proposes that a particular gene, perhaps through a hormonal mechanism, organizes the brain specifically to support a homosexual orientation.”
[Byne, William, MD, PhD. (1995). Science and Belief: Psychobiological Research on Sexual Orientation. Journal of Homosexuality, vol. 28. ]

If not Gay gene, what causes homosexuality?

In third world countries like India, sex is a taboo. The reason of course lies in a traditional conservative family and community structure that does not talk about sex and sexuality at all. Parents do not speak to children about sexuality as well as physical and emotional changes that take place during their growing years.

Many people from very childhood itself does not get a chance to get close with some one from opposite sex. Lack of heterosexual opportunity is satisfied with homosexuality.
During homosexual encounter, one partner plays the role of male and the other partner plays the role of female.

Homosexuality is very common in military and police barrack, college hostels and among jail in-mates.
Usage of drugs, alcohol, substance abuse and pornography are extremely predominant among them. These people have a very strong sexual urge because of pornographic books and videos. Drugs and alcohol helps them to shed their inhibition. Lack of sexual opportunity with opposite gender is satisfied by sexual closeness with same gender. They satisfy their sexual urge by having sex with same gender.

Criminals have a high tendency of drug abuse and have a high sexual hunger. Spending time in a red light area is a story of every night for them. When they are in jail, they do not get a chance to quench their sexual urge with opposite sex. So they satisfy themselves by having sex with same gender.

But the VVIP criminals, who with the power of their money and prevailing corruption can get the comfort of a 5 star hotel in jail, can get the best brand of alcohol and call girls in the jail itself, do you think they would want to have sex with same gender? Hell No! For what joy will they become homosexuals?

Young people in their early or mid teens who are victims of homosexuality, have some common features. They come from a very orthodox family. They study either in a boy’s school or in a girl’s school but rarely in a co-ed school, they lack the opportunity of being friend with opposite sex.
Internet expose them to sexual world. Even in villages where internet is not an option, for teenage girls, their sis-inlaws or some elderly female friend expose them to sexuality.
For teenage boys, afternoon porn video show in ‘tent’ is enough exposure. It is a severe problem in villages where the teenage boys bunk their school to watch blue films in ‘tent’.
As these sex-addicts does not have scope to get physical with a friend of opposite sex, they satisfy themselves either by developing a homosexual relationship or ‘incest’.

Majority of these people, once they get a chance to lead a normal heterosexual life, give up their homosexual inclination.
Of course there are people who are male by their body but female by their mind and soul and vice versa. We will discuss about them in the section ‘Sexual Incongruence’.

Homosexuality is not genetic.
Homosexuality is not a natural instinct
The main cause of homosexuality is the lack of heterosexual opportunity.

“The stages of psycho-social development toward adult heterosexuality are clearly demarcated, known and understood by developmental psychologists, and are so obviously learned that heterosexuality is clearly not genetically mandated. Surveys of adult homosexuals show conspicuous deficits in several of these developmental stages – showing that homosexuality is cultural and environmental rather than genetic.”
[Whitehead, Neil E., PhD. (1999). My Genes Made Me Do It!. Huntington House Pub.]

If that is true, why do we find homosexuals in western countries where they have enough opportunities for a heterosexual relation?

Homosexuality is cultural and environmental rather than genetic. It is neither ‘by birth’ nor it is a ‘natural instinct ‘.
It is a deviation from a normal sexual life.
It is a deformity. It is a perversion.
It is a disorder, Same Sex attraction disorder (SSAD)

The life stories of number of homosexuals with whom psychologists have worked, provide strong evidence of six factors that may predispose people to the development of homosexuality. Few people with same-sex attraction experienced all of these factors. And many people who are heterosexual have experienced at least a few of them.

So it seems clear that the factors seem to combine in varied and complex ways to create the essential conditions that are necessary for homosexuality to emerge.—They set the stage.

You can read more about the six predisposing factors stated below. As you read these sections, keep in mind that the variety of backgrounds among homosexuals is truly vast and what you read won’t necessarily apply to every one with same-sex attraction.

Male homosexuality is much more common than female homosexuality. So we will keep our discussion more focused on what causes male homosexuality. But the factors discussed here are also true for female homosexuality.

1.Unhealthy Childhood Relationships

In order to understand the issues with women that so many men with same-sex attraction have, we must begin by looking at the relationship experiences that create those issues. Females—including mothers, sisters, extended family members, teachers, babysitters, and others—can wound a boy in a frightening variety of ways. They may overwhelm him with their attention, smothering him with too much love or concern. They may control, dominate, and overprotect him, leaving him feeling emasculated and incapable. They may over-connect with the boy and use him as a confidant, perhaps pulling him into their problems with other males, including conflicts with his own father, grandfather, or brother.

Females may also criticize a boy for his weaknesses, causing lasting feelings of shame, insecurity, and self-doubt.
Sometimes, females specifically shame boys about being male or about their male traits, creating gender shame.

Experiences like these cause some boys to form unhealthy relationships with women in adulthood. Those who become oppositional in their relationships tend to reject women and push them away. They may do so out of feelings of resentment, dislike, disgust, or even hatred. Or they may do so in reaction to feeling threatened and endangered by women. Some same-sex attraction men are completely conscious and blatant about their dislike of females. For others, negative feelings toward women may show up only in subtle behaviors and thoughts of which they are barely aware. And some may be completely unconscious of their opposition.

Men who become avoidant in their relationships with women tend to experience feelings of fear and anxiety, which may cause them to keep their distance. Or they may simply feel apathetic and indifferent toward women, perhaps treating them as if they don’t exist.

The distancing that occurs in avoidant and oppositional ways of relating with women may block an adult male’s natural capacity for attraction to the opposite sex.

When sexual abuse by females is part of a man’s background, the repulsion that often ensues from having experienced female sexuality too early in life and in such repellant ways may contribute to that distancing.
The same concept is also true for lesbians.

2. Distorted Concepts of Gender

The concept of a female, “All men are dogs” or a concept of a male that “All women are wicked and evil” are typical examples of ‘distorted concept of gender’

Unhealthy childhood relationships with opposite sex can distort a man’s/woman’s view of the female/male gender, affect how he/she sees himself/herself in relation to women/man, damage his/her sense of masculinity/feminity and prevent the natural development of a sense of gendered-ness. This can leave the individual without a sense of the opposite sex as complementary and attractive.

For example, these men may view all women as powerful, dominant, or controlling; or perhaps as demeaning, emasculating, and shaming. They may see them as needy and engulfing, manipulative and demanding. Or they may perceive women generally as being stupid, weak, or just more trouble than they’re worth-moody, complaining, and whining.

Distorted views of the female gender, together with distorted perceptions of himself, can prevent a boy from developing a sense that girls are complementary to his maleness. From this perspective, females would not seem attractive.

On the other hand, women may idealize women, considering them to be more intelligent than men, unrealistically pure, or even sacred. They may look at women as protectors or providers.

For many with same-sex attraction, females were the predominant influence in their lives growing up. Whether they perceived their relationships with females as loving or wounding, females were present and engaged. Often women acted as their main source of role modeling and companionship, while the men in their lives may have had little impact.

Thus these women tend to have a distorted view of male gender and find them unattractive.

Heterosexuality depend on genderedness and complimentarity. Men/women must see women/men as distinct from them-excitingly different, exotic, and mysterious-and as providing the opportunity for a mutually fulfilling and beneficial relationship.

These people are not sexually attracted to opposite sex, probably because they have experienced at least some of the issues described above. In contrast, it is noticed that homosexual who have not experienced these issues often report attractions to opposite sex in their past or present life.

(** Religion can also cause distorted gender concept in male. But that discussion is beyond the scope of this article)

3. Feeling Incongruent With One’s Own Gender

Many homosexual men report that, during childhood, they saw themselves as being at odds or out–of–sync with what they believed a boy is supposed to be. Essentially, their perspective of other males was, “I am not like them and they are not like me—I am different.” We refer to this condition as “gender incongruity.” This in course of time becomes Gender identity Disorder (GID) and later develops Transvestism.
While most boys and men may occasionally feel like they don’t fully measure up to their masculine ideal, boys experiencing gender incongruity tend to focus on these thoughts extensively. They experience a pervasive sense of lacking in vital qualities or capacities they consider essential for masculinity. And they may believe there is no way for them to obtain or grow into these qualities or capacities.

A friend of mine, Bhaswati (not her real name), is a reputed journalist in a leading print media of India. She told me that probably her parents wanted a boy child. So after she was born, her parents used to dress her up like a boy, her toys were similar to that of her cousin brother. Her parents always wanted her to look like a boy.
When she grew up in her teens and even as young adults, she used to maintain her appearance and choice of dressing like a boy or man.
She feels she is a male in a girl’s body.
I do not have any contact with her since last couple of years. But i wish she understands that she is suffering from a disorder and consult a psycho analyst and comes out of it.

Sometime parents and family member may over-praise a boy or a girl with complements that are overdone, unrealistic, or insincere. They may feminize/masculinize him/her by using him/her in their make-believe play as another girl/boy, sometimes dressing him/her up as a girl/boy or even telling him/her that he/she is a girl/boy.
They may develop Gender Incongruence-Gender Identity Disorder where a boy/girl feels that he/she is a girl/boy by mind and soul, locked up in a male/female body.
This leads to Transvestism (also called transvestitism), the practice of dressing and acting in a style or manner traditionally associated with the opposite sex.

My friend Bhaswati, Notable film director Rituparno Ghosh and professor Somnath Bandapadhyay are examples.

[Somnath Bandapadhyay in 2003 had genital surgery to change her male body to that of a female. She wears sari and changed her name to to Manabi (=woman).
Somnath aka Manabi is still a good friend of mine.
She has written a bestselling novel, Endless Bondage, about hijras.
She is teaching at Jhargram college and taking care of her ageing parents. She is also the editor of a bengali magazine Aba-manab]
When an individual feels incongruent with his/her gender, he/she may experience a painful conflict between what he/she thinks he/she must be and what he/she thinks he/she can be. The inability to resolve that situation might result in the unconscious mind compensating in the most direct way it can, by becoming intensely drawn to or fixated on males/female and masculinity/feminity in an unconscious attempt to somehow internalize it. Many, with same sex attraction disorder (SSAD) are experiencing exactly that situation.

Consider this statement from Daryl Bem, PhD, Professor of Psychology at Cornell University:
“The central proposition of EBE [Exotic Becomes Erotic] theory is that individuals can become erotically attracted to a class of individuals from whom they felt different during childhood…”
[Bem, Daryl, PhD. (2000). Exotic Becomes Erotic: Interpreting the Biological Correlates of Sexual Orientation. Archives of Sexual Behavior, vol. 29, No. 6.]

4. Problems In Relationships With Other Members of Same Sex

Painful, frightening, or alienating experiences with father, brother, peers, and other males can lead boys to pull away from males generally, breaking or preventing normal same-sex bonds and creating a state of same-sex disaffiliation. This may have been caused by abuse, harassment, and bullying; through rejection, non-inclusion, and alienation from other males; or through a profound experience of mismatch with the males around him.
This lead to same-sex disaffiliation.
This is also prevalent in male than in female. But a girl who is bullied by other female members, can also develop same-sex disaffiliation.
Gender incongruity can also contribute to same-sex disaffiliation by causing a boy/girl to avoid other males/females out of a sense of being different or strange.

The boy/girl may fear that if the other boys/girls get to know him/her, they will see his/her strangeness and will reject him/her. Likewise, same–sex disaffiliation can reinforce gender incongruity since the less time the boy/girl spends with other males/females, the fewer of their traits he/she will adopt. Gender incongruity and same-sex disaffiliation can become a mutually reinforcing negative cycle.

But connection with others of one’s own sex is a core need. So if a boy/girl is disaffiliated from other males/females, his/her natural needs for same-sex connection, affection, affirmation, and resonance will go unmet. Unfulfilled needs typically transform into longings and cravings; unmet needs for same-sex affiliation thus become longings or cravings for same sex attention, closeness, and love.

Consider the following statements from a psychiatrist.
“Every child has a healthy need to identify positively with the parent of the same sex, have same-sex friendships, a positive body image and a confident sexual identity. Homosexual feelings can occur when these needs are not met appropriately.
The adolescent’s unmet needs become entangled with emerging sexual feelings and produce same-sex attraction.”
[Fitzgibbons, Richard P., MD, letter to the Washington Times, Jan. 24, 1997. ]

5. Sexual Conditioning

In 1901, Ivan Pavlov, a Soviet behavioral scientist, discovered that dogs could be conditioned to salivate in response to the ringing of a bell. Dogs normally salivate when they are given food, so Pavlov first paired the ringing of the bell with presenting food to the dog. After some time, he rang the bell without presenting the food and found that the dog still salivated. By associating the sound of the bell with food, Pavlov was able to transfer the physiological reaction of salivation from one stimulus (the food) to another stimulus (the bell). This process became known as “conditioned reflex” or “classical conditioning.”

Humans can become conditioned in much the same way, by creating strong associations between different stimuli. Most of us have experienced this phenomenon in such ways as associating a particular song with a specific time or place in our lives, or associating a taste or smell with a person or experience from our past. Donald Hebb (1904-1985) advanced our understanding of this phenomenon with his research and theories about how the brain learns. He is known for the phrase, “neurons that fire together wire together,” which means that when different neural networks within the brain are fired at the same time, they create synaptic connections that can become permanent. According to his theory, this is how humans acquire all skills and knowledge.

Sadism is a sexual perversion in which gratification is obtained by the infliction of physical or mental pain on others. A person having such disorder is called ‘sadist’.
Often, due to sexual conditioning, the person on whom the pain is inflicted slowly starts to enjoy the pain. This disorder is called masochism, pleasure that someone gets from being abused or hurt; especially : sexual enjoyment from being hurt or punished and the person having such disorder is called masochist.

It is possible to become conditioned to respond sexually to others of the same sex. This can occur in at least three ways: through sexual abuse, childhood sex play, and pornography.

During male-on-male sexual abuse, boys are simultaneously exposed to male stimuli (for example, genitals, body, voice) and sexual stimulation. Likewise, during sexual experimentation and play with other boys, male stimuli and sexual stimulation are paired.

Given that many boys who are sexually abused by other males or who experiment sexually with other boys grow up to be heterosexual, it is clear that sexual abuse does not always condition boys to homosexuality. Yet we have clear evidence that it sometimes does.

“Men who sexually molest boys all too often lead their victims into homosexuality and pedophilia. The evidence indicates that a high percentage of homosexuals and pedophiles were themselves sexually abused as children.”
[Timothy Dailey, PhD Senior Research Fellow, Family Research Council “Homosexuality and Child Sexual Abuse, 2005, website OrthodoxyToday.org ]

This is particularly evident among the men whose adult patterns of sexual interest and behavior exactly mirror their early sexual abuse or experimentation.
Examples of this would be a man who is exclusively attracted to males who look and smell like the man who abused him, or a man who continues to seek out sexual situations like those in which he first experienced sexual pleasure with his neighborhood buddies.

The effect of gay-pornography on young boys and girls may be somewhat more direct. Some boys and girls viewing this pornography might automatically respond with sexual feelings due to the presence of other predisposing factors in their lives, such as gender incongruity or same-sex disaffiliation.
Boys and girls who view gay-pornography typically also masturbate while looking at it or while thinking about it afterward. This would cause even stronger associations between same sex attraction and sexual feelings.

Once learned, pleasurable sexual activities are reinforced as boys and girls continue to engage in them. Becoming sexually aroused by same sex images can cause a one to believe, or confirm , that he/she is homosexual or gay. It may then become a learned part of his identity.

6.Sexual Abuse

Sexual abuse occurs when one person uses another for his or her own sexual gratification against their will or without their consent.
It occurs when an older and more powerful child engages a younger or smaller child in sexual activity. And it occurs when an adult engages a minor in sexual activity or exposes them to sexually explicit material or language, with or without their consent.
Consent implies the ability and maturity to understand what is going on and the possible consequences of it. Since children do not really understand sexuality, they cannot give consent when an older person involves them in sexual behavior.

Some examples of sexual abuse include:

Being exposed to sexually explicit talk

Being exposed by another person to sexually explicit material in magazines, television and video, and on the internet

Being exposed as a child to sexually stimulating behavior by older people, whether male or female

Being exposed to nudity or to sexual behavior between other people, such as seeing relatives naked or seeing parents or others engage in sex

Being touched intimately on the genitals or other parts of the body

Being asked or forced to touch another person’s genitals

Being asked or forced to have sexual intercourse with another person

Sexual abuse can contribute to gender incongruity. Some boys who are sexually abused by other males wonder about their own sexuality.
They know that males are supposed to enjoy having sex with females and so it becomes very confusing for them when a male seems to enjoy having sex with them. This is especially confusing if they became sexually aroused during the abuse. Most boys who are sexually abused experience tremendous feelings of guilt and shame. For some, that shame attacks their sense of masculinity, causing them to feel wrong as a boy.

Sexual abuse can contribute to same-sex disaffiliation.
Some sexually abused boys become fearful of other males or angry and resentful toward them. They may lose trust in their father or an older brother for not protecting them. The depression, anxiety, shame, and low self-esteem often engendered by sexual abuse can cause them isolate themselves from normal activities with peers. And their gender incongruity may compel them to avoid connection with other boys for fear of being seen as “queer.”

Girls who are sexually abused by males may become fearful of other males and may lose trust in their father or an older brother for not protecting them. They may develop distorted concepts of gender and as the abuser is often a person whom they know very well.

(90 percent of child sexual abuse victims know the perpetrator in some way. 68 percent are abused by a family member.)

They tend to reject men and push them away. They tend to develop same-sex attraction, developing comfortable relationships with women and tend to seek out females as sources of safety, security, and consolation.

A girl who is sexually abused often wish that she becomes a boy.
Author Taslima Nasrin in her book ‘Amar Meyebela’(My girlhood) writes that as a child she was molested by her uncle Sharaf (Sharaf mama) and she used to pray so that she is turned into a boy so that she does not have to face such abuse.

A sexually abused girl may send an auto suggestion to her brain that she is a boy, this is turn may develop a gender incongruity and in turn Gender Identity Disorder.

If the sexual perpetrator of the boy is a female, sexual abuse may create disinterest, disgust, fear, and hatred of the toward women.
However blatant sexual abuse of boys or girls by females occurs only occasionally. More commonly, females sexually abuse boys or girls in less obvious ways, such as having poor boundaries regarding modesty around the house—including dressing immodestly and leaving bathroom doors open—and having poor boundaries regarding sexual talk, such as mothers or sisters discussing their sexual relationships with a boy or girl.

In case of a girl facing such sexual abuse from a female may get sexually conditioned to same sex attraction disorder.

Many children who are sexually abused does not show SSAD and grow up to be heterosexual. Sexually abused child may show number of other psychological and behavioral disorders.

By Debashis
General Secretary, Rationalists’ and Humanists’ Forum of India