Development of Sexual Orientation, Essay Example

Over the past several years the issue of same-sex marriage has become a significant topic of political discussion and action. More and more states are passing laws allowing same-sex couples to marry, or having laws that prohibited same-sex marriage struck down by the courts. Along with this action in the political arena, our society has begun to be more open and accepting of homosexuality, although there are still many people who believe that their moral or religious backgrounds demand that they oppose efforts to allow gay people to have the same legal and political freedoms and rights as straight people. In the context of these social and political discussions, the old argument that being homosexual is merely a “lifestyle choice” has been largely discredited, as it has become clearer and clearer to many people that issues related to sexual orientation are not matters of choice, but are rooted in biological processes. While I thought I had a pretty solid understanding of the idea that sexual orientation is not a matter of choice, I realize that I had a misconception about how complicated this subject is, and that researchers are still not entirely sure what combination of factors is needed to determine an individual’s sexual orientation.

My understanding of homosexuality as not being a “choice” is largely based on my interactions with friends and acquaintances who are gay, and who have expressed the position that they were born with their sexual orientation no differently than I was born with mine. I have been asked if I could imagine choosing to be sexually attracted to a member of the opposite sex, and realize that homosexuals no more choose who they find attractive than I do. With these sorts of discussions in mind, I simply accepted that homosexuals are born the way they are born just as heterosexuals are born they way they are born.

After reading the material in Module 46 (and sections of other modules) I was surprised to learn that identical twins do not always share the same sexual orientation. At first this led me to call into question what I had believed about sexual orientation being determined entirely by biology and physical processes, but upon further reading I was introduced to the prenatal theory of homosexuality (Coon &Mitterer, 2012, ch.46). Researchers have yet to discover any specific “gay gene,” but they have uncovered evidence about how hormone levels and availability during fetal development can influence biological development and, apparently, sexual orientation.  Among the evidence for this theory are studies that compared the size of the hypothalamus of homosexual and heterosexual individuals and found notable differences in size between the two groups. Other evidence includes differences in neurotransmitter levels and other differences in physical structures and biological processes.

This evidence seems convincing enough when considering how hormone levels during fetal development are specifically responsible for the development of gender-specific genitalia, and how genes alone are not enough to determine prenatal gender development. It appears that even minor fluctuations in hormone production and availability can be enough to lead to one twin developing a different sexual orientation than another, genetically identical twin. In the absence of solid evidence that parenting and socialization are strongly linked to sexual orientation, it seems clear that the prenatal theory of homosexuality offers a compelling explanation of how genetic predispositions can combine with physical and biological processes to determine sexual orientation.

Regardless of the specifics of how sexual orientation is determined, I think it is important to understand that it is something that is determined by biology and genetics, and is not just a “choice.” As our knowledge of this becomes clearer and more widely understood, it will hopefully lead to positive social changes and a future in which people of all sexual orientations are able to enjoy the same rights and freedoms. This information has not changed my mind about sexual orientation, but is has deepened my understanding of how important it is to oppose ignorant and uninformed arguments to the contrary. For someone with no background in this type of course, I would simply do my best to explain that sexual orientation is determined by biological processes and is not a “lifestyle” or a “choice.”

Reference

Coon, D., &Mitterer, J. (2012). Psychology (13th ed.). Belmont, CA: Wadsworth.