Some facts about sexual orientation

Sexual orientation is not a matter of personal choice and preference. It is determined by a combination of genetic, hormonal and environmental factors. If a person has brown hair or eyes there’s nothing they can do about it. They are born like that. To say that someone’s sexual orientation is a result of their actions or it could be changed if the person tried, is as absurd as making the same statement about their hair colour. Another factor that is important in determining sexual orientation is the exposure to specific hormones during foetal development. Effect of testosterone on developing brain has been identified as a major factor in determining sexual orientation. Several other prenatal factors, such as stress to mother during pregnancy, can influence sexual orientation. Environmental factors are important too. Men having greater number of older brothers have been found to be more susceptible to homosexuality, however there is no conclusive evidence regarding this and different studies have produced different, even contradictory, results. Similarly cohabitation with a single parent for a long time (boys with fathers and girls with mothers) and broken families are thought be a reason for homosexuality.

Homosexuality is no longer considered by most social and behavioural scientists and health and mental health professionals to be an abnormality. There is a consensus among the professionals that same- sex attraction and romantic relationship is a normal variation of human sexuality. American psychological Association and American psychiatric Association have long removed homosexuality from their list of mental disorders.

It would be wrong however to assume that sexual behaviour is innate and fixed. American psychiatric Association is of the view that sexual orientation develops throughout a person’s lifetime. For some people sexual orientation is fixed; for others it is fluid and changes over time.

The socio-cultural factors cannot be summarily rejected either. When there is greater acceptance in a culture of deviant sexual behaviour, a greater number of people are likely to experiment with their sexuality. This however does not lead to a change in orientation but in a greater understanding of one’s sexuality.

None of the above are my personal views but the views of the experts and professionals based on their researches. For further reading please check the following links:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Prenatal_hormones_and_sexual_orientation

http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2007/11/071107170741.htm

http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2008/06/080628205430.htm

Technically speaking heterosexual and homosexual are relative terms. We all are bisexuals. We all susceptible to attraction towards both the genders. It is just that we are not equally attracted to both sexes, attraction towards opposite sex being maximum and towards same sex being almost negligible in heterosexuals and the reverse in the homosexuals. People whom we call bisexuals do not have equal attraction towards both sexes, but they lie somewhere in between homo and hetero-sexuality.All the orientations form a part of the homosexual-heterosexual continuum, with homosexuality and heterosexuality on the extreme ends and bisexuality somewhere in between.

Bisexuals have generally been shown in a bad light in popular media but the truth is far from that. Bisexuals have known to be in committed and stable relationships.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Innate_bisexuality