Running head: LITTERATURE REVIEW

Is sexual orientation determined at birth?

Christian Rodriguez
University of Texas at El Paso

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Abstract
The topic of sexual orientation has been debated for hundreds years, and is still being
debated presently. According to a article on washingtonpost.com about less than 3% of the
United States population identifies themselves as gay, lesbian or bisexual. Although the
percentage is shockingly low there is no certain answer as how much of the population of the
United States identify themselves as homosexuals. A question to ask here is why do only 3% of
the United States population identify themselves as homosexuals? Obviously there must be a
higher percentage but why is it only estimated at 3%? There could be many answers to those
questions; perhaps homosexuals are not comfortable with admitting the sexual orientation for
fear of judgment. Perhaps same sex marriage or same sex relationships are still view as a taboo
in today more accepting society. Maybe the religion a person has chosen to follow/worship has
strict prohibitions toward homosexuals. No matter what the answer to the question is an
individual will always end up going in circles trying to find the answer. I believe what should be
answered first in this topic is whether sexual orientation is nature or nurture, after an answer has
been provided for that question then it would be appropriate to begin to gather statistics. Even
then it would be complicated to gather accurate information but it would be a step closer to
understanding sexual orientation, which could possibly lead to further acceptance of the
homosexual community allowing more individuals to identify themselves as homosexuals thus
producing more accurate statistics.

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Introduction
For many years homosexuality was extremely frowned upon until the recent legalization
of same sex marriage in states such as California, Colorado, Arizona and many other states that
many people began to view homosexuality not as much of a taboo anymore but as a rather
normal thing. Although many questions still linger when it comes to the origin of how
homosexuality began. The answer to that question could very well provide a different opinion
about homosexuality, the community could be more accepting toward the idea same sex
marriage. When considering this one most ask themselves many questions, and in this literature
review I will be considering the 3 following questions:
1.) How will determining sexual orientation at birth help society understand homosexuality?
2.) How would homosexuality be defined if sexual orientation is determined at birth?
3.) If homosexuality is determined to nurture would society consider it to a choice or a
developmental disorder?
As one can see my questions will be focused on how the determination of sexual orientation at
birth affect society in a sense of will it be more accepting towards the subject, and give many
points of view on the subject.

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How will determining sexual orientation at birth help society understand homosexuality?

I will not lie; scientists have discovered a similar gene in gay men that determines a
males sexual orientation. Although one might think that would end the popular debate a post on
the website telegraph.co.uk stated study finds the while gay men share similar genetic make-up,
it only accounts for 40 per cent of chance of a man being homosexual meaning there is still a
chance that sexual orientation could be choice or a matter the environment a person was raised
in. So how would this information help society understand homosexuality? Well first of all
people now have somewhat of an actual answer as to why homosexuality exists, they could
perhaps be more accepting towards homosexuals. Scientist hope to someday be able to further
confirm that sexual orientation to genetic and to be able to develop a pre-natal to determine a
mans sexual orientation. With all this information contributing towards sexual orientation being
determined at birth why would we still be asking if a persons sexual orientation could be a
choice? In various articles I have read it seems that the scientist have only found genes that
could confirm a males homosexuality but in a females sexual orientation. By finding if a
females sexual orientation can also so be determined by looking their genes it would help us
(society) understand why homosexuals are they way they are and that would benefit everyone in
understanding a life style different from ours.

How would homosexuality be defined if sexual orientation is determined at birth?

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Homosexuality could possibly have many different outcomes if it was determined at
birth. Society could possibly call it a birth defect, or it would possibly be viewed as more
acceptable. If society decided to determine sexual orientation to be a birth defect I honestly
believe many people would to attempt to cure, change, or alter a persons sexual
orientation depending on the parents likings. For example, if an extremely religious parent was
to be told their child would be born with the gay gene they may ask a doctor to alter the childs
genes to be heterosexual or much worse perhaps a parent finding out their child will be born with
the gay gene would decide to abort the child. But, this discovery could not always have a bad
outcome, maybe is a same sex couple wanted a child to also be homosexual they could ask a
doctor to alter a childs genes or perhaps adopt a child that already has the gene. But, a huge
obstacle people may run into is the argument that they are taking away a childs freedom of
choice causing a major debate between many people.

If homosexuality is determined to nurture would society consider it to a choice or a

developmental disorder?

Many things could play a factor in this question. Perhaps a certain childhood trauma
could have alter the childs brain develop and caused to develop differently. Another factor in
this situation could possibly be basic environmental factors meaning how a parent decides to
raise their child could possibly also alter the childs sexual preference. I believe that if sexual
orientation was determined to be nurture it could impact society in a very big way.

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Psychologists could possibly come up with a form of treatment to determine what caused a
person to become homosexual. With the development of treatment perhaps same sex marriage
could become easier to understand and easier to be legalized everywhere.

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Citations

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/science/science-news/10637532/Beinghomosexual-is-only-partly-due-to-gay-gene-research-finds.html

http://www.washingtonpost.com/news/volokh-conspiracy/wp/2014/07/15/whatpercentage-of-the-u-s-population-is-gay-lesbian-or-bisexual/