Genetic or Not, Gay Won’t Go Away

[biguycancun]

"That has long been one of the rallying cries of a movement, and sometimes the gist of its argument. Across decades of widespread ostracism, followed by years of patchwork acceptance and, most recently, moments of heady triumph, gay people invoked that phrase to explain why homophobia was unwarranted and discrimination senseless.

Lady Gaga even spun an anthem from it.

But is it the right mantra to cling to? The best tack to take?

Not for the actress Cynthia Nixon, 45, whose comments in The New York Times Magazine last Sunday raised those very questions.

For 15 years, until 2003, she was in a relationship with a man. They had two children together. She then formed a new family with a woman, to whom she’s engaged. And she told The Times’s Alex Witchel that homosexuality for her “is a choice.”

Read the rest: http://www.nytimes.com/2012/01/29/opinion/sunday/bruni-gay-wont-go-away-genetic-or-not.html?hp

[tenni]

I read another article on Nixon's comment that was a more balanced presentation. Nixon states that she is bisexual and it is a choice for her now to live and marry a woman despite having been married to a man previously. The NY Times article completely ignores this aspect and interprets her statement about homosexuality being genetic or not. Apparently so did some GLBT organizations' spokespeople. She did use the word "homosexual" I believe and that may have been misconstrued.

This is quite a good example of bi erasure in the media imo. The entire article rants on about homosexuality and the only reference to what Nixon was stating about choice (for bisexuals) is in someone's job title that refers to GLB. The reality of bisexuality is completely ignored in the NYTimes article.

[elian]

You know I don't have evidence to prove that it's not a choice, as a matter of fact I do believe that there is a choice - there are tons of people in the Armed forces who choose to deny a fundamental part of who they are as a person because they feel that serving their country is more important.

SHOULD a person be FORCED to deny a fundamental part of who they are in order to be a part of society when that characteristic poses no immediate danger? No.

Regardless of the root cause, knowing that human beings usually ALWAYS make the choice that causes them less pain it is hard for me to imagine that someone would willingly risk their life, liberty, employment, property, social standing, relationships with family and friends just to CHOOSE to love someone of the same gender on a whim.

[darkeyes]

I have my views on whether it is choice or genetic like most others... but I ask... does it matter a bugger? Does it hell as like except as a matter of passing interest like why are my eyes brown...

[LastGent]

For my response to this modern day question, see my essay-like post in tenni's thread "Biphobia: the Gay Side", for my opinion.

[Gearbox]

What Cynthia Nixon is also inadvertently saying is that she loves her partner ONLY because she chose to be gay. Not because her partner is nice n stuff, but because she somehow chose to switch her entire sexuality into one that can appreciate her DESPITE her being female. And now, she can not love a male because she CHOSE to drop the tools to appreciate a male.
(misquoted I know, but anyway..:rolleyes:)

When Cynthia was 'straight', she couldn't have any deep emotional feelings for her present partner. Even though both personalities were exactly the same, love would be somehow blocked. BUT having CHOSE to fix that 'block' she now loves her dearly.:rolleyes:

It would be a welcome relief for it to be OK to love who the hell you want without all this sexuality crap going on.:)

[elian]

So by explicitly "choosing" to be one way or the other in her mind she is giving herself permission to feel okay about it? Boy, I wish I was just as lucky. to be able to turn my feelings on and off like a light switch..

[slipnslide]

So by explicitly "choosing" to be one way or the other in her mind she is giving herself permission to feel okay about it? Boy, I wish I was just as lucky. to be able to turn my feelings on and off like a light switch..

Gary Busey says he can do that.