> Gays have far fewer biological children than straights. Fertility was conceivably equal back when almost all gays lived in the closet, but there can be little doubt that during the last fifty years, gay genes have become less prevalent.
“There can be little doubt” is not an argument. I have a little doubt!
> Could the rising LGBT share merely reflect the decline of closeting? In part. Still, if that’s the whole story, why is there such a massive generational pattern? Why would older LGBTs stay in the closet as the stigma plummets?
> You could appeal to age-segregated social circles. Octogenarians fret more about the intolerance of fellow octogenarians, and draw little comfort from the tolerance of today's teen-agers.
Yep, that actually makes a ton of sense. You need to do work before dismissing this. Listing potential arguments against your thesis is a good start to being intellectually honest and critical, but it’s not enough.
> Being part of Gen X, I confidently assert that we were far less intolerant than earlier generations.
No amount of the author’s confidence is sufficient to convince me.
> Another weakness of the closeting story is that mainstream stigma against bisexuals was always milder than against any of the other groups.
Extra work needed here.
> What’s really going on? The best stories are the very mechanisms that Wikipedia dismisses: recruitment and the media.
At this point in the article, the author confidently confirms the thesis he was looking for, simply because he believes he has listed and dismissed all other possible causes. I believe the author is confident about all these claims, but more work is required to show that he is correct.
I think there is a knee-jerk reaction to "acquired homosexuality" because it was used so long a an excuse to persecute homosexuals. But like many arguments in our society, I think it is the wrong hill to die on. Because to overly concern oneself with winning the argument over whether homosexuality is acquired or not somewhat cedes the ground to the authoritarians. It implies that there is something to be lost if homosexuality is acquired. That if it were, we should probably then accept some regulation of the sexual lives of consenting adults.
I do understand there is a purely scientific interest in many questions. At the same time, this seems one of those questions that's very easily confounded by a myriad of social factors.
Acquired homosexuality is actually very common in some settings, such as prisons. The catch is that not all homosexuality is equal; the kind of homosexuality that's common in prisons is easily described as toxic, hypermasculine, domination-based sex. The common social aversion to acquired homosexuality is clearly based on the idea that it must necessarily, to a greater or lesser extent share these characteristics; that much is clear even from primary sources that reflect this same aversion. But we should be very clear that the modern LGBT movement is advocating for something remarkably different: equal relationships between people of the same sex based on express consent, perhaps best typified by the idea of legal gay marriage (where the 'marriage' descriptor should be read as neatly encompassing analogous traditional practices, such as sworn brotherhood). How far can that sort of culture spread and even perhaps be "acquired"? And can it socially outcompete the legacy model of homosexuality as masculine domination, even in places where that model still carries some influence? I think these are very interesting questions for those who want to take this topic seriously, and not be limited by historical or present-day ideological stances!
We, both legally through government and as a societal standard, should not be discriminating about what people do (whether its sexual, religious, or whatever), regardless of their internal motivations.
There are genetic traits and environmental traits. Hanging out with monkeys may make one act and behave as such, but if the genetic code doesn't include fur, you don't get fur.
In my case, it was pretty darn difficult to realize the fact that I'm bi in the first place. Despite all the evidence, I could've just as well never come to the moment it all became clear to me. I suppose not everyone has the level of self reflection required to accurately discern ones sexual interest from whatever was taught to be "normal". Also, I wish I knew this when I was younger.
No data to back up the conclusions, no analysis of the survey methodology. Just speculation about mechanisms that aren't even validated to exist.
In any case, I think the right interpretation is that more people are comfortable with reporting their sexuality truthfully and people are more open towards exploring their sexuality.
1.) They aren't in the closet, they just don't share personal things with people like the author.
2.) They remember the one time a university had a cool list of LGBT people and when the Nazi's stole it to use as a kill list.
To me, you can choose to act "gay" (whatever that entails) but but to be gay or straight isn't a choice. However, sexuality may be more fluid than many people realize, and this realization and the process of sexual self discovery, may appear to be choosing one or the other, because our society requires that it be one or the other.
Maybe as another writer speculated that sexuality is a drive that can be applied in various directions and the choice or non choice can be influenced. But ya need fur genes to get fur.
Also, what 'heteronormative' is changes over time. It's perfectly heteronormative for men to kiss one another on the mouth in some cultures. And ancient cultures didn't even recognize our modern 'homosexual/heterosexual' axis, preferring to consider sexual behavior as normative within class or tribal lines, but considering same sex and different sex attraction as being not worth distinction.
Childhood sexual abuse among homosexual men. Prevalence and association with unsafe sex
https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/9127231/
Self-reported childhood and adolescent sexual abuse among adult homosexual and bisexual men
https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/014521...
