Homosexuality is the condition of "sexual desire or behavior directed toward a person or persons of one's own sex."[1]

Homosexuality has a number of causal factors that influence its ultimate origination in individuals; these factors will be addressed shortly. In addition, homosexuality has a variety of effects on individuals and society. Next, some of the historical events, religious matters, and legal matters relating to homosexuality will be covered. Finally, the latter part of the 20th century has seen a large body of research on the causes and effects of homosexuality.

For more information please see: Homosexuality and biblical interpretation and Homosexuality and the Bible and Atheism and homosexuality and Atheism and the persecution of homosexuals

Below are several Bible verses that condemn homosexuality:

In addition, there are numerous other references that also condemn the lifestyle, such as 1 Kings 22:46 (NASB): "The remnant of the sodomites who remained in the days of his father Asa, he expelled from the land."

For more information please see: Causes of Homosexuality

Homosexuality is sometimes also defined in terms of an attraction, preference, orientation, or identity. The term "orientation" is particularly favored by those who are promoting public acceptance of homosexuality.[2]

For more information please see: Homosexuality and Genetics

A common argument is that an inclination to homosexuality is inborn and immutable. It is widely believed that the public will become more accepting of homosexuality if they are convinced that it is inborn and immutable. For example, neuroscientist and homosexual Simon Levay stated: "...people who think that gays and lesbians are born that way are also more likely to support gay rights."[3]

Eight major studies of identical twins in the United States, Australia and Scandinavia during the last two decades indicate that homosexuals were not born that way.[4]Research into the issue of the origins of homosexuality suggests that adoptive brothers are more likely to both be homosexuals than the biological brothers, who share half their genes which suggests that homosexuality is not genetically caused. [5][6] This data prompted the journal Science to report "this . . . suggests that there is no genetic component, but rather an environmental component shared in families".[7][8] However, in regards to psychosocial and biological theories in regards to the origin of homosexuality, Columbia University psychiatry professors Drs. William Byrne and Bruce Parsons stated in 1994: "There is no evidence that at present to substantiate a biological theory. [T]he appeal of current biological explanations for sexual orientation may derive more from dissatisfaction with the present status of psychosocial explanations than from a substantiating body of experimental data".[9]

Dr. Tahir I. Jaz, M.D., Winnipeg, Canada states: "The increasing claims of being "born that way" parallels the rising political activism of homosexual organizations, who politicize the issue of homosexual origins. In the 1970s, approximately ten percent of homosexuals claimed to be "born homosexual" according to a large scale survey....However, in a survey in the 1980s, with the homosexual rights movement increasingly becoming active, thirty-five percent claimed to be born that way.[10]

For more information please see: Religious Upbringing and Culture Affects Rates of Homosexuality

Dr. Neil Whitehead is a research scientist and biochemist from New Zealand and his wife Briar Whitehead is a writer.[11] Dr. Whitehead coauthored a book with with his wife entitled My Genes Made Me Do it - a scientific look at sexual orientation which argues that there is no genetic determinism in regards to homosexuality (homosexuals are "not born that way") and that there is abundant documentation that individuals are able to leave homosexuality and become heterosexuals.[12]

Dr. Whitehead and Briar Whitehead declared:

This evidence comes from missionaries who commonly spend 25 years of their lives living in one culture, far more than almost any anthropologist....Overall they can be considered as reliable witnesses. For example, in contrast to groups like the Sambia in the New Guinea highlands, where homosexuality was compulsory, only about 2-3 percent of Western Dani (also in the New Guinea highlands) practiced it. However, in another group of Dani who were genetically related, homosexuality was totally unknown. Missionaries report that when they were translating the Bible into Dani for this group, their tribal assistants, who knew their own culture intimately, were nonplused by references to homosexuality in Romans 1; they did not understand the concept. Another missionary, with the same group for 25 years, overheard many jests and sexually ribald exchanges among the men, but never a single mention of homosexuality in all that time. When Dani went to help with missionary work among the Sambia, they were astounded at some of the homosexual practices they saw for the first time. Although it is always difficult for a foreigner to be completely sure whether a rare and stigmatized behavior exists, it is certainly true that if three such different experiences of homosexuality can occur in groups of people so closely related genetically, genetically enforced homosexuality is an impossibility.[13]

The religious leader and civil rights leader Martin Luther King (MLK) never championed the homosexual agenda. In fact, MLK saw homosexuality as probably a culturally induced "problem" and he believed that homosexuals could become ex-homosexuals. (see: Overcoming homosexuality).[14]

King wrote in a 1958 column: The type of feeling that you have toward boys is probably not an innate tendency, but something that has been culturally acquired, . You are already on the right road toward a solution, since you honestly recognize the problem and have a desire to solve it.[15]

In 1994, the book Sex in America: A definitive survey by Robert T. Michael, John H. Gagnon, Edward O. Laumann, and Gina Kolata stated the following:

The aforementioned authors Dr. Whitehead and Briar Whitehead similarly wrote:

For more information please see: Failure of Experiments to Show Genetic Determinism For Homosexuality

Dr. Dean Hamer is a researcher often cited to show that there is empirical data supporting the notion of genetic determinism in regards to homosexuality. News organizations like National Public Radio and Newsweek have done news stories regarding his work.[18] In respect to the press trumpeting various findings genetics-of-behavior research uncritically the science journal Science stated the following in 1994:

The Gallup Organization reported: "The Family Research Report says 'around 2-3% of men, and 2% of women, are homosexual or bisexual.'"[20] The U.S Department of Health and Human Services reported: "While the percentage of women and men aged 18-44 years who reported they were either heterosexual or homosexual was similar (94% of women and 96% of men said they were heterosexual while 1.1% of women and 1.7% of men said they were homosexual or gay), the percentage of women who reported they were bisexual was more than 3 times as high as men (3.5% of women vs. 1.1% of men)."[21][22]

In regards to the issue of homosexuality and choice, given the existence of ex-homosexuals and given the existence of human cultures where homosexuality has apparently not existed, the position that homosexuality is ultimately a choice in individuals or at the very least can be a choice in individuals has strong evidential support. In short, there is a strong argument that one can leave homosexuality.

Also, in 2012 ABC News reported concerning actress Cynthia Nixon: "Cynthia Nixon stands by her statement that she is gay by choice, despite the backlash shes received from members of the gay community."[23] In addition, given that the homosexual population has significantly higher rates of many diseases and the homosexual population also has significantly lower rates of various measures of mental health it can be strongly argued that engaging in homosexual acts is a bad choice for individuals. Another other factor that makes engaging in homosexual acts a bad choice for individuals is the significantly higher rates of domestic violence in homosexual couples. In addition, according to experts homosexual murders are relatively or quite common and often homosexual murders are very brutal. Also, the homosexual population has a greater propensity to engage in illegal drug use.

A 2003 poll done by Ellison Research of Phoenix, Arizona stated that 82% of all American Protestant ministers agreed with the statement homosexuality is a choice people make".[24]

Immutability is the inability of a thing to be changed. For example, it is impossible to change a dog into a cat. Likewise, it is impossible to change one's race, although with makeup or plastic surgery has made it possible to alter one's racial appearance. The immutability of membership in a group is an important consideration in determining the level of scrutiny given to a law against that group under the Equal Protection Clause.

There has been much debate over whether homosexuality is immutable despite the existence of ex-homosexuals. Often the argument is made that it's either genetically determined (and thus immutable), or that it is entirely a matter of choice. Given this dichotomy, the premise that "I didn't choose to be gay" yields the conclusion that it must be genetically determined. However, the search for a "gay gene" has proved elusive. Many others, including most scientists, have a much less 'black and white' view. They propose that it is determined by a complex interaction of many factors, some of which could be genetic, but probably also include psychological, environmental and cognitive factors, and is shaped at a very early age.

Simon LeVay wrote: "It's important to stress what I didn't find. I did not prove that homosexuality is genetic, or find a genetic cause for being gay. I didn't show that gay men are born that way, the most common mistake people make in interpreting my work. Nor did I locate a gay center in the brain. ... Since I look at adult brains, we don't know if the differences I found were there at birth or if they appeared later."[25]

See also: Homosexuality and frontal lobe injury and Religiosity and larger frontal lobes and Atheism and brain function

The frontal lobe plays a role in controlling sexual behavior.[28][29]

According to the 2007 medical journal article (and its abstract) entitled Neurological control of human sexual behaviour: insights from lesion studies which was published in the Journal of Neurology, Neurosurgery, and Psychiatry:

Disinhibited sexual behaviour has been reported following damage to the frontal lobes, particularly the orbitofrontal region of the limbic system.

Kolarsky and colleagues54 examined the relationships between sexual deviation, age of lesion onset and localisation of lesion (temporal vs extratemporal). The authors defined two diagnostic categories: (1) sexual deviation, involving a deviation of sexual object (for example, paedophilia). Homosexuality was included in this category, which would now be considered inappropriate, and (2) sexual disturbances other than deviations, including orgasm in response to stimuli unrelated to the subject's sexual preference, hypersexuality and hyposexuality...

An association between temporal lobe abnormalities and paedophilia has been reported by Mendez and colleagues.[30]

For more information please see: Ex-Homosexuals and Overcoming Homosexuality and Resources on becoming a Christian

In regards to the question of whether or not homosexuality is a permanent condition, one of the earliest historical records regarding of the existence of ex-homosexuals is a letter of the Apostle Paul to the Corinthian Christian church.

The Apostle Paul taught that homosexuality is a sin when he wrote the following:

Today people still report leaving homosexuality and becoming heterosexual through their Christian faith.[31]

Peter LaBarbera is the President of Americans for Truth which is a organization which counters the homosexual agenda. Peter LaBarbera stated the following regarding Christian ex-homosexuals who reported being transformed by the power of God:

In respect to Peter LaBarbera's statement above regarding homosexuals overcoming homosexuality through the power of God, in 1980 a study was published in the American Journal of Psychiatry and eleven men participated in this study. The aforementioned study in the American Journal of Psychiatry stated that eleven homosexual men became heterosexuals "without explicit treatment and/or long-term psychotherapy" through their participation in a Pentecostal church.[33] The Apostle Paul in a letter to the church of Corinth indicated that Christians were able to overcome being drunkards through the power of Jesus Christ (I Corinthians 6:9-11).

Dr. Whitehead and Briar Whitehead state in their aforementioned book the following regarding ex-homosexuals overcoming homosexuality:

West mentions one man who was exclusively homosexual for eight years, then became heterosexual...

Another well known author in the field, Hatterer, who believes in sexual orientation change, said, Ive heard of hundreds of ... men who went from a homosexual to a heterosexual adjustment on their own.[34]

See: Hate Crime Law Misapplied to Ex-homosexual

See also: Denials that ex-homosexuals exist

Commonly homosexual activists fallaciously argue that ex-homosexuals must never have been really gay at all (see: No true Scotsman fallacy) or is just deluding himself. [35] For example, when the alleged homosexual, male penguin "Harry" mated with a female penguin (see: Homosexuality in animals myth), the homosexual activist Wayne Besen angrily exclaimed "There is no ex-gay sexual orientation. Harry is simply in denial. Hes living what I call the big lie.[36] In Madison, Wisconsin an ex-homosexual was forced to do 50 hours of community service and undergo "tolerance training" (or face jail time and fines) due to a discussion he had with a homosexual (see: Hate Crime Law Misapplied to Ex-homosexual).

The denial that homosexuality is a choice by homosexual activists and liberals is similar to the behavior of fat acceptance movement activists who insist that being overweight is never a choice and ostracize ex-overweight people (see: fat acceptance movement for details).

Two of the more popular anti-homosexuality blogs are Americans For Truth and Gay Christian Movement Watch. The blog Americans For Truth is run by Peter LaBarbera and the blog Gay Christian Movement Watch is run by Pastor D.L. Foster.

A 2006 survey finds homosexual men seek to leave homosexual lifestyle to heal emotional pain and for spiritual reasons rather than outside pressure. In addition, there is other data that supports the above 2006 survey findings.

For additional information please see: Homosexuality and biblical interpretation and Homosexuality and the Bible and Atheism and homosexuality

In respect to homosexuality and the Bible, sound Bible exegesis and Bible exposition demonstrates that the Bible condemns homosexuality.[38][39][40][41] In addition, Christian apologist JP Holding refutes various arguments that assert that the Bible does not condemn homosexuality.[42][43][44][45][46] In his essay which examines the biblical passages regarding homosexuality, Pastor and Associate Professor of Pastoral Ministries at The Master's Seminary Dr. Alex D. Montoya states that "The Christian needs to befriend and witness to the homosexual with such love, compassion, and wisdom that such will respond to the saving grace of God."[47]

The Bible clearly associates the city of Sodom with homosexuality (Genesis 19:4-9), although the Bible associates with Sodom other sins as well. Claims that the primary reason for Sodom's judgment was inhospitality are not supported by sound Bible exegesis.[48][49]

The Bible states regarding Sodom:

...the LORD rained on Sodom and Gomorrah brimstone and fire from the LORD out of heaven, and He overthrew those cities, and all the valley, and all the inhabitants of the cities, and what grew on the ground. Genesis 19:24-25

The following was reported in respect to Dr. Bryant Wood's archaeological work in relating to the biblical city of Sodom:

Dr. Bryant Wood, in describing these charnel houses, stated that a fire began on the roofs of these buildings. Eventually the burning roof collapsed into the interior and spread inside the building. This was the case in every house they excavated. Such a massive fiery destruction would match the biblical account that the city was destroyed by fire that rained down from heaven. Wood states, "The evidence would suggest that this site of Bab edh-Drha is the biblical city of Sodom."[50]

Dr. Wood provides some additional material in relation to the find being the biblical city of Sodom.[51][52]

For related information see: Homosexuality and promiscuity and Homosexuality Statistics

A 2004 article by Michael Foust states:

According to the researchers, 42.9 percent of homosexual men in Chicago's Shoreland area have had more than 60 sexual partners, while an additional 18.4 percent have had between 31 and 60 partners. All total, 61.3 percent of the area's homosexual men have had more than 30 partners, and 87.8 percent have had more than 15, the research found.

As a result, 55.1 percent of homosexual males in Shoreland -- known as Chicago's "gay center" -- have at least one sexually transmitted disease, researchers said.

The three-year study on the sexual habits of Chicago's citizens will appear in the upcoming book, "The Sexual Organization of The City" (University of Chicago Press), due out this spring.[53][54]

For more information please see: Homosexual Couples and Domestic Violence and Gay bashing

Studies report that homosexual couples have significantly higher incidences of violent behavior. For example, a recent study by the Canadian government states that "violence was twice as common among homosexual couples compared with heterosexual couples".[55] According the American College of Pediatricians who cite several studies, "Violence among homosexual partners is two to three times more common than among married heterosexual couples."[56] In addition, the American College of Pediatricians states the following: "Homosexual partnerships are significantly more prone to dissolution than heterosexual marriages with the average homosexual relationship lasting only two to three years."[57]

In June of 2004, the journal Nursing Clinics of North America reported the following regarding homosexuality and domestic violence:

Male-on-male same-sex domestic violence also has been reported in couples where one or both persons are HIV-positive. Intimate partner abuse and violence include humilation, threatening to disclose HIV status, withholding HIV therapy, and harming family members or pets.[58]

For more information please see: Homosexuality and Murders

Vernon J. Geberth, M.S., M.P.S. who is a former commander of Bronx homicide for the New York City Police Department stated in 1995 concerning homosexuality and murders that homosexual murders are relatively common and these murders may involve male victims murdered by other males or may involve female victims who are in some type of lesbian relationship and they are murdered by another female.[59] In 2005, Dr. Harnam Singh, Dr. Luv Sharma, and Dr. Dhattarwal reported in the Journal of Indian Academy of Forensic Medicine in respect to homosexuality and murders that homosexual murders are quite common and that these murders may involve both sexes either as victims or as assailants.[60]

There have been a number of forensic journal articles on the issue of homosexual homicides and overkill.[61][62][63][64][65] In 1996, the forensic journal The American Journal of Forensic Medicine and Pathology published an article entitled Homicide in homosexual victims: a study of 67 cases from the Broward County, Florida, Medical Examiner's office (1982-1992), with special emphasis on "overkill". The abstract for the journal article states:

According to the New York Times, Dr. William Eckert was a world-renowned authority in the field of pathology and he worked on major murder cases including the assassination of Senator Robert F. Kennedy and the Charles Manson murders.[67] Dr. Eckert founded the American Journal of Forensic Medicine and Pathology.[68][69] According to Time magazine, Dr. Eckert was a pioneer who encouraged collaborative effort between law-enforcement and forensics teams.[70]

Dr. Eckert wrote concerning homosexual murders:

The Encyclopedia of Serial Killers by Michael Newton reports:

The previously cited pathology textbook by Knight and Saukko stated the following: "In addition, quite a number of fatal altercations arise because a heterosexual man becomes violent when importuned by a homosexual."[74]

Women who engage in homosexuality are called lesbians (after the ancient Greek island of Lesbos). Recently, the former lesbian activist Charlene Cothran left homosexuality and converted her pro-homosexuality magazine to one that helps homosexuals find freedom and deliverance through faith in Jesus Christ.[75][76] Lesbian activist Yvette Cantu Schneider also became a Christian and left homosexuality.[77][78]

In 2007, WorldNetDaily published the following regarding a lesbian woman:

For more information please see: Homosexuality and health and Gay bathhouses

A review of the history of homosexuality and AIDS, indicates the original spread of AIDS is generally attributed to the aforementioned promiscuity of homosexual men. Originally the syndrome was called the "gay disease" because the overwhelming majority of patients were homosexual men.

In September of 2010, Reuters reported: "Nearly one in five gay and bisexual men in 21 major U.S. cities are infected with HIV, and nearly half of them do not know it".[80] A September 2010 report of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) reported: "Gay, bisexual, and other men who have sex with men (MSM) represent approximately 2% of the US population, yet are the population most severely affected by HIV and are the only risk group in which new HIV infections have been increasing steadily since the early 1990s. In 2006, MSM accounted for more than half (53%) of all new HIV infections in the United States..."[81]

In August of 2009, LifeSiteNews reported: "An official with the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) announced the CDC's estimate Monday that in the United States AIDS is fifty times more prevalent among men who have sex with men ('MSM') than the rest of the population."[82] This is a dramatic recent increase. In June of 2004, the journal Nursing Clinics of North America reported that homosexual men and men who have sex with men "are nine times more likely to become infected with HIV than their heterosexual counterparts".[83] Of newly diagnosed HIV infections in the United States during the year 2003, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) estimated that about 63% were among men who were infected through sexual contact with other men.[84] As of 1998, fifty-four percent of all AIDS cases in the United States were homosexual men, and the CDC stated that nearly ninety percent of these men acquired HIV through sexual activity with other men.[85]

In 2004, Jeffrey D. Klausner, Robert Kohn, and Charlotte Kent reported in the journal Clinical Infectious Diseases the following: "Proctitis, or inflammation of the rectum, is a condition that is not uncommon among men who have sex with men (MSM), and, in HIV-negative men, greatly increases the risk of acquiring HIV infection. With the recent increases in bacterial sexually transmitted diseases (STDs) among MSM in the United States and Europe, there has been a concomitant increase in the number of cases of clinical proctitis."[86] On March 15, 2004 Medscape published an article by John G. Bartlett, M.D. entitled New Look at "Gay Bowel Syndrome" in which they commented on the aforementioned 2004 journal article Etiology of clinical proctitis among men who have sex with men published by JD Klausner and C. Kent in the journal Clinical Infectious Diseases. The article in Medscape stated the following:

Johns Hopkins HIV Guide website has a duplicate of the aforementioned article by John G. Bartlett, M.D. at Medscape which was entitled New Look at "Gay Bowel Syndrome".[88][89]

In 2004, the prominent medical website, WebMD, stated the following: "Men who have sex with men and women are a "significant bridge for HIV to women," the CDC's new data suggest."[90]

See: Teenage homosexuality and Teenage AIDS

In relation to homosexuality and MRSA, on January 15, 2008 the newspaper San Francisco Chronicle had a news article entitled San Francisco gay community an epicenter for new strain of virulent staph.[91] The San Francisco Chronicle news article stated the following in regards to homosexuality and MRSA:

On February 19, 2008 the Annals of Internal Medicine published a study regarding antiobiotic resistant staph infection in relation to men who have sex with men and the abstract for the article states the following in relation to homosexuality and MRSA:

Syphilis is an infection caused by the bacteria Treponema pallidum. An early publication to propose the link between homosexuality contributing to the spread of sexually transmitted disease was the English publication Proceedings of the Royal Society of Medicine in 1962.[94] The Proceedings of the Royal Society of Medicine made the following statement: "The importance of homosexual practices in the spread of venereal diseases has attracted particular attention recently. It almost seems that these practices are keeping syphilis alive in this country." [95]

The news organization Cybercast News Service reported the following about homosexuality and syphilis:

In a report on sexually transmitted diseases (STDs) issued Tuesday, the government said syphilis, a disease that was almost eliminated as a public health threat less than 10 years ago, is on the rise -- with cases increasing each year since 2000.[96]

In relation to homosexuality and gonorrhea, in 2006, the American Association of Family Physicians reported: "Men who have sex with men (MSM) have high rates of gonococcal infection. In San Francisco, more than one half of these infections occur in MSM, and previous cross-sectional studies have reported a prevalence of up to 15.3 percent in this group."[97]

In 2007, the medical journal Sexually Transmitted Diseases published an article entitled Sexually Transmitted Infections in Western Europe Among HIV-Positive Men Who Have Sex With Men which stated the following regarding homosexuality and gonorrhea:

In Denmark (19941999), gonorrhea incidence was 6 times higher among known HIV-positive MSM [men who have sex with men]... A study in a Parisian clinic showed that at least one-third (30/92) of MSM diagnosed with gonorrhea between January 1999 and May 2001 were HIV-positive... In Sweden, 5.4% (4/74) of gonorrhea cases were in HIV-positive MSM in 2000. By comparison, at sentinel sites in England and Wales, 32% (123/381) of MSM with gonorrhea were HIV-positive in 2004.[98]

Lymphogranuloma venereum is a sexually transmitted disease that mainly infects the lymphatics.[99] According to the recent medical literature, there have been recent outbreaks of lymphogranuloma venereum in Europe and North America and the outbreaks have been limited to the homosexual community.

In 2006, the The Medical Journal of Australia reported the following:

Amoebiasis has become endemic in MSM in Japan and causes significant morbidity and mortality; complications such as colitis and liver abscesses occur more frequently in homosexual and bisexual men than in heterosexual men. Similar findings on amoebiasis are reported from Taiwan, with MSM at increased risk for invasive amoebiasis and intestinal colonisation with E. histolytica.[101]

In 2001, The journal Internal Medicine (Tokyo, Japan) published an article entitled Amebiasis in acquired immunodeficiency syndrome in which they stated the following the following:

Sexually transmitted diseases that cause proctitis include syphilis, gonorrhea, lymphogranuloma venereum, and amebiasis and as noted earlier the homosexual community has significant problems in regards to these illnesses.[104] In addition, as mentioned earlier proctitis significant risk factor in respect to HIV infection.[105][106] According to the Mayo Clinic, "proctitis in general mainly affects adult males".[107]Proctitis, syphilis, gonorrhea, lymphogranuloma venereum, and amebiasis are all maladies that are associated with gay bowel syndrome which why John G. Bartlett, M.D. stated at the Johns Hopkins HIV Guide website and at Medscape that gay bowel syndrome is still currently an issue.[108][109]

For more information please see: Homosexuality and Hepatitis

In relation to homosexuality and hepatitis, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) both Hepatitis A and Hepatitis B disproportionately affects men who have sex with men (MSM).[110][111]

In a 2007 article entitled Advances in the Management of Viral Hepatitis B and Hepatitis C Infection in HIV-Coinfected Patients Vincent V. Soriano, MD, PhD reported in Medscape the following regarding homosexuality and Hepatitis C viral infections:

Viral hepatitis is one of the illnesses of gay bowel syndrome.

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