Homosexuality or bisexuality are not Normal or are they ?

Homosexuality Is Natural

It is often argued that homosexuality or bisexuality are not normal, or not natural, and that they have no place on this Earth. This, however, is just a misconception based on insufficient information or indoctrination.

In some ways we could argue that since it happens at all, that it is natural. Unless we assume there is some unnatural external force teaching or manipulating some of us, seemingly at random, that could change what we were sexually attracted to. Of course some people claim this to be the case; claiming the cause is the media or the devil, and unfortunately some naturally homosexual people believe that too, living a life in denial, or attending some conversion therapy in an attempt to ‘be normal’.

However, the truth is that homosexuality is, and has been for a very long time, natural, while the definition of normal varies from person to person, being normal does not suggest being special or unique, and could even be used as a derogatory description.

Being gay or bisexual should not be considered as immoral or criminal by itself, especially when considering the statistics of hate crimes, often violent, due to sexual-orientation bias.

The FBI 2011 hate crime statistics reports that there were 1,572 victims targetted due to sexual-orientation bias. According to the US Department of Justice a quarter of a million Americans are victims of hate crimes each year and over half are not reported to law enforcement. Based on the FBI hate crime statistics showing that 20.8% of hate crimes are of a sexual-orientation bias, we could then estimate the true number of sexual-orientation hate crimes to be 52,000 each year, and these crimes are rising annually.

Gary Gates of the Williams Institute reported in 2011 that an estimated 3.5% of adults in the United States identify as being gay, lesbian or bisexual, he also states that nearly 25.6 million Americans (11% of the population) acknowledge at least some same-sex sexual attraction. At what level does it become accepted as being normal?

A study at Boise State University found that in a group of heterosexual women, 60% were physically interested in other women, 45% made out with a woman in the past, and 50% had fantasies about the same sex. LiveScience reports that women may be more “hetero-flexible” or be primarily attracted to men with some same-sex attraction. The hypothesis, published in the journal Evolutionary Psychology, theorises that this allows women to raise their children with other women, for various reasons. Some people are claiming this shows that most women are largely bisexual, with a preference.

Let’s compare this to the estimated 10% that are left-handed, or the 10% of people with dyslexia, and ask ourselves again, “what is normal?”

More than 1,500 different animal species, including chimpanzees, dolphins and apes engage in homosexual and bisexual acts.

“We’re talking about everything from mammals to crabs and worms. The actual number is of course much higher. Among some animals homosexual behaviour is rare, some having sex with the same gender only a part of their life, while other animals, such as the dwarf chimpanzee, homosexuality is practiced throughout their lives.” – Petter Boeckman

If we were also to argue that the sole natural purpose of sex is to reproduce, then are masturbation and oral sex also unnatural? Should we demonize condom use just as much? We could also argue, using another theory, that homosexuality and asexuality are natural methods of population control.

Interestingly, in June, Exodus International, one of the U.S.’s foremost “gay conversion therapy” groups publicly announced they are quitting the gay conversion business, calling the practice “harmful”.

“I am sorry for the pain and hurt many of you have experienced. I am sorry that some of you spent years working through the shame and guilt you felt when your attractions didn’t change. I am sorry we promoted sexual orientation change efforts and reparative theories about sexual orientation that stigmatized parents. I am sorry that there were times I didn’t stand up to people publicly ‘on my side’ who called you names like sodomite — or worse. I am sorry that I, knowing some of you so well, failed to share publicly that the gay and lesbian people I know were every bit as capable of being amazing parents as the straight people that I know.” – Exodus president Alan Chambers

If you really feel strongly that god will judge them, while you’re entitled to your beliefs, I’m sure we (of all sexualities) would all appreciate you leaving that judgement to god.

And if you’re really going to complain about not being natural, perhaps you should stop watching TV, driving cars and go back to making fire with wood, if you can find any.

After all, you wouldn’t be reading this if it wasn’t for the genius mathematician, Alan Turing, who created one of the first computers and helped us to win World War II. For engaging in homosexual acts he was made to take female hormones (chemical castration), which resulted in him growing breasts as a side effect. He committed suicide at the age of 42.

While I understand there is a natural fear of that which is different, it’s the 21st century, so instead of complaining about how others live, let’s focus on how we live and what we can change to make our lives better.