People choosing to be gay and social stigma

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People choose to smoke, regardless of the social stigma about smoking, so why do people use the social stigma argument against people choosing to be gay? People also choose to eat their boogers, despite there being a strong stigma about such. Note that I don't really believe people choose myself. I don't think social stigma though is the best argument against it being a choice though.

A better rhetorical comeback would be to ask them when they chose to be straight.

Also, people seem to get confused over having a homosexual orientation and the act of homosexuality itself. There's a difference between being naturally attracted to someone and what your sexual proclivities are.

People choose to be gay?

What I don't understand is why supporters of homosexuality say that it's genetic instead of a choice. If it was really genetic that would imply that it's something that could be inherited like skin-color & opponents of homosexuality would argue that they homosexuals should not have kids because they would pass on their genetic mutation instead of them insisting that it's a wrong choice.

^ I don't think they mean it's genetic, more like "it's just what I'm comfortable with" or something along the lines of that. Being gay could be a result of being comfortable with the idea, and that idea could help define your perspective.

Many of my friends who are gay usually say that they're gay because they found out that they were.

Twin studies do point to it being heritable to a degree. A gay twin has about a 50% chance of their other twin being gay.

It should also be noted that "if it's heritable you shouldn't have kids" is a terrible argument for why gay people shouldn't have children--most gay children come from straight parents!

Were the twins living their lives apart from each other or were they raised together? I don't think homosexuality is a choice; least not a concious one for lots of people & I don't think being gay makes anyone a bad parent(some who hate homosexuals like priest have members in their group who've been known for molesting kids) but I'm surprised haters don't use the argument about passing gay genese on. I thought lots of lesbians would do the invetro thing instead of adopting; I know homosexuals are/were stigmatizes when trying to adopt.

Being Gay is not a choice. I don't wake up choosing to be rejected by society every morning.

I love columnist Dan Savage's response to people who claim being gay is a choice: "prove it"

Factually wrong.

People start smoking in adolesence.

Why?

Precisely because during adolesence there is a strong stigma against NOT smoking, and its considered cool TO smoke.

Shortly after leaving thier teens every smoker Ive ever known reports regretting succumbing to peer pressure and taking up a habit they 'are now chemically addicted to and can't quit' . Even though the rules may change in the adult world to disapproval of smoking (and even that stigma has only existed for a few recent decades) that stigma is overriden by the chemical addiction.