» Home » Society
Homosexuality Can Be "Reversed"
I know of lots of people that come out of the closet, but have never met an "ex-gay". I have heard of them, but really just thought that they went back in the closet. Am i wrong?
 innomen  13 May 2008 21:53
                           (What's this?)  Add to Firefox  RSS
I have seen interviews with people that were gay and became straight. It happened for them therefore it must be possible.
 
 created  09 Oct 2008 02:01
 Add a Comment
 
 
Individuals can choose not to engage in homosexual behaviors, as an alcoholic can choose not to drink.

The desire may never leave. The reasons for homosexuality are quite complicated and vary from individual to individual. To talk of "reversing" homosexuality may be the wrong choice of word, but homosexuality certainly can be altered, judging from the success of various reparative modes of therapy for the homosexual who wants a different lifestyle.
 
 charlee  14 May 2008 04:12
 6 Comments
 
 An alcoholic in recovery is still an alcoholic. The behavior may have changed, but the condition remains.
by  innomen
 14 May 2008 10:33
Comment
  
Comment
  
Comment
  
Comment
  
Comment
  
Comment
  
Comment
  
 
It wouldn't really surprise me if a program of prolonged and intense psychological conditioning could produce a change in behaviour patterns towards favouring heterosexual partners, and developing an aversion to same-sex partners. I'm thinking of B.F. Skinner style reward and punishment type conditioning using electric shocks and direct stimulation of the pleasure centres in the brain while being exposed to sensory input (mainly images I suppose) related to either homosexuality or heterosexuality. It would have to be carefully worked out and probably continued for a while for it to work.

I think this could produce behaviour change, but I'm not sure it would be anything more than half-hearted.
 
 Hidell  14 May 2008 02:50
 Add a Comment
 
 
Reversed may be the wrong word. It's more like FREE TO CHOOSE. Just because a person has too many x or y chromosomes, doesn't mean they are gay, just more masculine or feminine. Nowadays they are being convinced they are gay!!! Many gays when regressed into their childhood were molested and chose to be either the aggressor or victim (a gay choice) not genetics, there is no gay gene, that's bs
 
 stever  14 May 2008 00:33
 2 Comments
 
 I'm bi on a technicality (I heavily prefer people my own gender, only like a few not) but I was never molested and I thought of myself as heterosexual until I hit puberty. I was never introduced to the idea of being gay as anything other than a sin (went to a Catholic school most of my early years) that would land you in hell and was the work of the devil.

there is no proven specific gene that causes homosexuality, correct. There's several combinations of genes that do, though.

I've got the normal number of X chromosomes...
by  FoxFire
 18 May 2008 16:23
Comment
  
Comment
  
Comment
  
I for a very long time have known I was gay. Some girls I think are beautiful but I'm not attracted to them or have any urge towards them whatsoever. I've always found guys attractive, I've had a few girls try very very hard to try and convert me but they've failed and will continue to, besides I love my boyfriend. My parents took me to priest to try and convert me, at the time I just told them it worked to get them off my back.
As for the people who say they were gay but not any more, possibly they weren't gay in the first place. And those that say they've found God and are now happily married to some one of the opposite sex are not being entirely honest with themselves. They are decieving themselves and probably going through a lot of pain inside. It will end in a nasty divorce and if there are children involved it will be even worst.
 
 kddan  09 Oct 2008 15:36
 Add a Comment
 
 
Having never been attracted to females myself, I have no experience with homosexuality first hand.

I can tell you that I read in a magazine that actress Anne Heche, who co-starred in that one movie about volcano in California with Tommy Lee Jones in the 1990's,
don't recall the title of the movie,
anyway, this article in this magazine, I think it was In Style or Vogue magazine, anyway, this article said that she had been gay, but met this one guy, married him, had his baby, and she said she never had gay problems again.

Sounds like a conversion to me....but that's just one person.
Who knows about others?
 
 Scorpion  23 Sep 2008 20:46
 Add a Comment
 
 
You are born to like one or the other, maybe both sexes, it is not a choice,
i have always been bisexual, and i chose to embrace it, from a young age i knew i like girls, luckily my parents have no problem with whatever sex i chose to be with, i have dated both males and females, and find them both as attractive as each other, and have no will over which sex I would rather have a relationship with.

I cannot change who i am.


And the gay community is no worse than the straight one,
they are very supportive people,
 
 martlamb  22 May 2008 10:10
 Add a Comment
 
 
It isn't a choice. The only thing that's chosen is who you date and whether or not you come out of the closet (the last one isn't always a choice, either. Some people are outed by others)

Ex-gay therapies have been proven to be ineffective and to only cause depression and a higher risk of suicide.
 
 FoxFire  18 May 2008 16:28
 1 Comment
 
 Being in the closet, or worse, being forced back into the closet results often in deviant sexual behavior.

You are correct about some people not having a choice to stay in the closet, but i think there are many who would prefer gay people to stay in the closet because it would make them more comfortable.
by  innomen
 18 May 2008 21:13
Comment
  
Comment
  
 
It strikes me that homosexuals have little choice in the way they feel. Sure they can be in the closet or go back in the closet but they can never change what they naturally feel. I am convinced of this because so many gay people have suffered in the past because of their sexual preference and have desperately wanted to be what society considered normal. It is a fight they could never win. Why deliberately choose a life of persecution.
 
 StBalders  14 May 2008 11:05
 Add a Comment
 
 
Homosexuality can no more be reversed than heterosexuality can, no more than having a certain hair color can be genetically altered. Homosexuality is pre-programmed into our genes, you are born that way. Certainly you have the ability to alter the way you act, you can force yourself to have heterosexual sex even if you are not attracted to the opposite sex, but internally, you're still gay, just like you're still a redhead no matter what color you dye your hair.
 
 Cephus  14 May 2008 07:21
 Add a Comment
 
 
I suppose that one can make the argument that our sexual orientation may not be that strongly ingrained and that the divide between heterosexuality and homosexuality may, in part, be an artificial human construct. I have heard some on the left of the political spectrum articulate this argument when discussing gender and sexuality. Although I am not sure if I fully buy it myself, I do agree that gender and sexuality may be both biological and social constructs. If we take this argument further, we could go on to claim that heterosexuals may have homosexual tendencies--which are perhaps repressed by perceived societal norms--while homosexuals may have occasional heterosexual inclinations as well. In some cultures, including in Turkish society, bisexuality is more acceptable and prevalent than elsewhere.

Despite all of this, I am always doubtful of dubious claims about how homosexuals can be "healed" and made straight. I suspect that many ex-gays are probably just as attracted to the same sex as they were before, the only difference is that they also become willing to engage in a romantic, sexual relationship with someone of the opposite gender.
 
 mackenzie  13 May 2008 22:30
 2 Comments
 
 Hey Mac, do you believe in the Kinsian scale?
by  innomen
 13 May 2008 22:49
Comment
  
Comment
  
Comment
  
 
I highly doubt it. It doesn't seem like something that can be reversed. People are just like that.
 
 Mark  13 May 2008 22:14
 Add a Comment
 
 
No offence but I personally don't really like the wording as it says 'reversed' implying there is some sort of problem with it. I don't think it can, apparently people have but there is speculation and so personally I agree that it is simply going back in the closet and why should they have to change anyway?
 
 Shizenk  13 May 2008 22:08
 2 Comments
 
 I agree. I will edit it....much better.

Being true to yourself is a better way to live.
by  innomen
 13 May 2008 22:25
Comment
  
Comment
  
Comment
  
 
I’ve never heard of anyone returning to heterosexuality after being homosexual either.
Not that it hasn't happened, just that I don't have any knowledge of it happening.
 
 Hizashi  13 May 2008 22:04
 Add a Comment
 
 
No indeedy- and if you think so you're smoking crill -zack !
Can you reverse being a virgin? A lot of us would like to, and many times over.
Since part of it deals with a physical as-pect
no pun intended the answer is no.
 
 Bacchus  13 May 2008 22:03
 Add a Comment
 
 
Being straight is much easier than being gay. The gay community isn't always a kind place. Being gay in a straight society isn't all that great either sometimes. I can see the attraction of pretending to be straight and living a "normal" life. I think that is probably what goes on with "ex-gays". That and some bottom that they hit in their lives.
 
 innomen  13 May 2008 21:56
 2 Comments
 
 Not all gay people like hitting bottoms Innomen. Shame on you for being so stereotypical
by  StBalders
 14 May 2008 10:47
Comment
  
Comment
  
Comment
  
 
Sign In / Sign Up
 For and Against Recent Activity