Good Argumentative Essay On Homosexuality Is A Learned Behavior

The standard conception or phenomenon that homosexuality is genetic is profoundly misplaced. Nobody is born a homosexual because any sexual preference is learned. Homosexuals in prisons learn to be homosexuals after staying locked up for a long time because they need to express and release their sexual desires. The fact that a majority of people who have had a sexual encounter with the same sex do it for fantasy or for curious reasons conclusively proof that sexual preference including homosexuality is a learned behavior. Most parents claim that their children end up being gay because hanging out with the ‘wrong crowd’ or as a result of being rebellious. The fact that the number of homosexual cases is higher today than it was say fifty years ago can also provide concrete proof that homosexuality is a learned behavior.
The above conclusion has also been asserted to be true due to extensive research and studies that have been carried out on this particular subject. A homosexual person is less likely to have gay parents or grandparents or even great-grandparents quashing the belief that this vice may be genetic or inherited. Scientific studies have also shown that homosexuality can be overcome, and those people who want to change their sexual orientation can be satisfied through intense therapy and a strong desire to improve. The National Association for Research and Therapy of Homosexuality (NARTH) released the results of a two year study which was conducted among 860 individuals struggling to overcome sexuality and more than 200 psychologists and therapists who treat them. The study indicates “We should stop telling the young people and others who are struggling with homosexuality that they are struck with it. Instead, we should say [if you want to change, you can, like so many others who have]” (The Interactive Bible, 1997). Some people who were undergoing therapy and treatment described it as a trap, compulsive behavior and the worst choice they have made in their lives. One woman stated “I never expected this much recovery. My relationships with men have greatly improved – I am able to relate sexually to my husband in a way I was never able to before. I am learning to leave the familiar protective emotion of contempt, arrogance, pseudo self-sufficiency, anger, and self-indulgence behind, and practice the feelings of love instead.” Many people who exercise or practice homosexuality admit that their social upbringing is a major factor that contributes to this condition, they also claim that they learned this behavior through their friends or acquaintances rather than from members of their families or close relatives. Some people who are homosexual have openly admitted that they don’t feel comfortable being gay that means that they have not completely accepted the fact that they are gay.
Many people fall into this behavior through experimental escapades and continue with it in secrecy just to satisfy their sexual curiosity. Homosexuals start exhibiting this behavior later on in their lives (age ten to fourteen) primarily the age at which one is believed to find out their sexuality. It has also been proved that some people turn to homosexuality due to some trauma at a certain point in their lives especially in their childhood; this notion leads them to believe that they are different from the rest of the society, hence adopting this behavior which makes them hope that they might be accepted in their ‘new world.’
The fact that typically the older homosexual people approach the young ones and not vice versa also does explain enough that this vice is learned over time. Many persons who were indicted into this lifestyle also admit that they dint like the experience the first time but came to get used and got comfortable with it as time went by. There is also a number of people who are married to heterosexuals, but secretly profess to be homosexual. Such people find it hard to quit that lifestyle in as much as they would want because they get pressure from other homosexuals and fear being labeled coward or rebels. So they continue to have these tendencies behind the backs of their heterosexual partners.
Like people learn to stop smoking, to stop eating some types of food and quitting drugs and other substances one can also learn to stop being a homosexual because all this behaviors are acquired. Some people tend to have a misconception that a homosexual relationship is just like any other healthy heterosexual relationship. They only realize that gay people tend to have many partners compared to heterosexual people; a fact that makes them turn away from the vice as soon they realize that their partner is keeping two or more partners. There also exists abusive and unhealthy gay relationships, and this leads to some changing their behaviors and embracing the straight culture and shunning homosexuality altogether.
Renowned actor and breast cancer activist Cynthia Nixon confessed being bisexual by stating “I don’t feel I have changed. I’d been with men all my life, and I’d fallen in love with a woman. But when I did, it dint seems so strange. I’ve been straight, and I’ve been gay, and they tried to get me change it because they said it implied that homosexuality can be a choice.”(The New York Times, Jan 19, 2012). This statement from Cynthia Nixon clearly implies that being gay is a choice that one makes or chooses to practice. She has two kids with her former male partner and claims that she can quit the homosexuality anytime she wants. There are so many ex-homosexuals in the society and studies have proved that they quit being homosexuals after one or two homosexual experiences and never did it again. Many have changed due to many factors including spiritual or religious conversion. Although many people turn these indulgences, many may say that these changes have not necessarily removed the homosexual desires and temptation, a substantial number of people are considering being permanently heterosexual the rest of their lives.
Peer pressure also significantly contributes to developing a homosexual behavior. Many parents claim that homosexuality was introduced to their children by their friends, either in social clubs or mostly in schools. The fact that gay marriages are being legalized tends to give young children growing up the notion that there is nothing wrong with being a homosexual. It disposes them to a danger of being abused, molested or contracting diseases. The public belief that being homosexual is innate has been made popular by the media and gay activists and forums that make those people who practice homosexuality belief that they were born this way and should remain this way. The fact that there has been no scientific research that has linked homosexuality with genetics or hereditary characteristics, further points out that this is purely a learned trait or process that can also be dropped or done away with any time one desires; either through therapy and treatment or through a strong desire to quit.
The fact that this behavior has adverse impacts on the society has pushed many people who considered it a lifestyle to re-examine the negative aspects of it. That’s the main reason why some of them are seeking treatment and therapy. Some of the adverse impacts involve diseases like hepatitis A, gonorrhea, HIV, rectal cancer, and syphilis. This behavior also increases the number of children who will grow up without fathers; this will in turn lead to high numbers of youths who will be incarcerated among male children and adolescent pregnancies among girls. This behavior also leads to low birth rate and fewer long-time married partners.
Extensive studies over time have evidently shown that homosexuality is a learned behavior or trait.  The existence of many people who have practiced this behavior and have come out to seek therapy and treatment also shows that this is a behavior that is learned and can be dropped any time. Older people in the society have also been highlighted as the major influence to the young folks to develop this kind of behavior; some with very twisted minds in order to satisfy their curious sexual desires. Our society today should come out very clearly with elaborate forums to enlighten the public in general about this vice and should not hide the hard facts about this subject.

Works Cited

Nicolosi, J. (1997, May 17). Homosexuality Can Be Overcome. The Interactive Bible.
Witchell, A. (2012, Jan 19). Life After ‘Sex’. The New York Times.