Is "Gay" A Choice?

[Stella_Omega]

Okay, okay I get it. No posting to HIM.

post to him if you want... just avoid quoting him.. please?

 

[JAMESBJOHNSON]

Ooooo! She gave you permission CHARLEY!

 

[sr71plt]

they cant confront a nuisance.

The real question is what possesses anyone to strive to be no better than a nuisance in life?

 

[Guest]

I actually think you're onto something. I think very few people are simply born straight or gay. I think we're all somewhere in the mushy middle with inclinations in one direction or another basically capable of any sexual act or desire. It's a mixture of nature and nurture (more nurture than nature in my mind). I'll bet that if our society was more open to homosexuality and people saw it on a regular basis they'd consider it more normal and we'd see a lot more people engaging in homosexual acts and having homosexual desires - and not simply because all the new "gays" were closeted, but because they'd want to experiment with other ways getting sexually satisfied.

I know, I'm probably going to be ridiculed by supposedly open-minded people for expressing this view, but hey, it's what I've experienced. They can deal with it.

Erica

Now, now. You can't accuse others of being closed-minded just because they disagree with your opinion on something.

It is strictly your own opinion based on your own experiences, that's what you said.

And others have had different experiences. Thus - different opinions entirely.

Personally, because of this very situation, I need more than just anecdotal information to make up my own mind.

 

[Stella_Omega]

Erica, you'll be surprised to find that I agree with you-- barring the question of proportion... But really, you are talking about bisexuality, and that's not a choice either. My preferences might sway back and forth during different periods of my life-- and I might or might not choose to act on my attractions-- but it's not as if I can decide that I will henceforth only be attracted to women or only men.

 

[Guest]

Charley - I just don't want to read the troll, is all. I couldn't give a rat's ass what it does, where it lives, who communicates with it, where it chooses to hide or what threads it inhabits, I reserve the right to not read the nonsensical crud spewing forth.

If there is a coherent thought in the drivel, it's a shame, because there has been so much drivel it has turned many people away. I don't want to try to sift through the shit to find a diamond chip of wit.

If I notice he's been quoted, I don't read it, sr - but sometimes I'm zipping through a thread and it catches me by surprise. I don't want to read the hateful insults spewed. I shouldn't have to.

Charley - I think you misunderstood Stella. Talk to him, don't talk to him, nobody gives a shit. Just please don't quote his posts verbatim because we have him on ignore for a reason. That's all.

Now. Who wants cookies?

 

[Stella_Omega]

Chocolate chip?

 

[Guest]

Chocolate chip?

Is there any other kind?

(Actually, I've been trying to master snickerdoodles. Shereads loves 'em.)

 

[JAMESBJOHNSON]

SR71PLT

There are a few around here who dont buy the nuisance tag. So, to some degree the tag is in the eye of the beholder. And I'm under no obligation to please STELLA when I post. We had this food fight a few weeks ago, if you recall. STELLA went histrionic on us, she was leaving (she didnt), and the outcome was mostly nuthin much.

The Usual Suspects are excited becuz their team lost an important battle today. They know, as everyone knows, that Mayberry and Gomerville wont replace what they lost in California. Hell! The Weirdo State loves any kind of freak show, but not same-sex marriage. The US dont like being reminded of it.

 

[Safe_Bet]

I actually think you're onto something. I think very few people are simply born straight or gay. I think we're all somewhere in the mushy middle with inclinations in one direction or another basically capable of any sexual act or desire. It's a mixture of nature and nurture (more nurture than nature in my mind). I'll bet that if our society was more open to homosexuality and people saw it on a regular basis they'd consider it more normal and we'd see a lot more people engaging in homosexual acts and having homosexual desires - and not simply because all the new "gays" were closeted, but because they'd want to experiment with other ways getting sexually satisfied.

I know, I'm probably going to be ridiculed by supposedly open-minded people for expressing this view, but hey, it's what I've experienced. They can deal with it.

Erica

Nope. I'm not going to ridicule you. I'm simply going to tell you that neither one of you is basing your "opinions" on fact and that you are flying in the face of scientific evidence. The implication that it's some sort of a choice is intrinsic to you argument. Trust me (and the AMA, APA, AP Assoc., Amer. Psychoanalytic Assoc., AAP and the NASW), you are working on a faulty premise.

However, if you want to say that SOME people CHOOSE to ignore/not act upon who or what they truly are, so as to be accepted into the mainstream, I prolly wouldn't disagree with you... but like the chick said, "Psssst... but we're STILL gay!"

 

[sr71plt]

Charley - I just don't want to read the troll, is all. I couldn't give a rat's ass what it does, where it lives, who communicates with it, where it chooses to hide or what threads it inhabits, I reserve the right to not read the nonsensical crud spewing forth.

If there is a coherent thought in the drivel, it's a shame, because there has been so much drivel it has turned many people away. I don't want to try to sift through the shit to find a diamond chip of wit.

If I notice he's been quoted, I don't read it, sr - but sometimes I'm zipping through a thread and it catches me by surprise. I don't want to read the hateful insults spewed. I shouldn't have to.

Charley - I think you misunderstood Stella. Talk to him, don't talk to him, nobody gives a shit. Just please don't quote his posts verbatim because we have him on ignore for a reason. That's all.

Now. Who wants cookies?

I understand your desire--I just don't see the need to take responsibility for your decision if, when commenting on a post that someone here has on ignore (which pretty much covers well over half of the posters), it will be misleading or difficult for readers to know what specifically I'm responding to. The forum system provides a mechanism for linking of posts to be clear (the quote system); and it gives those who don't want to read what a specific poster posts a system to enable that (the ignore system and the bolding of names in front of the post).

I see no reason why those wanting to take the ignore route on another poster can't take full personal responsibility for using the mechanisms the system gives them to make that possible.

And posters speaking for what "everyone" wants or will tolerate on the forum is yet another aspect of this. What posters are really saying when they ask other posters not to quote is that the "mob," as represented by "me," is ostracizing that poster, and you jolly well should fall into line.

It's in the same vein as the occasional "I've had enough; I'm leaving forever" posts. That's not what they mean at all--what they mean is "I've had my feelings hurt; come coddle me and crucify him/her."

Those who really want to ignore will just quietly do so; those who really want to leave will just quietly leave.

 

[JAMESBJOHNSON]

SAFE BET

All the organizations you cite, tagged homosexuality a mental disorder until 1980.

 

[Guest]

I understand, sr. And it is a favor I am asking, I know.

Now, if the ignore feature would only work in such a way that even quoted posts wouldn't show up? Hallelujah! Manu currently has his hands busy with this latest story thing but maybe I should drop him a line.

 

[JAMESBJOHNSON]

SR71PLT

Quote or no quote, once the US see the name of the poster they should move along. Its what I do with a few posters.

 

[Stella_Omega]

I understand, sr. And it is a favor I am asking, I know.

Now, if the ignore feature would only work in such a way that even quoted posts wouldn't show up? Hallelujah! Manu currently has his hands busy with this latest story thing but maybe I should drop him a line.

yeah.. I wish he could set up an "ignore this thread" function, for those unexpected flamies that show up once in a while. Like Sub Joe's atheist! thread.
I touch bases, but ah is not my "home forum" any longer. If a topic needs subtlety in discussion, I put it elsewhere.

 

[LindySez]

I think that there are a very small percentage of gays that are that way naturally. I think that there are some that are forced into it by childhood trauma. I think that the largest percentage are by choice though. But then again, my opinion is only that and is not based on any science whatsoever.

And what has given you this idea? Why are you convinced you are correct?

 

[LindySez]

I think that everyone is born ambisexual (I'm going to patend that word soon). We are presented with social situations that condition us during our formulative years and it determines which way we swing. Boys are given very masculine toys to play with, rooms painted in blue, and told to mimic Daddy. Girls are given dolls, rooms painted pink, and told to do as Mommy does. The gays that are born that way are the ones that stray from this conditioning and no matter the effort to persuade them differently, grow up gay.

If these typical role-modeling influences were taken away, people would grow comfortably with whatever they chose.

It sounds like you have very little cultural knowledge of people growing up in other eras, other societies, and other cultures.

Furthermore - what does being masculine have to do with liking women / being feminin have to do with liking men???

 

[Austin8]

I understand your desire--I just don't see the need to take responsibility for your decision if, when commenting on a post that someone here has on ignore (which pretty much covers well over half of the posters), it will be misleading or difficult for readers to know what specifically I'm responding to. The forum system provides a mechanism for linking of posts to be clear (the quote system); and it gives those who don't want to read what a specific poster posts a system to enable that (the ignore system and the bolding of names in front of the post).

I see no reason why those wanting to take the ignore route on another poster can't take full personal responsibility for using the mechanisms the system gives them to make that possible.

And posters speaking for what "everyone" wants or will tolerate on the forum is yet another aspect of this. What posters are really saying when they ask other posters not to quote is that the "mob," as represented by "me," is ostracizing that poster, and you jolly well should fall into line.

It's in the same vein as the occasional "I've had enough; I'm leaving forever" posts. That's not what they mean at all--what they mean is "I've had my feelings hurt; come coddle me and crucify him/her."

Those who really want to ignore will just quietly do so; those who really want to leave will just quietly leave.

I'll quote, and respond to whomever I choose, I want my opinion heard just as much as the next person, no matter who I do or don't agree with, and yes the quoted material does serve to ID the material being responded too... If you can't stand the heat... go post somewhere else! ☢ well said SR!

 

[sr71plt]

I understand, sr. And it is a favor I am asking, I know.

Now, if the ignore feature would only work in such a way that even quoted posts wouldn't show up? Hallelujah! Manu currently has his hands busy with this latest story thing but maybe I should drop him a line.

Ah, but then you'd be confused in your own reading--and might very likely give responses that got everything in a tangle.

I saw that on one thread, where LaJoke had me on ignore and kept misinterpreting what I was discussing with posters he didn't have on ignore.

 

[Stella_Omega]

Ah, but then you'd be confused in your own reading--and might very likely give responses that got everything in a tangle.

I saw that on one thread, where LaJoke had me on ignore and kept misinterpreting what I was discussing with posters he didn't have on ignore.

They don't call him LaJoke for nothing!

 

[sr71plt]

They don't call him LaJoke for nothing!

I'll admit that I mostly do because I can't remember how to spell his current posting name.

But the instance in question was amusing because he assumed other posters were agreeing with him against me, and I was actually agreeing with him against them on that point.

 

[Stella_Omega]

I'll admit that I mostly do because I can't remember how to spell his current posting name.

But the instance in question was amusing because he assumed other posters were agreeing with him against me, and I was actually agreeing with him against them on that point.

See, If I really want to know-- and I am nerdy enough to want to know-- I can open a closed post, even though that person is on ignore. Sometimes it's worth doing, too.

 

[sr71plt]

See, If I really want to know-- and I am nerdy enough to want to know-- I can open a closed post, even though that person is on ignore. Sometimes it's worth doing, too.

When I'm really in a bored mood, I come in on the forum without registering so I can see--to the extent I want to delve into it--what sort of nonsense Amicus is up to.

And the worm. Is it possible that one has given up and someone has become bored with using that alt to stir the pot here? Those are the only two I'd just had enough of and stuck on ignore.

 

[Safe_Bet]

It sounds like you have very little cultural knowledge of people growing up in other eras, other societies, and other cultures.

Furthermore - what does being masculine have to do with liking women / being feminin have to do with liking men???

Oh, don't you know that all dyke's weight 200 lbs., wear flannel and have masculine features....

http://img241.imagevenue.com/loc133/th_83897_portia_de_rossi_122_133lo.jpg


and that all gay guys are wussy little wimps that wear pastels, lisp and are always afraid???

http://img102.imagevenue.com/loc462/th_83301_Mark_Bingham1_122_462lo.jpg


(yeah, everybody recognizes Portia, but Mark Bingham should be a brave "manly man" in anybody's book.)

 

[Stella_Omega]

When I'm really in a bored mood, I come in on the forum without registering so I can see--to the extent I want to delve into it--what sort of nonsense Amicus is up to.

And the worm. Is it possible that one has given up and someone has become bored with using that alt to stir the pot here? Those are the only two I'd just had enough of and stuck on ignore.

My list is longer than yours.

I'm weak, and not ashamed to admit it!