On Sexual Orientation

Ben Carson made headlines this week for citing prison rape as proof that sexual orientation is a choice, a statement he has retracted in the wake of media backlash. In the amazing turnaround of public opinion in the last few years, his view is widely considered obsolete. Gay and lesbian people do not generally feel like they have a choice in the matter, that they are attracted to certain people and not others. Straight people work like that, too.


But let's talk about bisexuals, because bi people are so often left out of the spotlight. It seems ironic to me that in a time where we have become so accepting of homosexuality that we have chosen to turn a blind eye toward that part of the LGBT movement. See the article below for a study on bisexual identity and acceptance.


 I have a friend, who usually identifies as gay and is part of a large community, who once told me that he had to admit to himself that he was really bisexual, and that was difficult because bisexual men had a stigma in his community for being sex addicts who will fuck anything. How sad! And for bi people who don't identify as gay, most have little or no incentive to challenge the social order. They DO have a choice. And I think Ben Carson must be one of those people, and assumes everyone else is just like him. I would bet money that those people who claim most fervently that sexuality is a choice are all bisexual themselves, making the choice to be straight.

Update, 4-2-15

A pizzaria in Indiana came under fire for anti-gay sentiment, but the owner's words support my above theory. "That lifestyle is something they choose. I choose to be heterosexual. They choose to be homosexual. Why should I be beat over the head to go along with something they choose?" Kevin O'Conner of Memories Pizza said.

 He admits outright he chooses to be straight. Most straight people, when asked, will say they didn't choose to be straight, they just are. Clearly, Mr. O'Connor is attracted to men and yet chooses to not engage in same-sex behavior. That's not being straight, that's looking down your nose at your own bisexuality. The world has a million shades of grey, and sexuality is not a black-or-white  scenario.








http://www.pewresearch.org/fact-tank/2015/02/20/among-lgbt-americans-bisexuals-stand-out-when-it-comes-to-identity-acceptance/?utm_source=Pew+Research+Center&utm_campaign=9ee5ae90a3-Newsletter+Feb.+26%2C+2015&utm_medium=email&utm_term=0_3e953b9b70-9ee5ae90a3-399511941