Gay or Straight: Is It Really a Choice?

Persons on the conservative right of the social spectrum often find themselves at odds with their counterparts to the left as to the cause of homosexuality, specifically whether it is an inherent proclivity or man-made choice.  The insistence of those on the right that gay persons choose to be gay seems as much a way of defending the God they usually worship as it is of decrying what they see as a sinner.

“God didn’t make no junk.”  I heard that often while a member, in my youth, of a right-leaning Southern Baptist church.  The phrase was often used to extol the virtue of one as a follower of God, and to declare the omniscient and almighty power of the Lord.

Thus, it does not seem possible that God could have made a homosexual, because, to many Christians, the lifestyle of a gay person is tantamount to junk.  Refuting any scientific evidence that homosexuality is not a choice but a fact of life determined at birth, the Christian defends their God by declaring He is innocent of having created such a person, thereby clearing Him of any culpability.

If the Christian were to concede that homosexuality was a determination made at birth, innate to the newborn’s personality, they would have to concede that God did indeed make junk, undermining a basic tenet of their gospel as to the nature of their God.

Contrarily, they can concede that homosexuality is not a choice, but by doing so, they would be condoning a lifestyle allegedly contrary to the approval of their God.

The Christian insistence on homosexuality being a choice seems questionable in several aspects, including the great deal of scientific evidence that calls it into question, and also the fact that choosing to be straight would be much easier in its effect on their lives.  

It seems as if more concern is displayed here in protecting the infallibility of God than in truly determining whether homosexuality is indeed a choice.