The Gay Issue

Myths and facts parents should be aware of

If a conversation about homosexuality continues for any length of time, you can be sure you’ll hear some statements that aren’t exactly true. Here are a few untruths you’re likely to encounter:

Homosexuality is genetic. It’s like another gender.
Many people are surprised to learn that no solid scientific evidence exists to indicate that there is a homosexual gene. The complex causes of homosexuality occur over the period of time from birth through adolescence. Later in life, as these factors converge, they play a strategic role in the choices people make involving their sexual relations.
Homosexuality is just another alternative lifestyle. It’s a good, healthy choice for some people.
The homosexual lifestyle is not a safe alternative. It involves physical, emotional and spiritual dangers, such as decreased life expectancy, disease, and high suicide rates.
Homosexuality cannot be prevented.
Genetic, psychological and social research confirm that a variety of causes sets the stage for homosexual choices. But gender confusion can be reversed. Biological predisposition can be treated. Patterns of attraction and addiction can be understood and reformed. These things, in fact, should be addressed before homosexual behaviour ever takes place.
Who's to blame?

Everyone asks, “So what is the cause of homosexuality?” Yet no one wants to point a finger at anyone or provide a simplistic reason for a condition that is incredibly complex.

Like many other adult problems, homosexuality begins at home. Mum and Dad are key players. Research from the National Association for Research and Therapy of Homosexuality in the US states, “One hundred per cent of the research participants stated their father/father figure was distant, uninvolved in their upbringing, frightening and unapproachable. Eighty-seven percent spoke of a mother who was close, controlling and overbearing.”

As important as parent-child dynamics are, they aren’t the only concerns. The following factors can also contribute to the homosexual orientation.

the individual person’s self-will
pornography
media and culture
spousal abuse in the home
molestation and paedophilia
parental adultery
moral relativism
seduction by peers
chemical imbalances
failure of leadership
Timely intervention

There are no perfect families, but hopefully parents will identify potential problems and deal with them before they begin. A focused, loving family with a good grasp of moral principles can develop a healthy gender identity in children from the day they are born.
Beyond the family, it is vital for concerned adults to be sensitive to the needs of at-risk youth. The prevention of homosexuality requires the involvement of the entire community: community leaders, teachers, peers, friends, extended family and youth workers who will reach out loving hands toward young men and women who are vulnerable to rejection, rebellion, confusion and temptation.

If we make an extra effort on behalf of kids who are gender confused or morally deceived, then we can eliminate one more myth: There’s nothing we can do about homosexuality.

– adapted from the article ‘An Ounce Of Prevention’, which first appeared in Focus on the Family magazine, copyright © 1999 Don Schmierer.