Myths and Facts
Article Overview
Articles within this series
Is homosexuality just another way to love, or is there danger ahead?
Jeremy was a typical teenager with baggy jeans, an appetite like a horse and a "‘tude" the size of New Hampshire. Or at least that’s what his parents thought. But more and more, they began to see how different he was from other teenage boys they knew. Ever since he started junior high school, Jeremy felt like he didn’t fit in. It seemed like most of the guys in his class were only interested in sports. Jeremy was interested in music. He was shorter and skinnier than many of the boys in his gym class—a glaring fact that caused him to feel self-conscious. Most of his friends were girls. For some reason, he felt he could relate to them more easily.
But he never realized how different he was until the first time someone called him “queer.” It was like a devastating gunshot wound to his heart. And when others joined in and added the title “fag” to the insults, Jeremy was humiliated beyond words. By the time he reached high school, he was basically considered an outcast. He couldn’t communicate his fears to his dad—in fact, Jeremy couldn’t relate to him at all. So, slowly, he found himself in a world with no male companions or acceptance from men. Soon, Jeremy began to crave attention from guys and even fantasize what it could be like if a boy really liked him.
What’s your story?
Do you have a friend like Jeremy? Have you picked on someone because he or she was different? Or can you identify with the pain, isolation and confusion Jeremy felt? If so, you’re not alone. Many teens today either know someone struggling with homosexual thoughts or behavior—or are battling the desire to enter into this kind of a life for themselves. What’s worse is that some teens have given up the fight and have surrendered to the idea of being gay. During early adolescence, many children experience a period of sexual-identity confusion when they can easily be influenced in either direction. One recent study in the Journal of Pediatrics surveyed 36,254 Minnesota teenagers in the seventh to twelfth grades and found that 25.9 percent of 12 year olds were uncertain about their sexual orientation; this figure declines with age to five percent of 17-year-old students.1
If you think about it, who can blame them? Television glamorizes homosexuality. Advertisements portray it as totally normal. Fashion promotes androgynous styles, unisex clothing and even perfumes that both men and women wear. Public schools teach that it’s OK. And our government is mandating policies that promote things like tolerance and “gay marriages.”
Hey, no wonder so many young people are struggling with their sexual identity!
It seems like many teens today haven’t experienced how awesome it is to be a guy or a girl. Have you? Do you realize your worth in God’s eyes? We know from the Bible that every life is valuable because it is made in the image of God. You are unique to Him (1 Corinthians 6:19-20).
As Christians, we know that the sacredness of life is based on God’s character—not our characteristics. We truly are not our own; we were bought with a price. Knowing this, we should not be cruel to anyone “different” from us . . . including homosexuals. We must respond to them in love, just as Christ did. Yet, showing kindness, respect and love for others doesn’t mean we have to affirm all that they do.
The world, however, will tell you a different story. Our era preaches tolerance of all kinds and forms. In fact, it seems like mainstream America believes tolerance is the ultimate virtue. But what exactly does tolerance mean? One definition Webster offers for tolerance is “a sympathy or indulgence for beliefs or practices differing from or conflicting with one’s own.” So, if someone has beliefs or practices that differ from ours-–or shall we say from God’s-- should we tolerate them?
Christian professor and author Dr. J. Budziszewski has written much on the issue of tolerance, and explains it as “the wisdom to know which bad things to put up with, when, why and to what degree—along with the strength of character to act on that wisdom.”2 And he reminds young people that “it’s not necessarily intolerant to express strong convictions if you do so with humility and gentleness.”3
Share the truth in love
To share the truth, you have to care about the truth and about the person with whom you’re sharing. If your care for that person isn’t genuine and evident, chances are that the person will not hear what you’re saying. The point is to share the truth in love—with compassion and respect. And to share the truth, you’ve got to know the truth. God, the Author of truth, has a few things to say about homosexual behavior. For example, 1 Corinthians 6:9-11 (NIV) says, “Do you not know that the wicked will not inherit the kingdom of God? Do not be deceived: Neither the sexually immoral nor idolaters nor adulterers nor male prostitutes nor homosexual offenders nor thieves nor the greedy nor drunkards nor slanderers nor swindlers will inherit the kingdom of God. And that is what some of you were. But you were washed, you were sanctified, you were justified in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ and by the Spirit of God.”
For more on what God has to say on this issue, check out these verses in your Bible:
- Leviticus 18:22
- Romans 1:24-28
- 1 Timothy 1:8-11
- 2 Peter 2:6-10
- Jude 7
In addition, you have to know the truth about homosexuality. There are a number of myths regarding homosexuality that are making their way to your ears. This article will help you debunk the myths and give you the facts on the issues surrounding homosexuality so that you can help someone you know (or even yourself) escape the dangerous web of lies that can keep a person entangled in homosexuality.
Myth #1: 10 percent of the population is homosexual
Don’t believe this lie. This myth took off when advocates began misquoting a book written by Alfred Kinsey in the 1940s called Sexual Behavior in the Human Male. Kinsey’s goal was to provide a scientific look at human sexuality on the whole—homosexuality was just one aspect of sexuality that he addressed. It’s very clear from more sophisticated research methods that Alfred Kinsey’s 10 percent figure is bogus.
Fact: Only 1 to 3 percent of the population could be considered exclusively homosexual4
Kinsey, who engaged in homosexual activity himself, never said ten percent of the population was gay. He actually said, “10 percent of the males are more or less exclusively homosexual for at least three years between the ages of 16 and 55, but that only four percent were exclusively homosexual throughout their lives, after the onset of adolescence.”5 Kinsey’s research methods were also skewed by his choice to include a high percentage of prison inmates and known sex offenders, both of whom engage in homosexual behavior much more frequently than individuals in the general population.6 More recently, a highly sophisticated study on sexuality in America, known as the National Health and Social Life Survey (NHSLS), found that only 2.8 percent of the men and 1.4 percent of the women said they thought of themselves as homosexual or bisexual.7
Homosexual activist groups now admit that the 10 percent myth is false and that some have exploited the inflated Kinsey figures to try to “create an impression of our numerousness.”8 In reality, the 10 percent figure is simply not true.
Why does the truth matter?
Maybe you’re asking, “What’s the big deal?” Well, by saying that one out of ten people in the U.S. is homosexual, some gay activists are knowingly promoting a lie. They are declaring to the world that homosexuality is “normal” and should be accepted as such. Yet, if you think about it, this reasoning is unintelligent. For instance, 10 to 15 percent of Americans suffer from alcoholism, but we don’t accept this behavior as normal or healthy. Even if 95 percent of the population was addicted to alcohol, we still would not think of it as normal—or acceptable.
As Christians we must ask ourselves, what standard will we live by? Will we accept the so-called norms created by our society or seek God and His Word to guide us in our lives? Sure, it’s tough to walk the narrow way. But when we trust that God knows what’s best for our lives—and follow His commands—we can receive His blessings and live an abundant life . . . the life He intended us to live.
Myth #2: Homosexuals are born gay
Can someone be born a homosexual? In 1993, a respected research journal, Science, published a study by Dean Hamer that ignited an explosive “born gay” myth. Hamer basically claimed that science was “on the verge of proving that homosexuality is innate, genetic and therefore unchangeable—a normal variant of human nature.”9
The media went ballistic. National Public Radio, Newsweek, The Wall Street Journal and several other news publications and programs heralded stories that suggested scientists have discovered a “gay gene.” Of course, in the fine print, reporters qualified statements about this possible discovery because, in reality, there was no actual discovery—but they did so in such a confusing manner! The public was beginning to be persuaded.
Why is it so important for some homosexual activists to prove this issue? Maybe the biggest possible reason is this: If the world was convinced that some people are indeed born gay, then some would feel there is a need to protect homosexuals by the government as a designated minority class status, such as African- or Native-Americans. Slowly but surely, it seems the government is embracing this view and granting special rights to the homosexual community for what is a behaviorally based identity rather than a true genetic one.
Fact: There is no evidence to support the claim that a person can be born homosexual
The scientific attempts to demonstrate that homosexual attraction is biologically determined have failed. For example, a study conducted in 1991 by psychologist Michael Bailey and psychiatrist Richard Pillard, attempted to show that homosexuality occurs more frequently among identical twins than fraternal twins. However, this study actually provides support for environmental factors versus genetics! If homosexuality were in the genetic code, then both of the twins would have been homosexual 100 percent of the time, yet this was not the case.10
The well-known Simon LeVay brain study of 1991, which tried to find differences in the hypothalamuses (a very small part of the brain) of homosexual and heterosexual men, found no evidence that there is any genetic cause for homosexuality. Nothing in the study showed that gay men are born that way.11 Other prominent researchers have concluded that there is no evidence to support a biological theory, but rather that homosexuality could be best explained by an alternative model where “temperamental and personality traits interact with the familial and social milieu as the individual’s sexuality emerges.”12
Why does the truth matter?
As the myth of being born gay is more accepted by our society and government, our country is seeing the effects. For instance, increasingly more states are trying to legalize same-sex marriages. Educational curricula now include courses on lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender studies.13 Clearly, our perception of science can affect political policies. LeVay, the researcher and gay activist mentioned previously, made an interesting observation about the emphasis on the biology of homosexuality. He noted, “…people who think that gays and lesbians are born that way are also more likely to support gay rights.”14
Let’s face it: science is meant to be fact . . . not theory. So, when the media takes hold of false theories of genetic links to homosexuality and promotes it as science, people are led astray. This is not right. Even if somewhere in the future a genetic link could be proven, it wouldn’t suddenly make the behavior right—or acceptable to God. Look at alcoholism or tendencies toward anger. While these have been promoted as having a genetic linkage, there are few, if any, in our society who would accept such behaviors just because they are linked genetically. God’s Word still makes no provision for any type of sexual activity except that found within heterosexual marriage between one man and one woman. So to answer the question, “Are homosexual attractions biological?” the conclusive answer is there is no support in the scientific research for the conclusion that homosexuality is biologically determined.