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Comment by jawns | Hacker News Reader

Some people claim to freely choose their sexuality. This article cites several examples:

http://www.bbc.com/future/story/20160627-i-am-gay-but-i-wasn...

Does this mean that every gay (or straight) person perceives their sexual attractions to be conscious decisions? No, but if you continue to insist that it's preposterous in the face of counterexamples, particularly counterexamples from gay people themselves, then I don't know how to respond to your outrage.

It's one thing to say, "Oh, I think such counterexamples are few and far between," but to say the very idea is preposterous just doesn't jibe with reality.

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If someone has a desire for or the capability to enjoy sex with both males and females, they are neither heterosexual, nor homosexual. They also do not change their sexuality. They are simply bisexual. The fluidity here lies in whether someone has at some point in time more interest in women or men and which desire they act upon. If one's interest in one of the sexes goes to zero, then one could argue that persons sexuality did indeed change from bisexual to hetero- or homo-sexual.

Bisexuals indeed have the unique opportunity to "decide" which side of their sexuality they pursue, because they enjoy both. That's what makes them different from "true" heterosexuals and homosexuals who can not enjoy both. (Though one could argue a homosexual forcing himself to have sex with a woman and make a family is not truly homosexual and we do know that's possible and happened quite often. I will leave that to the philosophers.)

Please keep in mind I am not even arguing for the "born this way" view. I have a "It does not matter" stance. I welcome ideology free research to clear it up though, but don't we already know the results? Both genes and environment play a role...

Pointing out that some people can feels like a lame excuse for justifying doubt when someone says they can’t. Almost everyone does not choose their orientation.

It’s not a growing trend to suggest people can control this. It is perhaps a trend that people acknowledge things change over time. Those two are not the same.

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