There is a very well-known debate about whether sexual orientation is determined at birth. One side states that sexual orientation is a choice and you can choose to be heterosexual. The other side states that homosexuality is not something you can control and people are born gay. Both sides have valid points and statements and are free to believe what they wish. There are many factors that determine a person’s sexual orientation at birth: brain hemisphere dominance, hormones one receives during development, and alterations to genes caused by epimarks.
Some people may think that sexual abuse leads to homosexuality, but a statement from a gay psychotherapist that has been sexually abused and does not believe that her experiences as a child has …show more content…
Sunnivie Brydum wrote an article published at Adovacte.com that talks about a man named James Olson who believes that sexual orientation is determined by a person’s dominate hemisphere in their brain. It is important to recognize that the pathways connecting the two brain hemispheres and the decision of which hemisphere is going to be the dominant hemisphere is determined during development as a fetus. Olson cites a study from Karolinska Institute in Stockholm, Sweden. This study shows that homosexual people’s brain resemble the brain of a heterosexual person of the opposite sex in both “structure and composition.” Olson contends that brain dominance influences sexuality and also how one perceives the world. Right-brain and left-brain processes are identical regardless of race, gender, or sexual orientation. With that being said, one can understand how a homosexual male perceiving the world through a dominate right brain hemisphere, which is mainly used by heterosexual women, would share some of the same perspectives as a heterosexual woman. The brain of a homosexual closely resembles the brain of the opposite sex in both composition as wells as structure causing them to also perceive the world in a similar way as the opposite …show more content…
Epi-marks are how gene expression is regulated by temporary switches. In Elizabeth Norton’s article, Homosexuality May Start in the Womb, she states that the epi-marks that adjusted the parent’s genes to resist excess hormones “may alter gene activation in areas of a child’s brain that are involved in sexual attraction and preference.” An article on Nimbios.org says that when epi-marks are transmitted across generations that it may cause a reversed effect. Epi-marks have an extra layer of information that is attached to our gene backbone and while genes hold instructions the epi-marks direct how those instructions are carried out- when, where, and how much a gene is expressed during development. Recent evidence has shown that sometimes these epi-marks carry over generations instead of starting anew like scientist had once believed. Different epi-marks can protect different sex-specific traits from being masculinized or feminized and some of those affect the genitals, others affect sexual identity, and others affect sexual preference. When these epi-marks are passed down across generations from father to daughter and mother to son, like recent evidence has shown, the effects are likely to be reversed causing more feminized traits in sons and more masculinized traits in daughters. The recent discovery of epi-marks being passed down through generations have added to the reasons that homosexuality
Some people may think that sexual abuse leads to homosexuality, but a statement from a gay psychotherapist that has been sexually abused and does not believe that her experiences as a child has …show more content…
Sunnivie Brydum wrote an article published at Adovacte.com that talks about a man named James Olson who believes that sexual orientation is determined by a person’s dominate hemisphere in their brain. It is important to recognize that the pathways connecting the two brain hemispheres and the decision of which hemisphere is going to be the dominant hemisphere is determined during development as a fetus. Olson cites a study from Karolinska Institute in Stockholm, Sweden. This study shows that homosexual people’s brain resemble the brain of a heterosexual person of the opposite sex in both “structure and composition.” Olson contends that brain dominance influences sexuality and also how one perceives the world. Right-brain and left-brain processes are identical regardless of race, gender, or sexual orientation. With that being said, one can understand how a homosexual male perceiving the world through a dominate right brain hemisphere, which is mainly used by heterosexual women, would share some of the same perspectives as a heterosexual woman. The brain of a homosexual closely resembles the brain of the opposite sex in both composition as wells as structure causing them to also perceive the world in a similar way as the opposite …show more content…
Epi-marks are how gene expression is regulated by temporary switches. In Elizabeth Norton’s article, Homosexuality May Start in the Womb, she states that the epi-marks that adjusted the parent’s genes to resist excess hormones “may alter gene activation in areas of a child’s brain that are involved in sexual attraction and preference.” An article on Nimbios.org says that when epi-marks are transmitted across generations that it may cause a reversed effect. Epi-marks have an extra layer of information that is attached to our gene backbone and while genes hold instructions the epi-marks direct how those instructions are carried out- when, where, and how much a gene is expressed during development. Recent evidence has shown that sometimes these epi-marks carry over generations instead of starting anew like scientist had once believed. Different epi-marks can protect different sex-specific traits from being masculinized or feminized and some of those affect the genitals, others affect sexual identity, and others affect sexual preference. When these epi-marks are passed down across generations from father to daughter and mother to son, like recent evidence has shown, the effects are likely to be reversed causing more feminized traits in sons and more masculinized traits in daughters. The recent discovery of epi-marks being passed down through generations have added to the reasons that homosexuality