Jennifer Post wrote: > "Jim Guinee" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote: > > > > > > Study: Can Gays Go Straight? > > > > > > Straight? Always wondered if that words in itself is a judgemental term > > > as if homosexuals had somehow taken a crooked path. > > > > You're correct -- it is judgmental, and I'm surprised they used it. > > As a person who has both friends who are gay and a family member who is gay I have >been privvy to some conversations within the gay community. My understanding from >these individuals is that the use of term "straight" began in the gay community >itself when referring to heterosexuals. Oftentimes, it is used in the gay community >to refer to heterosexuals in a deragatory fashion. My friends suggested that it >sometimes carries the connotation akin to a "square" or "stiff" or someone who just >tries to fit in with the norm regardless of his/her own real feelings. Of course, >that is my understanding from the gay individuals that I am close to or have >interacted with. > > Although the study clearly has some methodological limitations, I think that anyone >who discounts the possibility that some individuals may be able to choose the sexual >orientation that they act upon may be unrealistically polarizing a very complex >issue. Other studies and theories have suggested that a person isn't necessarily gay >OR straight. There are shades of bi-sexuality, so to speak. It is highly UNLIKELY >that there is ONE reason why gay people are gay (i.e., choice, genetics, >environmental events, etc.) I think that what this study does show us is that it will >be difficult to design and execute a study whose results will be given due >credibility by the various advocacy groups on both sides of the politically charged >issue. > > Jennifer Post > -- > Doctoral Student/Evaluation Consultant > University of Pittsburgh > 741 LRDC [EMAIL PROTECTED]
