Insight into the Causes of Homosexuality
By Wild Chausser

We all, like sheep, have gone astray… Do you remember those words? Maybe you heard them as a child in Sunday school or during a message your pastor preached. How true they would ring when, no longer able to deal with the inner battle that was raging in you emotionally and spiritually, you set off in search of greener pastures. That verse goes on to say, “We have turned, every one, to his own way…” (IS 53:6 NKJV). That’s usually when the real problems begin – when we turn to our own way.

As you were growing up, certain feelings developed that you never asked for – namely an attraction to the same sex. , Perhaps there were contributing factors that aggravated the battle already raging in your mind. When prayers to God for help or change seemed to go unanswered, when you began feeling increasingly different, the desperate desire to fit became a driving force. That’s generally where young men are at when they “go exploring” and discover another world that’s out there; one that’s filled with compassionate, kind, nurturing guys imaginary at first and then real. Perhaps you felt that these men could relate to you. They shared your struggles. They held out their arms and reached for you. The feeling of acceptance, with its exhilarating initial effects, was both affirming & fulfilling, at least for the moment. Thus began your experience in other pastures – ones that you would come to realize only led down hill.

What caused you to feel different as a child and what caused you to begin feeling an attraction to other guys? To understand how homosexuality develops in a young man, it is important to understand its contributing factors. Is it biological? Is it environmental? Is it simply due to bad choices we make? There are actually pre-dispositional traits and factors that are drawn from each of these areas, all contributing to the homosexual condition. It is accurate to say that homosexuality is confusion and it is complex.

Know first that there is no “gay gene.” No one is wired to be gay. If homosexuality was genetic, it would have long been eliminated from the human gene pool because those who have it tend not to reproduce. Any characteristic that is not passed along to the next generation eventually dies with the individual who carries it. To the contrary, the rate of homosexuality is on the rise in Western society. Neither can homosexuality strictly be due to the hormonal environment in which a baby develops in the womb. Studies have been done on identical twins in which at least one twin was homosexual; in more than 50 percent of the cases, the other twin was heterosexual. Being identical, both twins shared the same hormonal environment before birth, so there must be something more at work in the pre-homosexual boy’s life than hormones.

A sensitive temperament, which is biological, could make a person more vulnerable to environmental influences. Of interest here is that, time and again, researchers have found that a very high rate of homosexual men have sensitive temperaments. However, being sensitive does not pre-condition a boy to be homosexual any more than being tall pre-conditions him to become a basketball player, or being highly intelligent pre-conditions him to become a doctor. It simply facilitates it. Obviously, sensitivity alone does not cause homosexuality. Many men are sensitive and yet heterosexual, but a sensitive temperament can be the starting point for a series of successive factors (most of which are environmental) that can lead to same-sex attractions.,

It is as early as 18 months that a boy begins to form his male identity. The role the father plays in this is vital as he mirrors and affirms his son’s maleness. Through the course of early childhood, the boy transitions from identifying less with his mother to identifying more with his father. Problems arise when the father is emotionally detached from the boy, incapable of accepting him and affirming him – something that all boys need regardless of their sensitivity level. In the case of a father doing everything right, it can be the boy’s subjective experience that hinders him (his incapacity to perceive his father’s attempts).

Studies on childhood development show that peer relationships also have a marked impact on us, even when we are as young as toddlers. Because a less sensitive personality is most often the norm in boys, a highly sensitive boy usually finds himself in the minority, struggling m his peer relationships. He’s not drawn to the rough-and-tumble play of the others; he is likely shy and easily hurt by their comments – things that less sensitive boys will not even notice or easily shake off. This can be compensated for if the boy is being accepted and affirmed by his father, but if not, peer rejection will only aggravate the development of his masculine identity.

In the years leading up to puberty, boys naturally gravitate toward other boys. They play with one another, they compete with one another, they identify with one another, they imitate one another; and through this their male identity is established. With the arrival of puberty comes a spontaneous and natural attraction to the opposite sex. A boy’s interaction with girls will further affirm his male identity, attractions will follow and his heterosexuality will become established.

In the life of most pre-homosexual boys however, you will find a breakdown in this process. Often, there is the absence of an affirming father figure and role model. These boys are on the outside of peer relationships looking in – longing to be a part, longing to be accepted. They are longing to be validated as a male among males, but always feeling lacking. This quickly gives birth to feelings of being “different.”

Because affirmation and acceptance of other males is so essential in the healthy development of a boy’s own self-image, the search for them continues. While pre-heterosexual boys become intrigued by the mystique and uniqueness of girls, pre-homosexual boys are still trying to attain the acceptance and affirmation of other males. Regretfully, it is usually at this time that things become eroticized and the subconscious pursuit follows for male affirmation through homosexual activity.

If you struggle with unwanted homosexual desires, know that there is hope for you! Your attraction to the same sex is the result of unmet bona fide needs in the human spirit; needs that can be met in healthy, wholesome ways.

Back to the subject of sheep, Jesus said in the Gospel of John, “The thief does not come except to steal, to kill and to destroy I am come that they may have life and that they may have it more abundantly. I am the good shepherd. The good shepherd gives his life for the sheep” (John 10:10-11).

Not only did Jesus lay down his life for us as payment for our sins, but he understands our confusion unlike no other. With arms outstretched, he extends to you his unconditional love. Will you give him a chance?

Wil Chausser, a pen name, is an ordained minister of the United Pentecostal Church, Int’l. Saved out of homosexual involvement as a teenager, he remains an over-comer and has been in active ministry for more than 25 years.

From, “The Beacon”/Volume 1 Issue 2/Page1-2, by Wil Chausser

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