Are you gay by birth or is it something you develop?

You definitely can't choose to be gay. You can't force yourself to become what you're not - It'll catch up with you. So yeah, you are born gay and you're in it for life.

In my personal opinion, due to the fact that all sexual identities are socially constructed, it does not matter whether a gene has anything to do with it. We all ascribe to social norms in one way or another.

I grew up thinking I was straight as a board, since I had several crushes on boys throughout my little childhood years. Junior high came around, and before I knew it, I was in love with both of my best friends. Nowadays, I identify as a genderfluxLike any LGBTQIA+ "label", they can change just as you change. You could be a cissexual lesbian now, or you could be demisexual and genderfluid in 6 years. And there's absolutely nothing wrong with that. For some people, they were gay coming out of the womb, and for others they didn't have this revelation until much later in life.

everyone gets confused about their sexuality gays, lesbians, bisexual or straight as they grow up. One day it will just click and you will know no one else can tell you what you are only you can tell yourself or work out for yourself what sexuality you are

You're gay at birth, but you may not understand it yourself until later in life. And if someone tells you that it's just a choice, it is not. This is who you are and you cannot change yourself.

This being a particularly sensitive subject, I chose to be brief with my answer. I personally believe that when you are born, you are born innocent and not know what sexuality is. In today's society, our youth really is given this image of heteronormality and this is actually what might cause confusion in kids' sexuality. For most, people remember being gay for as long as they remember. For others, people realize, over time, that what they're doing now isn't necessarily right for them, and start to develop other sexualities or romances. So, for the sake of 'briefness' that barely occurred, I believe that you can be born gay, AND you can choose later on in life as you gain experience experimenting.

It can be either. Some people develop it by birth and others develop it over time. Either way people are all different in their own way regardless of when.

You are gay by birth in my opinion, you don’t choose it, and you don’t realise it until later on so i guess it’s development

Since the 70s, the American Psychological Association has been at the forefront of research around the topic of sexual orientation, sexual preference, and LGBT people. Even today, it is widely debated in the research community as to whether same-sex sexual behaviour is influenced by environmental or biological factors. There are still conflicting findings. One environmental influence that is thought to affect a person’s sexuality is childhood gender nonconformity (CGN). It is has been found that, for example, men who recalled being feminine during childhood are gay, and women who recalled playing in a more masculine style identified as lesbian. A further environmental influence could be due to changes in a mother’s womb. Much research has gone into one theory called the ‘maternal immune hypothesis’. This theory suggests that the maternal environment changes when a woman is pregnant with a boy. The immune response of the mother changes, and this change has been associated with an increasing chance that the child will be gay. A recent study, published March 2020, found that men with older brothers are more likely to gay. It is suggested that the more male children a mother has, the more likely the youngest child will identify as a gay man. In other new genetic research, it has been suggested that the concept of being born with a ‘gay gene’ that determines if an individual prefers same-sex partners is not real. Before this study, in 2015 there had been research suggesting homosexuality could be linked to the X chromosome. However, the large genome-wide association study, that looked at genetic markers associated with same-sex preferences, concluded that there are many genes that are associated with same-sex sexual behaviour. This would suggest at least some biological basis for human sexuality but cannot be pinned to one specific gene. Bear in mind that these studies were completed with individuals who identify as the gender they were assigned at birth, so the extent that the information can be generalised to transgender people is unclear. Just remember that the exploration of yourself and your sexual experience is your own journey, regardless of how others perceive it. Some family members may have their own opinions and prejudices about same-sex relationships, but that does not mean they are correct. Try to be true to yourself during your journey, as those who love you for who you are will accept you for exactly that- you.

homosexuality, along with any other identity of sexual orientation along the spectrum is something that a person is born AS. not with. it is just how they are. eventually overtime, a person may become to understand how they actually feel and figure out how they wish to indentify. it's different for everyone, this process. sometimes it's as early as 5 years old. sometimes, it takes longer to realize your orientation.