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Is homosexuality a choice or something you’re born with? |
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By Betsy Rothstein
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Posted: 10/02/07 05:38 PM [ET] |
Rep. Denny Rehberg (R-Mont.): “I have no idea. I in no way can give you an opinion on that. It would be beyond me. I’ve never contemplated the nuances of homosexuality.”
Rep. Mark Udall (D-Colo.): “I think you’re born with it. The good Lord hard-wires you. I think God loves every one of his children. To me, the least important fact about someone is their sexuality.”
Rep. Keith Ellison (D-Minn.): “I respect the right of all people, including the GLBT [gay, lesbian, bisexual and transgender] community. I don’t know the science. I’m not even sure it matters.”
Rep. Bill Pascrell (D-N.J.): “I think it’s something you’re born with, somehow [it’s] involved in the genes. That does not mean one cannot deny what they are born with. From what I’ve studied, it’s a genetic thing that is enhanced by learning or suppressed with learning. Primarily, the seed is sown.”
Rep. Thaddeus McCotter (R-Mich.): “I think it is something that community is wrestling with and divided by, so I think it is up to them to tell us.”
Rep. Barney Frank (D-Mass.): “Are you asking the heterosexual community that question? There’s no question you’re born with it. Clearly, you’re born with it. It’s an offense to think it’s a question for gay people and not straight people.”
Rep. Bennie Thompson (D-Miss.): “It’s a choice. Without benefit of any science to the contrary, you know?”
Rep. Ted Poe (R-Texas): “I think it’s both. It could be either. [Pauses.] I would say a choice.”
Rep. Charles Gonzalez (D-Texas): “That’s nature. In my own mind, I know that’s the scheme of things. I don’t think that’s something you choose.”
Rep. Mike Simpson (R-Idaho): “I think you’re born with tendencies, your personal predispositions. Gay people are born with those tendencies. It’s like people who have sex-change operations. I don’t think they’re born and say, ‘Hey, I want to be a girl.’ We simplify it too much when we say, ‘Oh, they choose to be that way and could change if they wanted to.’ ”
Rep. Steve Cohen (D-Tenn.): “I suspect you’re born with it.”
Rep. Luis Gutierrez (D-Ill.): “No, I don’t believe it’s a choice. I think it’s something innate.”
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