Why are people gay?

Since when has logic and science got anything to do with human emotion? It's just the way you are. Why do some people love foods that other people can't stomach??

I do not know why either, but it seems a shame to me that the qualities that gay men, for example, seem to have in abundance, such as tolerance, civility, subtlety, humour, sensitivity, artistic natures, love of culture, high personal standards in appearance and surroundings etc etc etc, cannot in the nature of things be more widely shared in the gene pool for the benefit of society in general.

dov1953- Recently, I have read a number of articles that point to neurological and/or hormonal differences between gay and straight people. I think that science is beginning to understand the reasons some people are attracted to the same sex, but as of now there is nothing definitive that one could point to as a root cause.

Straight people have never had to ponder as to why they are attracted to the opposite sex. It was simply a given. As a gay man, it is because of society's reaction to homosexuality that I believe that you are questioning.

I think that science will come up with an answer, in the near future.

Remember, evolution is interested in propogation of the species as a whole. There are a lot of aspects to that. Overpopulation, to the point where there not enough resources to go around, is not to the benefit of the species as a whole. The "aunt effect" (or uncle), where a childless adult takes an active role in childraising, is to the benefit of the species as a whole. Etc.

I can't help (although I've a university degree in sexual paedagogics ), but I don't know the answer, why I'm male either :wink:

I would have thought the reason for "gayness" was fairly obvious;

people who have a sexual response 'different' to what is considered (based largely on numbers) as 'normal' (or perhaps it would be better to use the term 'standard') are simply off on the far reaches of the "bell curve" of human homonal chemical makeup.

Hormonally (acknowledging that this is oversimplifying, but i feel the 'explanation' holds) there is a spectrum of human sexuallity from "maleness" at one pole to "femaleness" at the other. These (for lack of a better term) 'extremes' serve to define the "norm."; but, with the hugeness of diversity created by evolutionary experiment, there are varying degrees of each along the way.

I would suggest that the average male or female is not nearly as close to the 'extreme' as, perhaps society would like to believe, but able to function successfully as one or the other, within the parameters of societal acceptance.

The 'gay' person has a hormonal makeup which strays 'too' far from the 'extreme' to allow the individual to ignore the stronger 'alternate' responses that they experience. Thus rendering them 'outsiders' to the 'mainstream'.

I would also note that the reason that society has not homogenized over time to the point where these intersticial genetic hormonal complements are more common, is that of course 'gayness' is an evolutionary 'dead end' as its practitioners have a zero procreation rate.

The reason that this 'variance' is more evident in today's society is due to the lessening of social 'oppression' that tended to drive individuals underground, and their increased political ability to seek minority 'rights' which improvews their chances of survival within the social mix.