Homosexuality: Nature vs. Nurture? Speech
Let me first begin by clearly stating our position: homosexuality is a product of nature. In other words, someone's genetic makeup--their being in the physiological sense--strongly influences whether or not they will end up gay or heterosexual. Any role that the environment, or nurture, plays in the determination of someone's sexual orientation is minimal at best, but the role of nature in this determination is drastic.
Take the case of Jamie Nabozny, a 21-year-old-gay-man who recently sued his former high school (Ashland High School in Wisconsin); three administrators were found liable for not protecting him from years of verbal and physical abuse for being gay. When he went to this high school, Jamie was constantly abused by fellow students because he was gay. Students pretended to rape him; one pushed him to the ground and did this as others laughed. They even spit on him. They knocked him to the ground, kicked him, and then he had to go to the hospital for surgery for internal bleeding. Four times he tried to commit suicide. All of this because he came out of the closet that he was gay. All of this because he was different; because being different in small-town Ashland was unacceptable and even punishable. The administrators did nothing to stop this horrific student-body treatment of Jamie, even after he repeatedly came to them for help.
He was diagnosed with Post Traumatic Stress Disorder. Nabozny grew up in this small town; this was his environment. He grew up in essentially a homophobic area, yet still came out of the closet when he was only eleven, revealing his true homosexual orientation. As sad as this story is, it is the quintessential example of nature in action. Nature determined Nabozny's sexual orientation. Clearly, if sexual orientation is solely determined by someone's environment, Nabozny certainly would not have ended up gay, for that would have been and indeed was detrimental to his health, self-esteem, and confidence. Obviously the
Take the case of Jamie Nabozny, a 21-year-old-gay-man who recently sued his former high school (Ashland High School in Wisconsin); three administrators were found liable for not protecting him from years of verbal and physical abuse for being gay. When he went to this high school, Jamie was constantly abused by fellow students because he was gay. Students pretended to rape him; one pushed him to the ground and did this as others laughed. They even spit on him. They knocked him to the ground, kicked him, and then he had to go to the hospital for surgery for internal bleeding. Four times he tried to commit suicide. All of this because he came out of the closet that he was gay. All of this because he was different; because being different in small-town Ashland was unacceptable and even punishable. The administrators did nothing to stop this horrific student-body treatment of Jamie, even after he repeatedly came to them for help.
He was diagnosed with Post Traumatic Stress Disorder. Nabozny grew up in this small town; this was his environment. He grew up in essentially a homophobic area, yet still came out of the closet when he was only eleven, revealing his true homosexual orientation. As sad as this story is, it is the quintessential example of nature in action. Nature determined Nabozny's sexual orientation. Clearly, if sexual orientation is solely determined by someone's environment, Nabozny certainly would not have ended up gay, for that would have been and indeed was detrimental to his health, self-esteem, and confidence. Obviously the