10. How may we best assess the homosexual perception of "always having felt" different?
 

    The fact remains that many homosexuals claim they have always had homosexual feelings and, therefore, never chose to become homosexuals. When talking with homosexuals, this perception is repeated so frequently it is easy to believe that homosexuality must be something inborn.
    This self-perception of homosexuals says little or nothing about the true origin of homosexuality because the perception itself may be an inaccurate interpretation or foggy remembrance of something else entirely. The real question is, "How significant are such feelings?" What did those feelings signify when they first occurred, and is it the same as what they signify now? Does the interpretation do such sensations accurately reflect a biological predeterminism or has been colored or interpreted by homosexual experience itself? Further, such feelings seem to be readily explained by other factors.
    For example, the late Roger Montgomery, a former homosexual prostitute who appeared on "The John Ankerberg Show, "was repeatedly raped as a young child by the homosexual man next door. Too confused and frightened from this man's threats to talk to anyone, Roger could only submit. But slowly a transformation began to take place. What was initially a very painful and horrible experience began to be perceived as pleasurable. This was Roger's only experience with sex and what he apparently, for lack of a better word, "imprinted" on. This explains why Roger never had the perception of heterosexual desires. Though such experiences, his sexual orientation became "fixed," and he had little need or desire for heterosexual relations.
    This raises a serious issue. How many homosexuals can remember having only homosexual desires because this was the only sexuality to which they were ever subjected? The homosexual's inability to recall choosing homosexuality may be only a half-truth. Human sexuality seems to be a neutral state upon which either homosexuality or heterosexuality can be written by experience or training. Roger, for example, was a victim who never entirely had the opportunity of choice. But ever so, this did not guarantee his becoming a homosexual, as Roger himself later confessed: "It was a terrible mistake to remain silent, for if I had been able to share my situation with the right person, I am convinced I would have gone on to lead a normal, healthy heterosexual life."
    Being unable to remember a choice does not mean choice was never presented. And even if it is not initially present, it is always eventually present. Homosexuals continue to choose daily to remain homosexual. Whatever influences exist in a person's life-over or covert-that encourage lifestyle orientations, the key issue is how a person responds to them:
    {We} respond to these influences with subtle or obvious responsible acts of our own, adding our own choices to the host of influences that shape our personalities. We may fail to see the impact of our choices because the decisions that shape our lives are often not grand, climactic ones, but small, cumulative ones that result in our being kind or cruel, envious or thankful, idolatrous or godly.
    In conclusion, it may be that we will never know with absolute certainty a single or exact cause of homosexuality, but parental irresponsibility, molestation, and the lack of religious upbringing seem to be key factors.
    The complexities of the human personality and the influence of environment on human development make absolute statements about the source of the homosexual condition virtually impossible. Factors such as parenting, social and economic status, home environment, religious training, race, nationality, and temperament make the collection of data very difficult. The subjective nature of the topic also makes the interpretation of the data a very delicate task.
    The idea that homosexuals are "born that way" and can "never change" is a myth. It is a useful myth for many homosexuals and liberal activists, but a consequential myth for the rest of us. No one can deny that the claims for biological determinism and a ten percent incidence of homosexuality have a great deal of political significance because they have been used to justify an entire civil rights movement. Unfortunately, these myths are fueled by a social agenda that has not been in the best interests of our nation.
 

Taken from The Facts On Homosexuality, by John Ankerberg and John Weldon, Published by Harvest House Publishers.

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