born that way. Logically speaking, it would be unusual for a young child to have a "sexual orientation" because sharing erotic behavior with another person, or consciously wishing to do so, is primarily an adult behavior. People who relate stories of having been "born gay" are generally looking back on other aspects of their lives as children and interpreting differences that existed between themselves and others and interpreting them as signs that they were gay by nature. Dennis Altman [Homosexual: Oppression and Liberation. London: Outerbridge and Dienstfrey 1971] excerpts from one young man's recollections:

In my case I had the sense of not belonging, of being excluded through some perception of my peers that I was apart from them. Like many others I had no idea why exactly that was. . . I put it down, as do others in similar situations, to excessive intellectualism or timidity or artistic bent, anything other than the real cause.
(p. 26)

Note the implicit reference to inherent gay identity as the "real cause" of not belonging as a child. There have also been some controversial biological (anatomical or biochemical) research purporting to demonstrate inherent differences between heterosexual males and homosexual males, a recent example being the brain-structure difference claimed by Simon LeVay [Caroll Ezzell. "Brain feature linked to sexual orientation. (hypothalamus and homosexuality)". Science News, v. 140, August 31, 1991, p. 134]


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