GAYNESS IS NOT "JUST A LIFESTYLE"

By dismissing homosexuality as a "lifestyle choice,"

its enemies are assuming that it is a choice freely

arrived at. But if a choice is not free, is it really a

choice? For example, in a "shot-gun wedding," the

partners "choose" to "do the right thing." But co-

ercion limits the freedom of either partner to refuse

the arrangement.

Internal pressures can be just as decisive on beha-

viour as external ones. Among these pressures

are our appetites and cravings. Most of us have

natural inclinations toward people of the opposite

sex. Teen age boys are usually reved up sexually

when perusing a catalog for Victoria's Secret. If

such sights leave him cold however, but views of

naked men excite him, that could be a problem. It

could be a matter of wiring. Yes, he "chooses" men

over women, just as he chooses ice cream over cold

spinach. The latter just doesn't appeal to him. And

he can hardly be blamed for that!

We have a niece who is attractive, but has never had

the slightest interest in boys. She loved to play boys'

sports, and from the age of 11 on dressed like a boy.

Are such preferences simply a choice? Uncaused?

Or are they programmed by biology?

She had one date in high school, for a prom. In Girl

Scout camp she discovered she was attracted to girls.

In college she entered a long term lesbian relationship.

Her dad can't accept that. He insists on seeing it as a

moral failing, a "lifestyle choice." She is not aware of

it ever being a choice. It is as natural for her as brea-

thing. Who is right?