PASTORAL review: “Beyond the Myth of Choice”
“Beyond the Myth of Choice:
A Pastoral Call to Truth and Compassion”
“The number of men and women who have deep-seated homosexual tendencies is not negligible. They do not choose their homosexual condition.”
Ladies and gentlemen,
Brothers and sisters,
Esteemed colleagues,
Faithful companions in the search for truth;
We come today to reflect upon a question that has stirred debate, provoked misunderstanding, and, at times, caused deep wounds in the lives of countless individuals. The question is this: Is being gay or bisexual a choice?
This question is not merely academic. It touches upon the dignity of human persons, the integrity of families, the justice of societies, and the compassion of communities of faith. To answer it wrongly is to risk perpetuating prejudice, to justify discrimination, and to burden souls with guilt for realities they did not choose. To answer it rightly is to affirm truth, to defend human dignity, and to extend the hand of justice and mercy.
The thesis I advance today is clear: being gay or bisexual is not a choice. It is not a lifestyle selected from a menu of options, nor a preference adopted at whim. It is a natural variation of human sexuality, deeply rooted in biology, psychology, and lived experience.
In the words of the American Psychological Association: “There is no consensus among scientists about the exact reasons that an individual develops a heterosexual, bisexual, gay, or lesbian orientation. However, most scientists agree that sexual orientation is most likely the result of a complex interaction of environmental, cognitive, and biological factors. In most people, sexual orientation is determined at an early age.”
This statement, sober and precise, reflects the consensus of decades of research; indeed, it is the foundation upon which we must build our review.
Scientific Foundations
The first and most compelling set of arguments against the “choice” narrative comes from science.
1. Biological Influences
Studies in genetics, prenatal development, and neuroscience have consistently pointed to biological influences on sexual orientation. While no single “gay gene” has been identified, research suggests that multiple genetic factors contribute to orientation. A large-scale study published in Science in 2019 concluded: “There is no single gay gene, but genetics — along with environmental factors — do contribute to same-sex sexual behaviour.”
This finding is crucial. It demonstrates that orientation is not a matter of conscious decision but of biological predisposition. Just as one does not choose eye colour or left-handedness, one does not choose to be gay or bisexual.
2. Psychological Evidence
Psychological research further undermines the idea of choice. The American Psychiatric Association has long affirmed that homosexuality “is not a mental disorder, nor a voluntary condition”. In fact, attempts to change orientation through so-called “conversion therapy” have been shown to be ineffective and harmful. The APA states: “Efforts to change sexual orientation are unlikely to be successful and involve some risk of harm.”
If orientation were a choice, such therapies would succeed. Their consistent failure is evidence that orientation is not subject to willpower or decision.
3. Neuroscience
Brain imaging studies have revealed differences in the hypothalamus and other regions between heterosexual and homosexual individuals. While these findings are complex and not yet exhaustive, they suggest that orientation is linked to neurological development rather than conscious choice.
Simon LeVay, a neuroscientist, famously found differences in the hypothalamic structures of gay and straight men. He concluded: “It’s a mistake to think in terms of a single ‘gay centre’ in the brain. Sexual orientation is probably determined by a combination of brain structures and functions.”
4. The Impossibility of Choosing Attraction
Perhaps the most intuitive scientific argument is this: attraction itself is not chosen. One cannot decide to be aroused by a particular gender any more than one can decide to enjoy a particular flavour of food. Attraction arises spontaneously, involuntarily, and often surprisingly.
As the NHS in the United Kingdom explains, “Sexual orientation is about who you’re attracted to and want to have relationships with. You don’t choose your sexual orientation; it’s just part of who you are.”
This simple statement captures the essence of the matter. Orientation is discovered, not chosen.
Thus, the scientific evidence is overwhelming: sexual orientation is not a choice. It is a complex interplay of biology, psychology, and lived experience. To deny this is to deny science itself.
Logical and Ethical Arguments
Having established the scientific foundations, we now turn to reason itself. Logic and ethics both reveal the profound weakness of the claim that being gay or bisexual is a choice.
1. The Burden of Discrimination
If orientation were a choice, one would expect individuals to select the path of least resistance, the identity that secures social acceptance and avoids persecution. Yet history shows the opposite. LGBTQ+ persons have endured discrimination, criminalisation, and violence across centuries. Why would anyone choose a path that invites suffering?
As ethicist John Corvino observes: “If homosexuality were a choice, it would be a remarkably bad one, given the social stigma attached to it. The persistence of gay and bisexual identities despite such stigma strongly suggests that orientation is not chosen.”
2. The Impossibility of Willed Attraction
Attraction is not subject to conscious command. One cannot decide to be aroused by a person of a particular gender any more than one can decide to enjoy a flavour one dislikes. Desire arises involuntarily.
Philosopher Michael Ruse explains: “Sexual orientation is not something one chooses, like a suit of clothes. It is something one discovers, often with surprise, sometimes with anguish, but never by decision.”
3. The Ethical Consequences of the “Choice” Narrative
The claim that orientation is chosen has often been used to justify discrimination: if one “chooses” to be gay or bisexual, then one “chooses” the consequences. This reasoning is ethically flawed. It treats identity as culpability, and it denies the dignity of persons.
The World Health Organisation has condemned such reasoning, affirming: “Sexual orientation is a natural and immutable aspect of identity. To treat it as a choice is to deny human dignity and to perpetuate stigma.”
Historical and Cross-Cultural Evidence
Beyond science and logic, history itself testifies against the “choice” narrative. Same-sex attraction has been documented across cultures and eras, long before modern debates.
1. Universality Across Cultures
Anthropological studies reveal that same-sex relationships have existed in societies as diverse as ancient Greece, imperial China, indigenous North America, and medieval Japan. These relationships were often expressed in literature, art, and ritual.
The historian Louis Crompton notes: “Homosexuality has been a consistent feature of human societies throughout recorded history. Its persistence across cultures and epochs demonstrates that it is not a modern invention nor a voluntary fad.”
2. Literature and Testimony
From the poetry of Sappho in ancient Greece to the writings of Walt Whitman in 19th‑century America, same-sex attraction has been expressed in art and literature. These testimonies reveal orientation as a lived reality, not a chosen experiment.
Whitman himself wrote in Leaves of Grass: “I will plant companionship thick as trees along all the rivers of America, and along the shores and beaches and hills.” Scholars widely interpret this as a celebration of male-male affection, rooted in Whitman’s own orientation.
3. Persistence Despite Suppression
Even in societies where homosexuality was punished by law or condemned by religion, individuals continued to experience same-sex attraction. The persistence of these identities under threat of death or imprisonment demonstrates that orientation cannot be explained as a choice.
As historian Alan Bray observed in his study of medieval England: “The evidence of same-sex relationships, even under the shadow of severe punishment, shows that desire is not extinguished by law. It is not chosen but endured.”
Thus, logic, ethics, and history converge with science: sexual orientation is not chosen. It is discovered, endured, and lived, often in defiance of stigma and suppression.
Personal Witness & Lived Experience
Science, logic, and history provide powerful arguments. Yet perhaps the most compelling evidence comes from the voices of those who live the reality of being gay or bisexual. Their testimonies reveal orientation not as a choice, but as a discovery — often early in life, often accompanied by struggle, but always experienced as something deeply rooted.
1. Early Awareness
Many LGBTQ+ individuals recount knowing their orientation from childhood or adolescence, long before they had the language to describe it. They speak of realising, not deciding.
As one testimony collected by the Human Rights Campaign states: “I knew I was different when I was ten. I didn’t choose it, I didn’t want it, but it was there. Later, I learned to embrace it.”
Such accounts are repeated across cultures and generations. They demonstrate that orientation is not chosen in adulthood but discovered and subsequently recognised in youth.
2. The Witness of Bisexual Persons
Bisexual individuals offer a particularly strong challenge to the “choice” narrative. Their attraction spans genders, often shifting in intensity over time. Yet this fluidity is not choice; it is orientation.
As writer Robyn Ochs explains: “Bisexuality is not about indecision or confusion. It is about the capacity for attraction to more than one gender. That capacity is not chosen; it is discovered.”
3. The Harm of Denial
When society insists that orientation is a choice, individuals suffer. They are pressured to change, to conceal, or to deny their identity. The result is often shame, depression, and alienation.
The Trevor Project reports: “LGBTQ youth who experience rejection are more than eight times as likely to attempt suicide as those who are accepted.”
This tragic statistic underscores the moral urgency of rejecting the “choice” narrative. To insist that orientation is chosen is not only false; it is dangerous.
Pastoral and Theological Reflections
For communities of faith, the question of choice carries profound pastoral implications. If orientation is chosen, then moral blame may be assigned as sin. If orientation is innate, then compassion and justice must prevail; it is not sin.
1. The Dignity of the Human Person
The Christian tradition affirms that every person is created in the image of God. To deny the authenticity of orientation is to deny that image. As Pope Francis has said: “Who am I to judge?” — a phrase that, while often debated, reflects a pastoral openness to the dignity of LGBTQ+ persons.
The Catechism of the Roman Catholic Church (CCC) itself acknowledges: “The number of men and women who have deep-seated homosexual tendencies is not negligible. They do not choose their homosexual condition.” (CCC 2358)
This statement, though brief, is decisive: orientation is not chosen.
2. Truth and Compassion
Pastoral care requires truth and compassion. Truth demands that we reject false narratives of choice. Compassion demands that we accompany those who suffer because of misunderstanding.
As theologian James Alison, himself a gay Catholic priest, writes: “The discovery that one is gay is not a choice but a grace. It is part of the truth of who one is, and it calls for compassion, not condemnation.”
3. Justice and Inclusion
Theological reflection must also lead to justice. If orientation is not chosen, then it is not sin and therefore discrimination is unjust. Inclusion becomes not optional but essential. Communities of faith must extend welcome, recognising that diversity of orientation is part of the richness of creation.
It follows, then, that if orientation is not chosen but discovered, it cannot in itself be sinful. Sin, in the Christian tradition, requires a deliberate turning of the will against God’s law of love.
Attraction, however, arises unbidden, as part of the mystery of human nature. To call such involuntary realities “sin” is to confuse inclination with intention, burdening consciences with guilt for what they did not choose.
Indeed, if God has fashioned each person in His image, with a unique orientation variable factor, then that diversity must be received as part of creation’s richness.
The pastoral task is not to condemn but to accompany, helping each person discern how to live faithfully and lovingly in light of who they are.
Compassion demands that we see orientation not as a moral failing but as a gift to be integrated into the wider vocation of love, justice, and holiness.
Conclusion
We have journeyed through science, logic, history, testimony, and theology. Each step has revealed the same truth: being gay or bisexual is not a choice.
Science shows orientation is rooted in biology and psychology.
Logic shows attraction cannot be willed.
History shows same-sex desire across cultures and eras.
Testimonies show orientation as discovery, not decision.
Theology shows dignity, compassion, and justice demand recognition.
To deny this truth is to perpetuate harm. To affirm it is to defend dignity, to embrace compassion, and to walk in justice.
Let us, therefore, reject the false narrative of choice. Let us affirm the truth of orientation as innate. And let us extend to all persons — gay, bisexual, straight — the respect, compassion, and justice that are their due.
In doing so, we honour not only science and reason, but also the image of God in every human soul.
+ Fr. Lewis Greenville-Walker
Superior General
Canons Regular of the Sacred Heart of Jesus
Footnotes
American Psychological Association, Sexual Orientation and Homosexuality, APA Official Website.
Andrea Ganna et al., “Large-scale GWAS reveals insights into the genetic architecture of same-sex sexual behaviour,” Science, 2019.
American Psychiatric Association, Position Statement on Therapies Focused on Attempts to Change Sexual Orientation, 2013.
Simon LeVay, The Sexual Brain, MIT Press, 1993.
NHS UK, Sexual Orientation, NHS Official Website.
John Corvino, What’s Wrong with Homosexuality?, Oxford University Press, 2013.
Michael Ruse, Philosophy of Human Sexuality, Prometheus Books, 1988.
World Health Organization, Sexual Health and Human Rights, WHO Report, 2015.
Louis Crompton, Homosexuality and Civilization, Harvard University Press, 2003.
Walt Whitman, Leaves of Grass, 1855 edition.
Alan Bray, Homosexuality in Renaissance England, Columbia University Press, 1982.
Human Rights Campaign, Coming Out: Living Authentically as LGBTQ, HRC Resource Guide.
Robyn Ochs, Getting Bi: Voices of Bisexuals Around the World, Bisexual Resource Centre, 2009.
The Trevor Project, National Survey on LGBTQ Youth Mental Health, 2021.
Pope Francis, Interview with La Civiltà Cattolica, 2013.
Catechism of the Catholic Church, §2358.
James Alison, Faith Beyond Resentment: Fragments Catholic and Gay, Crossroad Publishing, 2001.
Last Supper: John rests his head on Jesus’ shoulder
