Would you support a cure for homosexuality and transexualism?

[Right E O]

Before writing this I will admit I haven't read the whole thread, so if I bring something up that has already been argued about and that bothers you than feel free to respond.

I personally am all for making our species better as a whole through whatever means necessary. I am for creating artificial intelligence, for augmenting our bodies and I am for the concept of making changes pre birth. So typically I would say that I support any improvement that could be made to humanity. But in this case you have to consider whether or not eliminating homosexual tendencies would be an improvement.

Homosexuality, despite not allowing for reproduction between the immediate pair themselves, is not an issue or concern for our species biologically in any real way. We have far since surpassed the point where such an argument held water. Which leaves the social aspect. Frankly, by the time such a process would be developed, the outward hatred of homosexuals would most likely be on its way out. But, you have to consider the number of people who would feel uncomfortable with letting there children be homosexual. When presented as an easy switch to be turned on or off, the results would be surprising. So the real trick would be in how such a process was presented, either as changing the way your already living fetus thinks or as tailoring the perfect child for their set life.

I really think this is an interesting topic, and I personally would allow people to make the choice for themselves. That said, I'm going to try and read the rest of this post to see others opinions. Maybe my mind can be changed just as simply.

 

[Something Amyss]

Gay Gene Theory is also pretty silly since it doesn't make much sense that a gay gene would survive long enough in our genome to manifest in today's genome...

Well, yeah, except genes don't always do one thing and a gene that might seem negative or unproductive can be carried for other, possibly yet-to-be-explained reasons. There may be benefits to a gay gene other than the expression of homosexuality, and straights may well be carriers.

That being said, I don't think there's a gay gene, given what we do know. I just don't know.

...

This, to me, is a gross oversimplification of this issue. And I mean gross in both senses of the word. Since I do not view homo or transexuality as a flaw, I would never support a cure.

I need to take a long shower after reading this thread...

If gender dysphoria is not a flaw, then do you oppose transsexuals seeking HRT and SRS?

I mean, these are basically a treatment and attempted cure of the condition that's totally not a flaw in people whose brains are at odds with their bodies.

Curing hetrosexuality is already possible though, all you need is a really sharp knife.

I'm not sure how that's a cure.

The cure for heterosexuality is Johnny Depp. Or, for lesbians, Angelina Jolie.

 

[Keiichi Morisato]

if there was one, I wouldn't support it, unless the receiver was willing to have it "cured" because in the end it's their choice not mine, it is not my place to say yea or nay on the subject unless the receiver was being forced to take it. it's not my place to tell someone how to live their lives, god knows there are things in my life that needs to be changed and I need to focus on myself before I can say anything to someone else.

 

[Naeo]

Ignoring the incredibly poor choice of words (which OP seems to have noticed), no, I would not. The reason being that there would definitely be sizeable groups pushing for the mandatory use of such a thing, and while I generally fall on the more liberal side of most issues, the government does not have a right to mandate something like this--something which does not have inherent negative repercussions (societal repercussions are not "inherent," since in many places people are perfectly fine with gay/trans/etc people). It seems not too different from creating a "cure" for red hair.

Also, it risks making anti-LGBT sentiment more extreme by its very existence. Having a way to ensure someone's sexual orientation before birth could very quickly lead to a marginalization of LGBT people--fewer are being born, so the population is smaller, and it's therefore easier to take restrictive actions against them.

Perhaps most important in the above is that being gay typically has no more repercussions beyond who you want to bone than being straight (I can't speak for trans; it seems like that would be more major, but I have nothing to base that on). So this would basically be eugenics--while I have no way of estimating how likely it would be to set a sort of precedent for further such things (generally "idealizing" your kids), I wouldn't want anything close to a precedent being set for this.

All the same, it is a very interesting question, but I know my answer and I am (currently) firm in it.

 

[Warachia]

The cure for heterosexuality is Johnny Depp. Or, for lesbians, Angelina Jolie.

I'm missing a joke somewhere, the cure for lesbians is a female actress? Wouldn't that have the opposite effect? And how would Johnny Depp turn heterosexual women gay?

no. absolutely not. Mostly because we are who we are and if my child was born trans i'd help him or her through it. if he/she was gay, I'd do the same.

While it's nice you'd help your child through being trans, wouldn't it be nicer if they didn't have to suffer in the first place?

Even if you wipe out transphobia entirely, you're still talking about a condition absolutely nobody actually wants to have.

speak for yourself. I am who I am, and even if there was a cure or equivalent thereof, I woulnd't want it. If I did have that cure, I wouldn't have met the people I love and care about, and I would be a different person: I wouldn't be me.

Thanks for saying exactly what I was thinking, if you change something fundamental about a person, they are now an entirely different person, anything they remember in regards to their past will be seen through a strangers eyes because their perception will have changed so much.

 

[Something Amyss]

I'm missing a joke somewhere, the cure for lesbians is a female actress? Wouldn't that have the opposite effect? And how would Johnny Depp turn heterosexual women gay?

You read that backwards, friend.

Thanks for saying exactly what I was thinking, if you change something fundamental about a person, they are now an entirely different person, anything they remember in regards to their past will be seen through a strangers eyes because their perception will have changed so much.

Except that's the same pop-psych doctor-phil bullshit they use on depression.

 

[Frezzato]

Yes, I would support this hypothetical "cure" for homosexuality--with one condition. They have to also develop a technique that can turn people gay.

 

[RhombusHatesYou]

No, I wouldn't support such 'cures'... but I would be fascinated to find out how they managed to get the human trial stage past an ethics review board (or equivalent).

 

[Warachia]

I'm missing a joke somewhere, the cure for lesbians is a female actress? Wouldn't that have the opposite effect? And how would Johnny Depp turn heterosexual women gay?

You read that backwards, friend.

You said that the cure for lesbians is Angelina Jolie, that's in the second sentence, so it isn't connected to the first, and both men and woman can be heterosexual, so how is the cure for heterosexual woman Johnny Depp?

Thanks for saying exactly what I was thinking, if you change something fundamental about a person, they are now an entirely different person, anything they remember in regards to their past will be seen through a strangers eyes because their perception will have changed so much.

Except that's the same pop-psych doctor-phil bullshit they use on depression.

No, this is different, this is how you see other people and how you see yourself, if you were to look back on yourself, what you wanted to be, what you thought was attractive, and how you thought about other people, those those are what will drastically change.

If something is bullshit, then please say how, you can't call bullshit then leave it open.

 

[chikusho]

So with that in mind, the best cure for gay people isn't to stop them being gay. It's to stop people from being bigoted.

Co-sign.

*EDIT*

I think I actually read about a drug that cures racism.
http://link.springer.com/article/10.1007%2Fs00213-012-2657-5

 

[chikusho]

Yes, I would support this hypothetical "cure" for homosexuality--with one condition. They have to also develop a technique that can turn people gay.

Now THAT would be hilarious.
Slip some in the coffe of Rush Limbaugh and laugh maniacally as his show turns into a rallying cry for tolerance and acceptance.

Or, you know, turns even more hateful because he overcompensates for his shameful feelings..

 

[Something Amyss]

You said that the cure for lesbians is Angelina Jolie, that's in the second sentence, so it isn't connected to the first, and both men and woman can be heterosexual, so how is the cure for heterosexual woman Johnny Depp?

Now you're working backwards to justify your backwards reading.

I respect your dedication.

No, this is different, this is how you see other people and how you see yourself, if you were to look back on yourself, what you wanted to be, what you thought was attractive, and how you thought about other people, those those are what will drastically change.

If something is bullshit, then please say how, you can't call bullshit then leave it open.

Apparently I can't, but only because you're moralising.

If people only see you as transsexual, or specifically as transsexual, there's still an issue. If being transsexual wasn't an issue, there wouldn't be HRT or SRS.

By the way, depression does impact how people see you and how you see people, so that was a really bad justification for the usual "it's different because it's inconvenient" line of reasoning. And if not for depression, I wouldn't know the same people I know and they wouldn't regard me the same way, so that works right in with the concept you defended.

 

[Something Amyss]

Yes, I would support this hypothetical "cure" for homosexuality--with one condition. They have to also develop a technique that can turn people gay.

Know what would be awesome[footnote]If a touch monstrous[/footnote]? Mandatory trials.

Not permanently changing anyone, but putting them in the shoes of homosexuals.

There's only one flaw in this, and it's happened before.

There are empathy trials where you have to operate in a wheelchair, or without your sight, for x amount of time, and it's supposed to give us the same experience.

The problem is one of scope. I can get out of the wheelchair at the end of it. I can take off the blinders or earphones. I know it'll end, a guarantee people in the hypothetical situation won't.

But still, it'd be interesting to see how many people suddenly developed empathy after they were part of that "lifestyle choice."

 

[Warachia]

You said that the cure for lesbians is Angelina Jolie, that's in the second sentence, so it isn't connected to the first, and both men and woman can be heterosexual, so how is the cure for heterosexual woman Johnny Depp?

Now you're working backwards to justify your backwards reading.

I respect your dedication.

No, this is different, this is how you see other people and how you see yourself, if you were to look back on yourself, what you wanted to be, what you thought was attractive, and how you thought about other people, those those are what will drastically change.

If something is bullshit, then please say how, you can't call bullshit then leave it open.

Apparently I can't, but only because you're moralising.

If people only see you as transsexual, or specifically as transsexual, there's still an issue. If being transsexual wasn't an issue, there wouldn't be HRT or SRS.

By the way, depression does impact how people see you and how you see people, so that was a really bad justification for the usual "it's different because it's inconvenient" line of reasoning. And if not for depression, I wouldn't know the same people I know and they wouldn't regard me the same way, so that works right in with the concept you defended.

My reasoning wasn't "It's different because it's inconvenient", my reasoning was that it's different because it turns you into a different person, now if it's a temporary cure like most medications for things like depression, that would be entirely different.

Let's read that joke forwards then, Johnny Depp is the cure for all heterosexuals (since you didn't specify), how does he turn women gay then? I was guessing that he's supposed to turn men gay because he's attractive, but since that doesn't seem to be it, then I'm missing something here, and I have no idea how Angelina Jolie turns gay women straight.
What would happen then if you showed a person a movie they both starred in? Would it just make them bisexual?

 

[Frotality]

like everything else in life the factors that lead to your sexual preference are too diverse and numerous to "cure". there is also nothing to gain at this point by enforcing the idea that homosexuality is is sickness to be cured at all; its a human quirk, one of 64525364576457456258679847892034576908346 things people do that dont really contribute anything to survival, just behaviours we develop when we need something to occupy ourselves with in the absence of an immediate threat.

 

[Wraith]

This is just a troll question.

It was a legitimate question that I had rolling around in my head for quite some time. I was back and forth, thinking whether or not something like this would be justifiable within the scenario given. Then after finding my own answer I wanted to ask you guys to see what would come up. Maybe someone with a well worded response would have changed my mind or someone else would have reaffirmed my answer with even better reasoning as to why. So far, both have happened to some extent. So I got what I needed out of this. I didn't expect my question to get the exact emotional response that it did, admittedly, that is my mistake. But this was in fact not put up just so I could see people fight. Discuss, yes. Fight, no.

 

[Olas]

Next up: would you support forcefully dipping black people in bleach until they're cured of their horrible birth defect?

Giving people the chance to choose their race? Why not? And gender as well. Unfortunately the technology doesn't exist yet.

 

[thenoblitt]

by saying there is a cure for it, and if one does pop up that means that homosexuality and transexuality is a mental disorder, im not saying that it is because i really dont know, but im just saying if there is a cure for it, then that means that its a disorder

 

[wulf3n]

You said that the cure for lesbians is Angelina Jolie, that's in the second sentence, so it isn't connected to the first, and both men and woman can be heterosexual, so how is the cure for heterosexual woman Johnny Depp?

Now you're working backwards to justify your backwards reading.

I respect your dedication.

No Warachia is right the statement doesn't make much sense.

The cure for heterosexuality is Johnny Depp. Or, for lesbians, Angelina Jolie.

The first sentence "The cure for heterosexuality is Johnny Depp" implies that any heterosexual, male or female will turn homosexual due to Johnny Depp.

Now I assume what you were trying to say is Johnny Depp turns heterosexual males homesexual.

If we expand your second sentence "Or, for lesbians, Angelina Jolie." It roughly reads "The cure for heterosexuality in lesbians is Angelina Jolie" but the implication of that is that their remains heterosexuality in lesbians, even the though lesbian implies a homosexual woman.

Here's what I assume you meant to say.

The cure for heterosexuality in men is Johnny Depp. Or, for women, Angelina Jolie.

 

[Snowbell]

How's about we talk about something that IS a disease (at least by current society standards) and the cause has been found:

Paedophiles have largely been found to have an overgrowth of white tissue in the brain, linking the part of the brain that identifies childish features (big eyes, short limbs etc) with the part of the brain that deals with sexual attraction, meaning that they associate those childish features with sexual attraction.

If this could be prevented and cured, I would be in favour of that. But I cannot support the idea that two consenting adults who love each other are something we need to put a stop to. That's exactly the kind of attitude that leads to homophobia in today's society.