Homosexuality In Healthcare Profession

Sexuality in the Healthcare Profession

Introduction

An ongoing battle of theories in the matters relating to homosexuality exists, questioning and theorizing if homosexuality is simply a person’s life choice; or if a person is born homosexual due to genetics. Understanding sexuality in its entirety in a healthcare setting is very important to the healthcare provider to enable them to maintain their level of professionalism and to understand a person’s needs. The Author of this document will take a look at what sexuality is, what are the different theories on the causes of homosexuality, he will then take these theories, examine, discuss and debate them in relation to a statement by Wright & Anthony (2002) which read “Being gay is not a choice”.

Homosexuality, through the media especially, is associated with flamboyant, effeminate males who have an attraction to other males. The main cause of this stereotyping could be due to the media picking and choosing what kind of individual it wants to portray through its media outlets in relation to homosexuality. Although this has some truth to it, not all homosexuals are flamboyant or effeminate, or as otherwise termed, camp, even though they do have an attraction to people of the same sex. So the question could be, is a person born gay? Or are there bio-psycho-sociological factors that contribute to a person’s sexuality? Is being camp an actual human genetic trait or a learned behaviour through society? Is being gay a learned behavior through society

There have been many people who have tried through various studies to prove the ‘cause’ of homosexuality. They have explored biological means through genetics to try and identify if there are any chromosomal differences between heterosexuals and those self declared, as homosexual. Hormonal balances or imbalances within the womb have also been explored in relation to high stress levels within pregnancy.

Homosexuality and Genetics.

In an article published on news.science.org, Kelly Servick a staff writer for Science (magazine) explains a sudy carried out by Psychologist J. Michael Bailey. A study that replicated that of Dean Hamer some 20yrs previous. Hamer claimed during his study; to have discovered a stretch on Chromosome X, his subjects were 38 pairs of gay brothers and thought the stretch could be capable of carrying the ‘gay gene’. The claim was disputed largely because of the size of the low number of people subjected in the study. Another reason Hamer’s claims were played down was because other researches had been unsuccessful in duplicating the same results in their own findings, thus casting doubt on his