Quote Originally Posted by LexiTV View Post
Hi Jenn,

I am not sure I understand your disagreement. You are clearly making a distinction, I am just not sure what it is.

Allow me to expand on mine until you have a chance to clarify. From my view to be true gay or straight you have to be wired to be simply not trigger on the opposite sex in terms of gays and same sex in terms of straights as sexual. Meaning, you would not be able to get turned on at all at the idea and may even be revolted by it. Example, I am not into bestiality. I do not sexually trigger when seeing an animal and find the idea of having sex with one is revolting. While stats on "true" gay and straight dont exist in my opinion that extreme wiring in terms of your own species is rare. Humans are if nothing else generally adaptable and thus my feeling on the wide shades of grey in terms of bisexuality.

Now, you can have huge sections of the grey that are for all intents and purposes "true" gay or straight because they lean heavily into the hetero preference. For many the idea of same sex encounter would not even enter their mind until something drastic happened like the island or prison scenarios I listed earlier. Normally the people would strongly identify as gay or straight but in these scenarios they are able to adapt to the situation to meet a sexual need. If they fit into the hard wired straight or gay, they would simply be unable to contemplate or successfully engage in the alternative sex for them.

Anyway, its my theory, and it is just that a theory. It will never be born out until society is much more honest with itself or advances in mapping the brain take several leaps. For me it fits my observations and explains the facts as they stand. Other theories do as well but this one works for me
Ah, but if you were trapped on an island for 50 years with only an animal to keep you company... lol

I have no doubt that there are people out there who, if straight, find the idea of being with a person of the same sex as equally as revolting as you find the idea of being with an animal is. Or if gay, find the idea of being with a person of the opposite sex as equally as revolting.

I do however understand your point, and I do think there is a certain credibility to it. That's not to say that I agree with you completely however. I do believe sexuality is more fluid than many people think, and I think there are several factors involved that (for want of a better word) enable us to become sexually attracted to a person. And one of those most certainly can be circumstance. Put a person in an extreme circumstance (like the two examples you mention), then who knows? But I do not think that such extreme circumstances (which by definition would also be extra-ordinary) should define a person's sexuality. To me, it's folly to suggest that, for example, should a gay man trapped on an island for 50 years with a woman end up engaging in sexual activity with her, then that therefore means he is bisexual. I simply can not accept that rationale. Simply because sexuality is a preference, but it's also a need. I am gay and I could certainly imagine myself being with a woman under such circumstances (such as trapped on an island with a woman), but that would only be because there would be no men around.