obody chooses to be gay. After all, in light of the religious hostility towards gays these days, would you really choose to be gay? Many people, however, when they ask this question or when they say that people choose to be gay are confusing “being gay” with “homosexual behavior.”

Being gay simply means you are attracted to people of the same gender. Just as straight people do not choose to be attracted to people of the opposite gender, gay people do not choose their sexual orientation.

People do, however, have a choice about how they behave. If a gay person decides to remain sexually abstinent, to date, or any other behavior that is a choice. Nobody chooses to be gay, but rather we are all given the choice of how we will relate and respond to our sexual attraction.