I once wrote a column for my college newspaper on this topic. If you were gay, and there were a chemical that could instantly transform you into a heterosexual, would you take it?
I asked a gay friend of mine if he would, and he said he wouldn’t because he didn’t want to lose his interior decorating capabilities.
Well, I’m not gay, but I’m curious. Would it just change your sexaullity, or would it also change your personality (that would be more homosexual [your personality], right? I’m only thirteen here!)?
Absolutely not. No way. I wouldn’t even take a chemical to “cure” my Asperger’s.
Being gay isn’t a defect; there is no need to change it.
Never in a million years. For all of the bad times, I love my life and I’d never trade.
Besides, no male I’ve ever kissed can make my toes tingle like quietgirl can.
Let’s pose the question another way. What’s so great about str8 sex, other than you have a much better chance at procreation?
This is one of those what I call rude questions that imply with a hint that being gay is bad.
Sometimes people ask this rude question of handicap people too, ‘if there was a chemical that you could take that would make you severely able, would you take it?’
If there was a chemical that I could spray on people that ask this question & it would change them into a alien, boy, I sure would USE it. 
If there was an airborne virus that would make people see gays as people, instead of stereotyped deviants, would you spray it?
I didn’t mean to imply or hint anything, but I suppose I did. All I meant was, if there were a way you could get the fundamentalist Christians off your back for being gay, would you take the way out?
Let me try to rephrase this question to make it less insulting and more interesting: If there were a chemical to make gay people straight and a different one to make straight people gay, would you try either one of them?
Hmm.
Do you include progressive degenerative conditions in the “disability” category? If so, then in my case my answer would be “Yes, in a nanosecond”.
Though I admit, asking such a question if you don’t happen to have such a chemical available is a rude question…
A flamethrower has distinct possibilities in that arena. I’m not gay, but fundamentalist Christians have gotten on my back in the past because I’m an athiest…
This would be a ***good thing.
I feel the same way about my synesthesia*. It makes me a deviation from the norm, but to lose it would make me lose some of my self. It’s our differences that make us interesting, our similarities that bring us together. If everyone was the same, it would be a bland, boring, and monochrome kind of world.
*** I “see” sounds and flavors/smells in my mind’s eye.
This is an interesting question–one that I’ve been asked before–but in a different form. I’d like to answer as best I can.
Being gay certainly isn’t as easy as being straight is. At least from a social standpoint. Even with all the blossoming acceptance in the world today.
I don’t know how all the steps worked out for other people–since I haven’t really researched it–but the self-actualization of being gay for me involved a lot of hang-ups and problems in finding your identity–and building up a lot of resentment and frusteration–both fer yourself, and for the people around you (“family” pops into mind here) while trying to sort out the ‘differences’ in yourself.
While in the process of trying to make myself a better person for it all in the end–I was asked by a friend if I had considered living a life of celibacy–and therefore escaping the ‘sin’ of homosexuality physically–even if the lust was still there in my mind.
And it was a tough question–but the answer, I knew, was ‘no.’…the reason being that what the question was asking was for me to give up all hope for a happy, romantic life with somebody else before I had given it a shot.
Likewise–I suspect that the same tone of answer would apply to Snoop’s question.
In the end–those gays who manage to work out the stress of their self-development are not inclined to want to give it up so easily–instead–it’s more ‘natural’ to want to carry dignity for that which you are–and not give up the chance to celebrate in a life that is diverse and fulfilling in it’s own way.
Anyone agree with me? Or disagree?
-Ashley
I think this is many ways a meaningless question, because asking an adult whether they want to change something as fundamental as their sexual orientation, well, how could they change that without changing who they really are?
IMHO, a more interesting question is this: if you had a shot (or genetic procedure or what have you) that you could give to your newborn baby that would ensure that that baby would grow up straight, and this shot would have absolutely no other effects of any sort, would you give the baby that shot?
On the one hand, with one shot you’re (a) making it far less likely that your child will be the victim of a viscious hate crime, (b)giving your child access to a far wider field of potential mates (unless your child would have been bisexual, I guess ) (c) saving your child a typically long and unpleasant period of self-discovery which often comes just at the time of life when children most want to fit in and sometimes leads to suicide, and (d) generally keeping a lot of doors open (even if they should have been open to begin with). On the other hand, it all kind of smacks of eugenics. And if it doesn’t, it smacks of homophobia. And (here’s an odd sounding question and I’m not quite sure what I mean with it) if every parent used this shot, where would all the gay people come from?
(My answer: I’d give the shot in a second. Which does not mean that if I have a child who is gay I won’t love them every bit as much…)
(PS: I’m a little bit curious to see if anyone will respond to this post at all, given that the last two lengthy and I-thought-potentially-provocative things I posted were utterly and completely ignored… is it just because I’m a newbie?)
matt_mcl – I stand and applaud! There is nothing to “cure”!
I’m bi so what the *&CK would this chemical do to ME?!
{{shudder}}
There isn’t a damn thing wrong with me. As far as I can see in the world I’m normal, healthy and happy. I wouldn’t change much about myself. I work to improve my physical health by working out but that’s by my own choice and for my own desires to be fit enough to keep up with the men and women that I find attractive!
If you’re bisexual, I would imagine the chemical would do nothing to you.
I would think that the gay-to-straight and straight-to-gay chemicals would be interesting for recreational use. “Hmm … think I’ll be straight today.”
The question may be meaningless, but meaningless questions can still be fun to bat around can’t they?
I never said they wouldn’t change who they really are. Drugs can do that to you. Haloperidol, for instance, changes who you really are – it makes you less psychotic.
I would worry about side effects of any shot you would give a newborn (I know it is a hypothetical question). It is an interesting question though.
I think the world would be poorer for not having any gay people in it. I also know that people can be so cruel to other people, and shun them, and it may be difficult for a person to discover her/his sexuality isn’t like that of the majority of people. (Selfish thought: I want grandchildren; getting to that age.) But I don’t think I would give that shot.
[Sometimes I think people are thinking so hard about replying to other posts that they read a well-thought out post like yours, think, hmmmm, that is well thought out, and then go ahead and reply to what they were originally thinking. And sometimes people get into conversations with each other and skip over posts because of that.]
Byz: I think it would make You explode if you took it! 
I think if there were drugs to take that would cure people in wheelchairs they would all take them, wouldn’t you?
People are sometimes born crippled, and people are born gay.
Most folks would rather not be crippled.
If there were a drug to take to make people lose weight, would they take it?
Or would they accept themselves for who they were?
Vanilla, are you saying being gay is even remotely akin to being crippled or obese?
Because, well, it is NOT.
No, I am not saying that at all!
What I meant was to mention things people want to change.
I dont see why folks would want to change from being gay, or overweight for that matter.