# OK. Can we agree that it isn't a "lifestyle choice" now? **URL:** \ **Category:** The BBQ Pit\ **Created:** [December 30, 2006, 1:13am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ok-can-we-agree-that-it-isnt-a-lifestyle-choice-now/386053 "2006-12-30T01:13:11Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![if6was9](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/e47c2d/32.png) [@if6was9](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/if6was9)\ **Post date:** [December 30, 2006, 3:23am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ok-can-we-agree-that-it-isnt-a-lifestyle-choice-now/386053/21 "2006-12-30T03:23:14Z")
[QUOTE=Random] Bert and Ernie have much to answer for. [/QUOTE] You’re right. It should be Bert and _Mary_. But then that might imply they might have ::looks around:: s-e-x So maybe Pat and Pat… I’m so confused ---
**Author:** ![Tim\_T-Bonham.net](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/46a35a/32.png) [@Tim\_T-Bonham.net](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tim_T-Bonham.net)\ **Post date:** [December 30, 2006, 3:57am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ok-can-we-agree-that-it-isnt-a-lifestyle-choice-now/386053/22 "2006-12-30T03:57:56Z")
[QUOTE=auntie em] I blame _Free To Be You And Me._ I mean, isn’t it obvious? [/QUOTE] Nope, still not possible. That album was released in 1972. As Samclem pointed out, Rev. Barnes claims he has ‘suffered’ since 1957. ---
**Author:** ![xenophon41](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/xenophon41/32/253_2.png) [@xenophon41](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/xenophon41)\ **Post date:** [December 30, 2006, 4:10am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ok-can-we-agree-that-it-isnt-a-lifestyle-choice-now/386053/23 "2006-12-30T04:10:50Z")
Then that little bastard Howdy Doody must’ve had something to do with it. (I always thought he was a little too cozy with that Dilly Dally dude.) ---
**Author:** ![The\_King\_of\_Soup](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/a87d85/32.png) [@The\_King\_of\_Soup](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/The_King_of_Soup)\ **Post date:** [December 30, 2006, 4:14am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ok-can-we-agree-that-it-isnt-a-lifestyle-choice-now/386053/24 "2006-12-30T04:14:17Z")
[QUOTE=John Mace] I don’t think the parishoners are going to change …Sorry if that wasn’t clear… [/QUOTE] Perfectly clear from the beginning, and sorry if I implied that I had any idea that you thought otherwise. I was merely trying to underscore the point that even when the truth is plain to see, a comforting lie will still be embraced. ---
**Author:** ![Shagnasty](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/9dc877/32.png) [@Shagnasty](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Shagnasty)\ **Post date:** [December 30, 2006, 4:19am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ok-can-we-agree-that-it-isnt-a-lifestyle-choice-now/386053/25 "2006-12-30T04:19:03Z")
[QUOTE=Random] Bert and Ernie have much to answer for. [/QUOTE] I was thinking that the Teletubbies weren’t even around back then but you are right, the liberal media has always made sure there was some prominent gay icons for youngsters. None of the muppets ever did much for me sexually as a child however. I was more focused on scenes like [this which definitely shaped my sexuality.](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Image:TV_sesame_street_kitten-bird-cow.jpg) ---
**Author:** ![John\_Mace](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/john_mace/32/185_2.png) [@John\_Mace](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/John_Mace)\ **Post date:** [December 30, 2006, 5:05am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ok-can-we-agree-that-it-isnt-a-lifestyle-choice-now/386053/26 "2006-12-30T05:05:59Z")
[QUOTE=Shagnasty] I was more focused on scenes like [this which definitely shaped my sexuality.](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Image:TV_sesame_street_kitten-bird-cow.jpg) [/QUOTE] You mean the one with the headband, second from the left. Perv!!! 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![elucidator](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/8edcca/32.png) [@elucidator](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/elucidator)\ **Post date:** [December 30, 2006, 5:24am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ok-can-we-agree-that-it-isnt-a-lifestyle-choice-now/386053/27 "2006-12-30T05:24:04Z")
Alright, alright! Annette Funicello! Happy now! Gawd, I feel so\* dirty\*… ---
**Author:** ![Rick](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/9f8e36/32.png) [@Rick](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rick)\ **Post date:** [December 30, 2006, 5:58am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ok-can-we-agree-that-it-isnt-a-lifestyle-choice-now/386053/28 "2006-12-30T05:58:58Z")
[QUOTE=samclem] Since the preacher was five years old in 1957, and PBS isn’t quite that old, that one won’t fly. Back to fluoride. 🙂 [/QUOTE] I blame [The Adventures of Rin Tin Tin](http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0046576/). That young boy, all alone at that fort with all of those big strong soldiers. :eek: Enough to warp a young boys mind I tell you. ---
**Author:** ![Guinastasia](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/guinastasia/32/5751_2.png) [@Guinastasia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Guinastasia)\ **Post date:** [December 30, 2006, 6:06am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ok-can-we-agree-that-it-isnt-a-lifestyle-choice-now/386053/29 "2006-12-30T06:06:24Z")
I blame gay marri-oh wait. That won’t work, will it? Okay, I blame Canada. And Paris Hilton. ---
**Author:** ![OttoDaFe](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ottodafe/32/356_2.png) [@OttoDaFe](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/OttoDaFe)\ **Post date:** [December 30, 2006, 6:24am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ok-can-we-agree-that-it-isnt-a-lifestyle-choice-now/386053/30 "2006-12-30T06:24:58Z")
Isn’t it obvious? The lib’ruls are so evil, so pernicious, so full of hatred toward everything clean&decent&holy&american that their pomps and their works corrupted this fine young man _decades_ before hitting the airwaves! Smite them! Smite their hirelings! In the name of God destroy them all! ---
**Author:** ![Rysdad](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/7cd45c/32.png) [@Rysdad](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rysdad)\ **Post date:** [December 30, 2006, 9:15am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ok-can-we-agree-that-it-isnt-a-lifestyle-choice-now/386053/31 "2006-12-30T09:15:54Z")
[QUOTE=John Mace] Another evangelical minister bites the dust. [/quote] And that ain’t all… > [@](#): > > Come on people… The evidence is right there before your eyes!! Yep. _Being an evangelical minister causes homosexuality!_ ---
**Author:** ![Tuckerfan](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/eada6e/32.png) [@Tuckerfan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tuckerfan)\ **Post date:** [December 30, 2006, 9:40am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ok-can-we-agree-that-it-isnt-a-lifestyle-choice-now/386053/32 "2006-12-30T09:40:47Z")
The _real_ answer is that time travelling homos from the future have come to our time to zap prominent religious figures with a Gayification Ray[sup]TM[/sup] in order to ensure an All Queer Future[sup]TM[/sup]. :eek: Seriously, though, on _Fresh Aire_ Terry Gross (Mistress of the Softball Question[sup]TM[/sup]) asked a minister who was friends with Ted “I’m the carpenter that Christ nailed!” Haggard if it wasn’t possible that being gay was something that a person with? He fumbled around and said that there was simply **no way** he could concieve of that being possible (let alone the _actual_ matter). :rolleyes: Whatever consenting adults choose to do to one another in the privacy of their own home should be their own business (unless, of course, they videotape it and post it on the web! ;)). ---
**Author:** ![don\_t\_ask](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/e68b1a/32.png) [@don\_t\_ask](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/don_t_ask)\ **Post date:** [December 30, 2006, 10:33am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ok-can-we-agree-that-it-isnt-a-lifestyle-choice-now/386053/33 "2006-12-30T10:33:48Z")
I’m pretty sure I’m not a homophobe but I have to ask, does anyone think that the statement: \*he had “struggled with homosexuality since he was five years old,” \* has any credence at all? On what did he base that - the fact that at age 5 all his playmates were boys and he thought that girls were yucky? ---
**Author:** ![MEBuckner](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mebuckner/32/2896_2.png) [@MEBuckner](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MEBuckner)\ **Post date:** [December 30, 2006, 12:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ok-can-we-agree-that-it-isnt-a-lifestyle-choice-now/386053/34 "2006-12-30T12:06:09Z")
[QUOTE=don’t ask] I’m pretty sure I’m not a homophobe but I have to ask, does anyone think that the statement: \*he had “struggled with homosexuality since he was five years old,” \* has any credence at all? On what did he base that - the fact that at age 5 all his playmates were boys and he thought that girls were yucky? [/QUOTE] I remember having a crush on this one little girl when I was in kindergarten. I don’t think I ever had any notion of _doing_ anything with or to her beyond kissing her, but it was definitely a “romantic” sort of attraction. And I don’t think I ever really thought girls were “yucky”, although there were times when I may have felt socially compelled to pretend as though as I did. ---
**Author:** ![Dijon\_Warlock](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/a9a28c/32.png) [@Dijon\_Warlock](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dijon_Warlock)\ **Post date:** [December 30, 2006, 12:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ok-can-we-agree-that-it-isnt-a-lifestyle-choice-now/386053/35 "2006-12-30T12:33:01Z")
[QUOTE=Rick] I blame [The Adventures of Rin Tin Tin](http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0046576/). That young boy, all alone at that fort with all of those big strong soldiers. :eek: Enough to warp a young boys mind I tell you. [/QUOTE] [Surely you mean **Tintin**.](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tintin_and_Snowy) His best friend was a dog. All of his other associates were males. Go figure. ---
**Author:** ![Princhester](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/3e96dc/32.png) [@Princhester](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Princhester)\ **Post date:** [December 30, 2006, 12:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ok-can-we-agree-that-it-isnt-a-lifestyle-choice-now/386053/36 "2006-12-30T12:53:07Z")
[QUOTE=JustAnotherGeek] 1st: How many levels of hearsay are in that statement? I lost count. (It’s doesn’t make it any less true, boy, talk about foafoafoaf) 2nd: Should we be expecting a spate of admissions in the near future? Or a tell-all book / movie / tv show? [/QUOTE] It would be quite funny to contact every single anti-gay campaigner in the US with such a call, and see how leap out of the closet before they are pushed out by revelations that aren’t actually about to be made. Actually, I guess you’d cause a lot of stress and bother to those who are not gay so that wouldn’t be fair. In fact do not do this. But you have to admit it’s kind of funny to think about. ---
**Author:** ![matt\_mcl](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/7ab992/32.png) [@matt\_mcl](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/matt_mcl)\ **Post date:** [December 30, 2006, 1:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ok-can-we-agree-that-it-isnt-a-lifestyle-choice-now/386053/37 "2006-12-30T13:17:03Z")
[QUOTE=Princhester] It would be quite funny to contact every single anti-gay campaigner in the US with such a call, and see how leap out of the closet before they are pushed out by revelations that aren’t actually about to be made. Actually, I guess you’d cause a lot of stress and bother to those who are not gay so that wouldn’t be fair. In fact do not do this. But you have to admit it’s kind of funny to think about. [/QUOTE] I was just telling **Hamish** that we should telephone all of the creepy megachurches and say, “I know Reverend ---- did you-know-what with you-know-who you-know-when” and see what proportion of them resigned. Much as when, as a joke, Oscar Wilde sent telegrams to a random selection of ten London noblemen, saying “All is discovered - fly at once!” Apparently, all ten immediately departed for the Continent. ---
**Author:** ![MrDibble](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mrdibble/32/114_2.png) [@MrDibble](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MrDibble)\ **Post date:** [December 30, 2006, 1:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ok-can-we-agree-that-it-isnt-a-lifestyle-choice-now/386053/38 "2006-12-30T13:31:16Z")
[QUOTE=Dijon Warlock] [Surely you mean **Tintin**.](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tintin_and_Snowy) His best friend was a dog. All of his other associates were males. [/QUOTE] Naah, all the men had the hots for Mme. Castafiore 😉 ---
**Author:** ![Canadjun](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/76d3ee/32.png) [@Canadjun](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Canadjun)\ **Post date:** [December 30, 2006, 2:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ok-can-we-agree-that-it-isnt-a-lifestyle-choice-now/386053/39 "2006-12-30T14:43:51Z")
[QUOTE=Shagnasty] I was thinking that the Teletubbies weren’t even around back then but you are right, the liberal media has always made sure there was some prominent gay icons for youngsters. None of the muppets ever did much for me sexually as a child however. [/QUOTE] If we’re talking about 1957, we’re in Mickey Mouse Club territory, if I’m not mistaken. _Hey there! Hi There! Ho There! You’re as welcome as can be! M-I-C K-E-Y M-O-U-S-E! … … Through the years we’ll all be friends, wherever we may be… M-I-C (See you real soon!) K-E-Y (Why? Because we like you!) M-O-U-S-E!_ That probably did it to him. Boy do I feel old after typing that! ---
**Author:** ![Epimetheus](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/c4cdca/32.png) [@Epimetheus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Epimetheus)\ **Post date:** [December 30, 2006, 2:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ok-can-we-agree-that-it-isnt-a-lifestyle-choice-now/386053/40 "2006-12-30T14:54:42Z")
I don’t believe homosexuality is a “lifestyle choice” but I have serious doubts about anybody that “remembers” being gay at 5 years old. Human memory is pretty bad about remembering things last week with any degree of precision, when it gets to decades, I think there is some confabulation going on. Seriously though, even if we grant that this guy’s memory is great enough to remember something like that. What 5 year old thinks about sex? At 5 I didn’t even like girls (I’m straight). Hell, at 8 I thought they were gross and had cooties. What 5 year old not only misses that stage, but jumps right to - mmm, little Timmy is cute, I think I would like to cuddle with him. Seriously. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ok-can-we-agree-that-it-isnt-a-lifestyle-choice-now/386053.md?page=1) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ok-can-we-agree-that-it-isnt-a-lifestyle-choice-now/386053.md?page=3)