Impacts of Gender and Sexual Orientation

I really enjoyed the debate on issues related to sexual orientation from the book 'Is It a Choice?'. It brought some very serious issues to the forefront of discussion for the class. Some of the key points from the discussions were:

• gay adolescents can feel much more fear and isolation from society, 
• feelings of sexual attraction are innate, 
• physical behavior does not determine or change your sexual orientation, 
• more cases of molestation are from heterosexual males that are related to the child than from someone who is gay, 
• all parents have the same possibility of raising homosexual and heterosexual children, 
• parents of children who are homosexual should seek information to provide support for their children, 
• gay people can be positive role models for children in the same way that their colleagues can, 
• student learn most information about being gay informally and in a negative context, 
• Canada and Europe are the most open minded while the Middle East are very strict and threaten peoples lives

Perceptions of gender roles can be heavily influenced by the culture of the individual. There is a constant need for balance between teaching children about gender roles to be accepted into the society and trying to teach them the opposite gender roles to be unbiased.