Made, not born!

LGBT propaganda claims that gay and lesbian people are born, not made. Therefore, they would have us believe that we should expect to find gay and lesbian boys and girls in Jamaican primary and high schools.

The truth is that there is not a shred of scientific evidence supporting the hypothesis that male or female homosexuals are born that way. Sure, anecdotes abound, but despite decades of searching and researching, no gay gene or complex of genes has been found.

But this does not mean that LGBT people have made a choice away from heterosexuality. The sciences of psychology and sociology have quite adequate explanations of the origins of LGBT behaviour that do not involve conscious choice.

Human beings are not born with fully developed personalities or identities. The natural process of human growth and maturity involves character formation and learning how to interact with others. Adolescence - the high-school years - is a very important phase in maturity, where growth takes place in physical, cognitive, emotional, spiritual, social and sexual identity formation. The job of a school counsellor - and pastors and other ministers of religion - is to offer guidance and direction to adolescents trying to navigate their way through this challenging period.

It is not unusual for young people in this stage of development to have all sorts of urges - crushes on their teachers or pastors, or to idolise certain movie stars or minstrels. Nor, so the psychologists tell us, is it unusual for adolescents to feel same-sex or heterosexual attractions - or both! Young people also feel attracted to 'things': they want the smartphones and fancy clothes and hair extensions and shoes that other children have. They are in a process of finding their feet, of becoming.

SELF-CONTROL

Just because an adolescent might feel same-sex attraction does not make him or her gay or lesbian - or bisexual or transgender; and no guidance counsellor should tell them that!

Some young people cope with this period well, and others have a difficult time. This is where guidance counselling comes in. Young people need to learn (i.e., they need to be taught) how to relate to each other and to 'things'; 'wanty-wanty' and 'red-eye' young people may grow up to be burglars and extortionists, environmental terrorists or sex maniacs, unless they are taught patience, frugality, and self-control.

On more than one occasion, a teenage girl has come to me worried about feelings of same-sex attraction; they believe that they are somehow different, and wonder if they are lesbian. Some boys are equally confused. All seem somewhat relieved when I tell them that all adolescents go through this phase, and they should not worry about it, and not dwell on it. They will mature and grow out of it.

But here is the rub: LGBT activists want school guidance counsellors to tell the young people to give in to their feelings. If you feel attracted to boys or girls or both, no problem! It's normal! You were born that way!

Guidance counsellors who deliver this kind of message (and I don't know any who do) are abdicating their responsibility. At that age, there is no such thing as a lesbian or a gay student. J-FLAG says it wants to assist school guidance counsellors help young people to interpret their adolescent same-sex attraction as evidence that they are LGBT.

Overbearing mothers or fathers or warring parents can affect the proper development of interpersonal skills among their children. This will affect the ways boys and girls relate to the same and opposite sex, and how they develop - or fail to develop - mature intimate relationships. Persons unable to relate well to the opposite sex are made, not born.

The LGBT lobby knows that the legitimacy of their position rests on claiming that their condition is 'natural' and 'normal' - like skin colour or eye colour (that is why they liken anti-gay sentiment to racism); and, therefore, they have been claiming that, pretty soon, a gay gene will be found. They are a faith community; having faith that a genetic origin for LGBT behaviour really exists, they want the Government to share that faith by enacting laws normalising LGBT behaviour. And they want school guidance counsellors to accept that some male and female students are born gay and lesbian, and to encourage them to feel good about themselves.

I am satisfied with the psychological and sociological explanation that LGBT people are made, not born. I encourage guidance counsellors to continue to assist those in their care to live disciplined lives and develop balanced character.

- Peter Espeut is a sociologist and Roman Catholic deacon.

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