Is there actually a correlation between emotional trauma and homosexuality

Question

One of the key talking points I hear to disparage homosexuality is that it stems from "a lack of a strong male figure" or some variation of that, putting aside the obvious irrelevancy of argument. I still am curious, is there any truth to the idea that trauma is correlated with homosexuality? And if so, can someone elaborate on it ie. is it equal across both genders? Does it result in Bisexuality or Gay more often? etc

Answer 1

The widely accepted answer to this question is that homosexuality is not a choice but science has no concrete answer as to exactly why people are homosexual, heterosexual, or bisexual (or any other sexual orientations that one may identify with).

The Wikipedia page, Homosexuality, offers many great references and indicates that science has not definitive answer for what the 'cause' of homosexuality, only that it may be an interplay between generics, hormones, and environment.

Answer 2

No. We now know that some fathers react negatively to the gender nonconformity of their sons (i.e. their femininity) which is present and visible often from a very early age. The distant father hypothesis was discredited in the early 1980’s when large studies were carried out and found most gay men came from normal backgrounds. Further, the hypothesis would have to hold up cross-culturally. In Finland, gay men rate their fathers as warmer than straight men did. This is because Finn’s may react more affectionately to feminine boys than we do in the Anglo-sphere. The trauma model is useful to the religious because they can get self-hating men to put all of that guilt on their parents. Warren Throckmorton, a former gay conversion therapist, said most of the time the trauma model did not fit at all. But as conversion therapists, they told parents it was their fault and it led to some pretty awful familial disputes (even divorce) as parents quibbled over who “made their son gay”.

Generally speaking, most of the evidence points towards prenatal environment such as androgen exposure. Twin studies have conclusively shown the social environment and upbringing has little to no effect on male sexual orientation. Trauma models are ridiculous but popular. All of the evidence indicates sexual orientation is determined early in development and relies heavily upon biology set in the womb. Take a look at the Fraternal Birth Order effect for example, in which antibodies from earlier pregnancies interfere with male-typical brain arrangement leaving the attraction in the default ‘female’ position.