Many folks I know have argued with me over the years that they believe being gay is natural, genetic, people are born that way. The argument goes like this: If we could find a gay gene, all people would have to accept that there is nothing wrong with being gay. One could even argue that science can prove that God made us this way, and therefore we are exactly the way we are supposed to be.

I have always argued that if a gay gene could be identified, those in the anti-gay camp will eventually argue that being gay is a defect that should be fixed. Fetuses with the gay gene would be identified in utero and would be aborted. Parents would genetically engineer their offspring to be straight.

And indeed that is exactly what the Rev. R. Alber Mohler, Jr. is suggesting. He has actually argued that it is God’s will that we alter our offspring’s genetic material to ensure that they are born straight. He looks to the Bible to support his perspective. Here is an exerpt from his blog:

Conservatives opposed to both abortion and homosexuality will have to ask themselves whether the public shame of having a gay child outweighs the private sin of terminating a pregnancy (assuming the stigma on homosexuality survives the scientific refutation of the Right’s treasured belief that it is a “lifestyle choice.”) Pro-choice activists won’t be spared either. Will liberal moms who love their hairdressers be as tolerant when faced with the prospect of raising a little stylist of their own? And exactly how pro-choice will liberal abortion-rights activists be when thousands of potential parents are choosing to filter homosexuality right out of the gene pool?

Wow. “Little stylists?” Do we really want to take up a debate with this guy? I don’t think it’s worth our while.

Q: Why are we gay?
A: It doesn’t matter.

I know that it is human nature to ask questions about who we are and where we come from, and I’m not opposed to looking for scientific reasons about why people are gay or straight, per se. But why do we (and by we I mean LGBT people) want to find this scientific proof? To prove that we have the right to exist?

We don’t need science to prove that God made us exactly as s/he intended. We do not need to be defensive about who we are. We do not have to come up with scientific proof that we have the right to be fully engaged members of society.

People are gay or straight or somewhere along the Kinsey scale, and everyone has a different experience of their own sexuality. Our sexuality and our differences are a gift from God. We need to embrace who we are and love ourselves and each other the way that God intended.