Gay men and lesbians are of all ages, cultural backgrounds, races, religions and nationalities. They work in all occupations and live in all parts of the country. Sexual orientation is an enduring emotional, romantic, sexual or affectional attraction to individuals of a particular gender. How a particular sexual orientation develops in any individual is not well understood by scientists. However, many scientists share the view that sexual orientation is shaped for most people at an early age through complex interactions of biological, psychological and social factors.
Sexual orientation emerges for most people in early adolescence without any prior sexual experience.
And some people report trying very hard over many years to change their sexual orientation from homosexual to heterosexual with no success. For these reasons, psychologists do not consider sexual orientation for most people to be a conscious choice that can be voluntarily changed. Psychologists, psychiatrists and other mental health professionals agree that homosexuality is not an illness, mental disorder or emotional problem. Much objective scientific research over the past 35 years shows us that homosexual orientation, in and of itself, is not associated with emotional or social problems. Studies comparing groups of children raised by homosexual and by heterosexual parents find no development differences between the two groups of children in their intelligence, psychological adjustments, social adjustment, popularity with friends, development of social sex role identity or development of sexual orientation.