The field of psychology has made some progress on the issue of sexual orientation.

The
view of sexual orientation in the past is very much different from the modern view. Prior to
1973, when the American Psychiatric Association decided to take out homosexuality from the
DSM list, it was labeled as being a mental disorder and was seriously frowned at socially.
(Drescher). But over the years, homosexuality has gained its feet gradually through the help of
various gay rights activities that fought for the rights of gay people. People are now more
receptive to gay, lesbian, and bisexual people than in the past. Recently, we have witnessed
states like New York and Maryland show massive support for gay marriage by passing it into
law.
Irrespective of the progress made on the issue of homosexuality, the struggle gay people
faced in the past cannot be entirely overlooked or forgotten. Gay and lesbian people were unable
to speak openly about their feelings or romantic life. Most of the gay people lived in fear and
agony, which drove many of them to suicide. A lot of people that dared to come out in the open
were rejected by their family, while some lost their jobs and friends. A good example of this is
the personal story related to Sandy during our speaker day event. Sandy narrated how gay people
like herself were harassed by the county police in a small town where she lived. She also
mentioned how she could not discuss her relationship with her family except for her mother.
This keeps the family apart and is and for the psychological development of a homosexual
person. As the tides are changing now, I believe more support should be given to the gay people
socially in the community. Therefore more scientific research that shows that homosexuality ins
an issue of nature and not nurture. The twins study that has being done earlier should be
expanded upon. Since identical twins have been known to only have about 50 percent similarity
in their genetic composition, both individuals can be monitored from birth, and nurtured equally,
i.e. exposed to an environment of equal social factors and conditions. Then, a factor that has been
identified from previous research such as prenatal exposure and size of hypothalamus, could be
put in consideration as variables when selecting the individuals to use for the research.
Having said all these, it is important to also keep in mind that prejudice against gay and
lesbians will not melt away if the public were to come to terms with the belief that a person's
sexuality orientation is mainly determined by genes. Changing people's ideology and cultural
belief is not an easy task. This will require continuous and relentless educating of young people
and adults about the topic. After my encounter with Sandy, my perspective about homosexuality
has being altered positively . What sort of judgment would I have against a person who realized
from a very young age that she is only attracted to people of the same sex. None I think. This has
contributed hugely to me believing that sexual orientation has more to do with nature than
nurture.