Don Lemon invited a group of political commentators onto his show to weigh in on newly revived debate over whether or not being gay is a choice sparked by 2016 Republican presidential hopeless hopeful Ben Carson earlier this week.
Just in case you need a refresher: Carson told CNN he had hard evidence to support the claim that being gay is a choice. Said the retired neurosurgeon: “A lot of people who go into prison go into prison straight, and when they come out they’re gay.” He later apologized for the remarks.
Lemon’s panel consisted of reporters Ben Ferguson, Sally Kohn and Marc Lamont Hill. When asked whether being gay was, indeed, a matter of free will, both Kohn and Hill said the scientifically-supported answer: No. Obviously.
But Ferguson begged to differ. He insisted that a person’s sexual orientation is, indeed, a choice: “I think people choose to do different things every day, including if they choose to be gay or bisexual or transgendered [sic] or whatever it may be.”
“There are a lot of people that choose different things,” he continued. “I don’t think that’s some shocking new revelation.”
When pressed by Lemon to explain himself further, Ferguson said: “I’m not gay, that’s pretty obvious. I’m heterosexual.” To which Hill shot back: “It’s not obvious.”
That’s when Kohn jumped in to shoot Ferguson and any of his fellow naysayers down.
“What Dr. Carson is referring to is an argument that comes out of a right wing anti-gay mentality,” she said, “that if you choose to be gay you can therefore, and should therefore, choose not to be gay. And the fact that sexual identity is a fungible choice is an argument for denying equal rights and fair treatment.”
“So the choice thing isn’t the issue here,” she continued. “The issue is why don’t we treat people equally regardless of their identity, however they come to it.”
Word.
Watch the discussion below.
Captain Obvious
That poor dead horse has already turned into glue. Who cares? If you’re gay you’re gay. It doesn’t matter how the heck you ended up at that conclusion. Period.
Ladbrook
That Ferguson creep has a radio (hate)show that one of our local stations carries. I’ve listened once or twice and he’s far far more anti-gay on the radio when he’s “preaching to his choir.”
I wish some of these TV hosts would just pull the Dan Savage trick and demand a demonstration of how easy it is to choose to be gay. Suck my dick. Come on… prove it…. SUCK MY DICK.
And yeah… Ferguson has a weird rest area vibe about him. Especially when he’s on TV. He should stick to radio.
SteveDenver
The reason I CHOSE homosexuality is because after 19 years in the closet, four years of Bible college and six years of marriage to a woman, the only choice I thought I had was to come out or kill myself. I tried heterosexuality and it was a miserable failure. Why are conservatives and religious people so eager to offer their women to men who aren’t obsessed with them and crazy about them?
stanhope
Being gay isn’t a choice but being an Uncle Tom is.
Doughosier
They only say that so they can be anti gay. If they acknowledged it wasn’t a choice, their bigotry would be obvious to all.
polarisfashion
I love how anti gay people can never answer the question of when they chose to be straight. They usually say that they were always attracted to the opposite sex. Then when you tell them its the same way for gays, they just look at you funny because they don’t get it.
Kieran
People born Left-handed could be “normal” if they would only choose to use their right hand. They just don’t try hard enough. It all comes down to making the “right choices” in life.
Kieran
Belly Laugh of the day:
“I’m not gay, that’s pretty obvious.” —Ben Ferguson.
Yeah Ben, your lack of a lisp and eye-liner make it very obvious.
Giancarlo85
I chose to be gay as much as I chose to be human.
Even Jimmy Carter would beat this line-up of 2016 GOP Buffoons…
jason smeds
Homosexual feelings are not a choice but homosexual behavior is a choice, just as any other form of sexual behavior is a choice. Anybody with a skerrick of willpower has the ability to refrain from any form of sexual behavior regardless of with whom or what.
Now, as far as Ben Carson´s comments, he was simply saying that the prison environment can cause men who would not normally behave sexually with men to do so. This is a fact that´s been known for many years. It´s nothing new.
In an environment where women are present, women often curb male sexual excesses, including homosexual behavior.
jason smeds
Giancarlo,
But you CAN choose to refrain from homosexual behavior. That’s where choice comes into it. I’m not saying this is what you should do but don’t deny that choice is involved in sexual behavior.
msfrost
Medical Science has proven, being LGBT is innate.
Cam
@jason smeds:
And Jason, the defender of right wing bigots comes in with his little thought on the matter.
Your comment is about as stupid as they come. You said “But you CAN choose to refrain from homosexual behavior.”
Yeah, and Chinese people CAN choose not to speak Chinese. Doesn’t mean they’re suddenly not Asian.
You continually defending any and every bigot talking point must get boring for you.
Paco
@jason smeds: “Now, as far as Ben Carson´s comments, he was simply saying that the prison environment can cause men who would not normally behave sexually with men to do so.”
No Jason, he didn’t say that. He said men go into prison straight and come out of prison gay. If prison rape and sexual intimidation that turns the victim into a “woman” in the mind of the rapist is your idea of gay sex, then happy fapping to you.
I’m surprised you’re able to get internet access from your little shack that’s deep in the woods and cut off from civilization. How else can your insane comments be explained?
Giancarlo85
@jason smeds: You are a right wing apologist. Why should I refrain from having a relationship? And by the way idiot, I didn’t choose my sexual orientation.
You don’t know anything about sexuality, you self hating pseudointellectual. You are fake and you don’t know what you’re talking about.
Only a misguided fool would think environment causes one to change their sexual orientation. Keep putting your foot up your own ass like BJ McFrisky.
Giancarlo85
@Cam: He is a self hating pseudo intellectual who knows nothing about sexuality.
And it just pisses me off the little miserable bigot tells me how to live. He can go kiss mi culo.
Saint Law
@jason smeds: You refrain from sex in as much as no one will sleep with you.
Giancarlo85
I will make myself very clear. There is NO choice with regards to sexual orientation. None. Zero. So Jason come back to me when you decide to use your brain.
Kangol
Why does Don Lemon even gratify ignorance and homophobia like this by subjecting it to debate? He is one of the worst excuses for a journalist out, and that includes other disreputable buffoons like Brian Williams, Bill O’Reilly, and almost else who regularly appears on Rupert Murdoch’s propaganda outfit Faux News.
Desert Boy
Don Lemon thought the Malaysian 777, flight 370, that vanished a year ago, may have flown into a black hole. This cat needs to put down the crack pipe and buy a Science for Dummies book. Read it, re-read it and read it again.
jason smeds
Everybody can choose their behaviour – everybody. Don’t deny it. You choose where to work, where to eat, when to cross the road, with whom to have sex…these are all choices. Don’t deny it.
Of course, sexual feelings are not a choice. They are innate. But don’t come here and pretend that sexual behavior cannot be refrained from.
jwtraveler
@Captain Obvious: Agreed. What if being gay is a choice? We live in America, the land of the free, where everyone is supposed to have the freedom to live their lives as they choose. The argument that being gay is a choice is meant to imply that it’s OK to discriminate against gay people because we can choose to be straight. Meanwhile, religion is a clear choice; many people choose a different religion in adulthood than they were raised with. But freedom of religion is the most cherished value in America. We don’t say that it’s OK to discriminate against people because of the religion they’ve chosen.
So what if being gay is a choice. We have the freedom to choose how to live our own lives because it’s in the Constitution.
Avery Alvarez
@jason smeds: Then go tell heterosexuals who are polluting the planet with their crotch fruit.
Giancarlo85
@jason smeds: You’re foaming at the mouth with bullshit. People don’t choose their sexual orientation. And please don’t come in here and post about sexual activity. Nobody is talking about sexual activity. If you can’t learn how to read and respond correctly, don’t bother responding at all.
And this isn’t even about “sexual feelings”. You don’t know anything about human sexuality. Go talk about a subject you know about. Like defending Roy Moore or some other right wing filth. This subject is about “SEXUAL ORIENTATION”.
If you cannot read and refuse to address the subject, then go somewhere else.
I don’t care if someone is a virgin all their life… if they are gay, they are gay. This isn’t about sex, you putz. I never mentioned anything about sex acts. I was talking about sexual orientation. How many times do I need to drill that statement into your thick skull?
Giancarlo85
I could go live in a mountain shack, become a hermit and not have contact with anyone for the next 30 years. Doesn’t change the fact that I’m still gay. Considering some illiterate on here is talking about sexual activity, I think I should clarify that a bit. The illiterate disputed my original statement:
“I chose to be gay as much as I chose to be human.”
The illiterate didn’t ever disprove that statement and proceeded to bring up sexual activity which is a red herring.
Sluggo2007
Hey Ferguson, is being black a choice?
Bauhaus
As a man sexually attracted to both men and women, it’s still not a choice for me. I’m gay. I need a man to feel complete.
manjoguy
And I “…would like to know…” who the heck is Don Lemon and do we care?!!!
Sluggo2007
@manjoguy: He’s some nobody looking for his 15 minutes of fame.
Tackle
@Sluggo2007: ” Hey Ferguson, is being black a choice?
In regards to that, sometimes it is. Since race is by and large a societal construct, and one that is always changing, and can vary depending on demographics, and country, a Black person who can pass for something or someone other than Black, but chooses to be Black, is making a choice to be Black…
NJjoe
Sexuality is not a choice. It’s if you’re true to yourself and how you deal with it- that is the only choice.
cchou444
Religion is a choice, so why protect that choice as a protected class if being gay as a choice is why they deny us equal rights? I am a proud gay man who for years felt forced to date women to make my religious parents happy and now I regret not telling them sooner just how much damage their religious beliefs did to my life.