When do people decide if they are gay?

Answer 1

Who you find attractive and appealing depends on who you are as a person. There are many factors and it can be a very complex issue for the small number who are gender dysphoric or who are dealing with rare genetic conditions, but for most people it comes down to your own thoughts and feelings. Even if there are certain environmental factors during the very first months or years of life, once you pass the age of 2 or 3 (according to some experts) these attractions are fixed and are part of the normal variability among people.

Answer 2

People do not necessarily decide if they are gay. It is not seen as something one can choose to be or not be. Instead, a gay person 'realizes' that he or she is gay. Sometimes this happens quickly, sometimes slowly. It is easy to understand how some people may not understand that they might be attracted to members of the same sex if they are brought up in an environment where such a thought is forbidden, or considered 'sinful.'

But even in environments such as these, people can 'come out' to themselves or others when they realize that they are, indeed, gay. See the related links section for a link to an article from the American Psychological Association, which goes into a bit more depth.

Sexuality is often not as cut-and-dried as it may seem. We are brought up in a culture with accepted modes of behavior and taboos; some of these taboos are things we don't talk about for fear of being identified with them. Sexuality is something that is a very personal thing; our sexual feelings towards others can be different for each person. People in our culture admit openly to feeling sexual arousal and love to a member of the opposite sex. We are not so inclined, however, to admit to these same feelings if they happen to be for a member of the same sex. (To make it even more confusing one can have feelings of arousal and love for members of both sexes.) One doesn't decide one's orientation toward the same or opposite sex: one simply becomes aware of how one feels.

Answer 3

When you first begin having sexy thoughts and feelings. Simply observe which fantasies you seem drawn toward.

Most people figure it out by puberty.

Answer 4

The same way straight people know they are straight. You know who and what you find attractive and fall in love with.

Answer 5

If you are sexually attracted to the same sex someone is most likely to be gay or bisexual.

Answer 6

if you are then you will realise it, you will start to feel attracted to the same sex.

Answer 7

People don't decide their sexuality. You're born with it.