A University of Tennessee psychology associate professor told UF students Monday that discussions about the LGBTQ+ community should focus on tackling myths about the community.
On Monday, Patrick R. Grzanka spoke to about 50 students about his ongoing study “The ‘Born This Way’ Wars and the Future of Sexual Orientation,” which looks at how society views nonheterosexual communities.
“The ‘Born This Way’ Wars reflects the diversity in not only the attitudes towards the sexual minorities today, but the various news about what sexual orientation even is,” he said.
Through his research, he surveyed college students, both who identify as straight and non-straight, on what they believe sexual orientation is, whether they believed it can change and if one can define different sexual orientations.
In his findings, he discovered most people do believe people are born a certain sexuality, but responses varied when it came to deciding if a person can be grouped by their sexuality, if they can change their sexuality and if one can tell a person’s sexuality without being told.
His results show that instead of trying to promote a “born this way” mentality, activists for the LGBTQ+ community should focus more on dismantling the stereotypes related to sexual minorities in order to create a more inclusive society.
Some public figures who have talked about the LGBTQ+ community believe being homosexual or queer is a choice, while others believe sexuality is biological, with a person being born into a sexuality, he said. But he argued that they speak more about how sexual orientation is viewed by the public.
Staci Ouch, 22, said she attended the talk because she was interested in understanding intersectionality and how society views sexual orientation.
“I think basing human rights on the fact that you should treat humans decently because they’re born this way is a good thing to look at,” the UF counseling psychology doctoral student said. “But also, if sexual orientation was a choice, you should still treat human beings decently.”
Patrick R. Grzanka
