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Sexual Orientation and the Myth of Immutability

by admin
written by admin
by Koby Frances, Ph.D., Licensed Clinical Psychologist
The original article was written in September 2024. You can read and download the full article here.
The belief in “sexual orientation” as a fixed, stable and immutable human construct is now widely accepted by a majority of the Western secular world. In academic and scientific communities this belief called “the essentialist lens” often contrasts with the “social constructionist lens” of sexual orientation, which sees the terms “gay, straight, bisexual, asexual” and so forth, as recent man-made inventions that some people can choose to identify with, but which is by no means a naturally occurring human construct.
Despite the fact that this social constructionist lens is more aligned with the actual scientific evidence and cultural history of these constructs, this essentialist lens of “inherent sexual orientation” has grown to become so ubiquitous in modern culture that it can easily appear as if it has been there forever and as if there were no other possible ways to see it. The popularity and assumed credibility of Essentialism, has also led to its blind and seamless adoption in many traditional and religious Judeo-Christian communities, and also very likely, within much of the Orthodox Jewish world across the full religious and hashkafic gamut.

This possibility – one which I personally see the evidence of as a psychotherapist who works with all types of Orthodox Jewish communities across the globe – should bring up some important questions: For instance, where does this belief of sexual orientation come from? Is it scientifically credible, logical and Torah compatible? How and why has such a belief become so popular and powerful? Do Orthodox communities have reason to accept or reject this belief? What are the social benefits and costs of seeing people through this lens? And might there be other potentially more accurate and Torah-compatible ways to explain what many people are being led to call “inherently gay”?

This article aims to answer these questions in a clear, thorough and sensitive manner. As I will show, the primary Essentialist belief of “fixed, stable and immutable” actually suffers with fundamental flaws in common-sense and scientific reasoning. It further lacks empirical support and even contradicts several established principles of biology and psychology. And it is also deeply incompatible with timeless Judeo-Christian beliefs about intimacy, relationships, free-will and the family blueprint that Hashem created for both Jew and non-Jew alike.
Given these flaws, how has such a belief thrived and spread so quickly? Why is no one challenging it? As I will discuss, this core belief of “fixed, stable and immutable sexual orientation” does not act alone, so to speak. Rather, it is intrinsically connected to a “family” of six other beliefs, which are insidiously designed to preempt, deflect and silence debate and disagreement.
In my opinion, it is these six supporting beliefs, which have not only led to the blind adoption of sexual orientation ideology in the broader world, but that have also kept JudeoChristian communities – and Orthodox communities in particular – from defending its foundational family values. These six beliefs also function to psychologically block people from learning about other theories of sexuality, relationships and identity, theories which may be much more accurate and empowering than the pat “I’m just gay” theory. It is these six beliefs that are responsible for turning this very new and radical essentialist idea into a powerful and intractable Essentialist ideology.
This article aims to familiarize readers with the full picture of this ideology. I will make all of its implicit beliefs explicit so that they can be clearly challenged and ultimately replaced with more scientifically accurate and Jewishly compatible ideas. In doing so, my hope is to help frum communities better stand up for its treasured values, while giving “first-responders” like therapists, rabbis, teachers and parents more clarity and confidence when teaching young people, well before these misleading and false beliefs are internalized.
I: Essentialism’s Core Belief:
This belief states: All human beings have a natural sexual orientation, some kind of fixed, stable and immutable drive that originates from their biology and/or early experiences and that determines who they are at their authentic core and the kind of gender with which they most desire sexual relationships.
While I will soon challenge the validity of this belief, it is important to first consider just how radical it is in the context of human civilization and just how desensitized modern society has become to its radicalness. For example, the history of innate “heterosexuality” and “homosexuality” – or the terms “gay” and “straight” is extremely short. Note, for example, how common homosexual relationships and behaviors were throughout the history of mankind. Yet, no society until now has seen people with same-sex attractions as inherently “other”.

In fact, echoes of Essentialism only started to appear in popular newspapers at the end of the 19th century, which discussed heterosexual people as those who had a notably strong sex drive. 2 Soon thereafter, the terms “homosexual” and “heterosexual” were recast by psychoanalysts who treated same-sex desires not as just as urges and involuntary sexual reactions, but as signs of a more global and ingrained pathology requiring intensive remediation. These attitudes carried over into the first versions of the psychiatric “bible” called the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual for Mental Disorders, or “DSM” for short, which placed “homosexuality” under the psychopathological category of “sociopathic personality disturbance”.

Then in the 1970’s, when activists fought to remove homosexuality from the DSM, they did not take a stance against this Essentialist perspective. Rather, they opposed the view of homosexuality as a sickness that can be cured.
¹ H. Blank, The Surprisingly Short History of Heterosexuality (Beacon Press, 2012)
² Jonathan Ned Katz, The Invention of Heterosexuality. (University of Chicago Press, 2007)
³ Sigmund Freud, Three Essays on the Theory of Sexuality. (Basic Books, 1905)
⁴ Sara McHenry, “Gay Is Good”: History of Homosexuality in the DSM and Modern Psychiatry. The American Journal of Psychiatry Residents’ Journal, 18:1 (2022)
Featured Image: Pixabay

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