Alan Greenblatt is a GOVERNING correspondent.
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"Genetically Inclined Disorders"
Texas Gov. Rick Perry has a new book out extolling the traditional values of the Boy Scouts. He tells The Washington Post that being gay is akin to a trait that adults can learn not to let control their lives:
Look, I agree with the right of individuals to choose their own sexual orientation. . . . But I don't believe that parents enroll their sons in Scouts to get a lesson on human sexuality. And if there is an openly gay Scoutmaster, the kids are going to talk about it.
Being gay: Choice? Not a choice? You referred to it as a choice.
I'm not a social scientist. I can't answer the question of, "Is it the environment that one finds oneself in or is it the way you're wired up when you are born?" I don't know. I do know this: that people have a choice to engage in that activity.
For instance, there's probably a debate that goes on about if you're an alcoholic you were born with that genetic trait. But every day, individuals realize that that is a trait that is not particularly good for their health, not good for their well-being and that it can be controlled with responsible behavior. And I would suggest that that is probably an argument that can be made for a host of genetically inclined disorders. If that in fact is where they come from.
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