If being gay has a genetic cause, and the current science seems to say that it is, what would gay people do if they isolated the gene and scientists could reverse it\turn it into a heterosexual gene?
I've heard it argued in here by some that they would never chose to be gay. Well, if offered the choice to NOT be gay, would you take it?
It's an interesting question. It also leads to other questions that I know have come up -- if there is, say, a gay "gene," and if it could be tested for in utero, might some couples choose to terminate a pregnancy on that basis?
I'd like to think that part of the gay "movement" is to show to the mainstream that gay isn't a defect, and that a gay life, while certainly different in some aspects, really isn't all that different. The lowering and hopeful erasure of prejudice towards gays not only helps gays, but more importantly, it helps their parents and family members. Parents who reject their gay children, while reprehensible, are, too, victims of homophobia. They, too, have been taught that gay is "lesser than" and in a better world they would be able to deal with a child's coming out in a much more positive light. I'm sure a hetero parent would prefer a hetero child, that seems natural, but hopefully it's no longer a tragedy. Maybe people say this to me in a "my best friends are black kind of way," but I know several parents under 40 who claim they simply wouldn't care if their child were gay or not. This is because they live in a world where gay now has equal legal status to straight, and gays can get married and have families just like their hetero peers, should they so choose. To me, this is the real heart of the drive for SSM. Equality under the law, equal rights and benefits, these are the tangible, practical benefits. But I think the mental benefits -- for gay people and their extended families -- are more profound. And it helps everyone.
Lastly, if you could turn straight, would you? It's hard to say. Certainly, life would be easier in many ways, but there's enormous value to be found in difference and diversity, that there's more than one way to get through life, and we all benefit from diversity -- I've argued in the past that the "purpose" of a gay person, or what we can learn from homosexuality, is that we are on the planet to do more than just reproduce. That there's more to life than replacing yourself. Further, adults without children can provide support to adults with children, and aging parents. There's much that's beautiful about it, and an outsider's perspective always has value, and gays, who aren't burdened by gender role expectations as much, can model not only relationships of genuine equality, but show that gender roles are performance. Gay dads must perform more "motherly" duties, and lesbian moms more "fatherly" duties, thusly exploding these hackneyed stereotypes of "women do this and men do that." That's valuable. Men can stay at home, and women can work 70 hours a week. And pushing that further, women shouldn't feel like failures if they choose to stay at home. Because we know that there isn't anything a mother can do in parenting that a father can't also do, we're all more free to choose our own paths. Gays can and do liberate straights.
If you'd asked me 15 years ago, yes, I probably would "choose" to be straight. But the gay experience has taught me so much, and so increased my capacity for empathy for all minorities and the marginalized in all aspects of life, and taught me that we are the drivers of our own destiny, that I wouldn't trade it for anything. It is still hard -- there are times and situations where I do closet myself, or at least avoid discussing it -- but it is an indelible part of who I am, and unimaginable to be without. It is a gift.
Speaking of bottoms at work? You filthy, filthy men. 
