I've always bought into the nature argument because I was nurtured to be straight and that didn't take :)

Anyway, if you want scientific studies on this check out www.PubMed.gov and do a search for homosexuality and genetics. There are scientific papers you can look through like this one:

http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/12836730

you may only be able to see the abstracts though.

I've always been intrigued by Sappho, the ancient greek lesbian poet. Born 600BC. Lesbians have been around for a loooong time, I think its just natural for women. Unfortunately all her poetry was burned during the Christian crusades. So there is not much of her legacy left, but there is some info here:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sappho

In fact the word "Lesbian" comes from the town in Greece where she was from. More about her is found in some of Socrates writings. Socrates being gay himself, could relate to her. Heck, back in those days everyone was gay.

i'm not sure to be honest, because if it was genetic then there'd be more in my family, you would think. But i do think people are naturally gay or bi, and experiences influence it. My dad made me go into the woman's changing room at a v. young age by myself- so naturally naked woman were more normal than men(uch).

And I think life in general isn't purely nature or nuture. You need a balance of both like you may be naturally thin but if over nutured then that is more dominant in you're lifestyle and you may over-eat. I'm gonna stop because I've made my point that it is both that defines us, and I'd just be rambling.

Homosexuality exists in every species on earth so this alone proves the Nature theory.  

So many studies and opinions on this one...I once read a study about how they were trying to prove that a child's sexual orientation can be affected by a woman experiencing a traumatic experience while pregnant, for example if a woman were to experience a traumatic event such as a death in their family, etc...their child may be born gay...I am not kidding, money (likely government funding) was spent on this study...

If we are talking about the True lesbian, the one who knows from the time they are 5 years old they are attracted to women, and have absolutely no sexual attraction to men, then I say it is nature.

I know of other lesbians who have gay aunts, uncles and brothers in their families so this does support the idea of nature being the answer.  I think the statistics are a little off due to the older generation still being in the closet for the most part..a 100 years from now the study will prove more accurate because people are becoming less likely to hide their sexual orientation... 

The opinions of this topic are related to the individual's definition of "Lesbian"  I was born with blue eyes and a lesbian...two things I will always know, I will never have brown eyes and I will always wear comfortable shoes while driving my Subaru. 

The best place to look for reputable studies done on this subject would be academic journals (there are GLBT specific ones). I can access them through my university's website, but i dont know how the public could access them. Anyways, there is some evidence to suggest that prenatal hormones can play a role in homosexuality, specificaly for lesbians. For example high levels of prenatal testosterone can lead a female to exhibit some typicaly male qualities, like being attracted to women (see studies about second and third finger lengths).

I think nature and nurture play a role to varying degree depending on the individual. I dont think that you can blanket all homosexuals, or even lesbians, with one definite "cause." For some nature probably played a bigger role, and for others nurture may have played a bigger role.

There might be some nature to it. But check out: http://www.queerbychoice.com

Why do we feel we need to defend who we love with biology? It's like having the gene for breast cancer or diabetes. Having the gene doens't mean you'll have either of those diseases. And not having the gene doesn't mean you'll never get those diseases.

The human brain and body is far more complex than we can ever hope to break it down. It's likely humans will never figure out the complex interaction of nature and biology.

http://www.motherjones.com/mojoblog/archives/2008/06/8767_science-gayness-matter.html

Don't present it to your family as a matter of biology. It's who you are. If it's important your family know your sexuality they can like it or lump it. I don't tell many people these kinds of things becuase it's none of their damn business.

I agree with asrai. The only people who really need to know if homosexuality is a natural phenomenon are people who are not gay, because they find it abnormal from the start. They will likely be people who are interested in "curing" homoseuality in the future, or end up aborting babys with 'genetic predispositions to homosexuality' in order not to have gay children. Sure, until then they will at least have a rational. Check out the movie with Jennifer Beals: Twighlight of the Golds, it's on Showtime these days, it's why a lot of people find the science explaination a real problem.

The other thing is that from every experience I've ever had with religious conservatives, if science contradicts what they have found comforting in their religious practices and community, then they will ignore science. How many religious conservatives believe in evolution for example. Unfortunately, the if they are homophobic, they will likely think that even if you are naturally in some way more homosexual leaning, that practicing homosexuality is still an abomination, and you should just live a straight life style even if your heart and body aren't in it.

The reality is some people do not accept it from the start and never will, but some learn to love their family even if it takes time. I've found that more often than not, if the people love you a lot before knowing, they'll eventually come around, and sometimes faster than you think.