---
title: "Americans are still divided on why people are gay"
description: "Four-in-ten Americans said being gay or lesbian is \"just the way some choose to live,\" while a similar share said that \"people are born gay or lesbian.\""
date: "2015-03-06"
authors:
  - name: "David Masci"
    job_title: "Former Senior Writer/Editor"
    link: "https://www.pewresearch.org/staff/david-masci/"
url: "https://www.pewresearch.org/short-reads/2015/03/06/americans-are-still-divided-on-why-people-are-gay/"
categories:
  - "LGBTQ Attitudes & Experiences"
---

# Americans are still divided on why people are gay

Potential Republican presidential candidate Dr. Ben Carson made news earlier this week when he said that [being gay is a “choice](http://www.politico.com/story/2015/03/ben-carson-gay-choice-prison-115744.html),” but when it comes to public opinion, polls show that Americans remain divided over whether "nature" or "nurture" is ultimately responsible for sexual orientation.

Four-in-ten Americans (42%) said that being gay or lesbian is "just the way some choose to live," while a similar share (41%) said that "people are born gay or lesbian," according to the most recent [Pew Research Center poll](https://www.pewresearch.org/politics/2013/06/06/section-2-views-of-gay-men-and-lesbians-roots-of-homosexuality-personal-contact-with-gays/#divided-opinions-over-why-people-are-gay-lesbian) on the issue, conducted in 2013.

Fewer U.S. adults (8%) said that people are gay or lesbian due to their upbringing, while another one-in-ten (9%) said they didn't know or declined to give a response.

[![Americans With College Degrees More Likely to Say Gays, Lesbians Born That Way](https://www.pewresearch.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/20/2015/03/FT_15.03.06_whyGayLesbian.png)](https://www.pewresearch.org/politics/2013/06/06/section-2-views-of-gay-men-and-lesbians-roots-of-homosexuality-personal-contact-with-gays/#divided-opinions-over-why-people-are-gay-lesbian)

People with the most education are the most likely to say that gays and lesbians were born that way. Indeed, 58% of Americans with a postgraduate degree say that people are born gay or lesbian, compared with just 35% of those with a high school diploma or less.

The percentage of all Americans who believe that people are born gay or lesbian has [roughly doubled](https://www.pewresearch.org/religion/2012/07/31/2012-opinions-on-for-gay-marriage-unchanged-after-obamas-announcement/) (from 20% to 41%) since 1985, when the question was asked in a Los Angeles Times survey.

More than [three decades of Gallup polls](http://www.gallup.com/poll/170753/americans-views-origins-homosexuality-remain-split.aspx) also show a considerable rise in the view that being gay or lesbian is a product of "nature" rather than "nurture." But the most recent survey, in 2014, still finds that the nation remains split in its feelings on the origins of sexual orientation.

[![Americans Split on Origins of Homosexuality](https://www.pewresearch.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/20/2015/03/FT_15.03.06_whyGayLesbianGallup.png)](https://www.pewresearch.org/short-reads/2015/03/06/americans-are-still-divided-on-why-people-are-gay/ft_15-03-06_whygaylesbiangallup/)

The 2014 Gallup poll found that 42% of respondents said gay people are born that way, while 37% said people are gay due to "factors such as their upbringing and environment." Gallup's surveys ask the question somewhat differently than do Pew Research surveys; Gallup does not offer respondents the option to say that homosexuality is a choice.

In any case, the question is not settled for Americans or in the scientific community, where [the ongoing search for a “gay gene”](http://news.sciencemag.org/biology/2014/11/study-gay-brothers-may-confirm-x-chromosome-link-homosexuality) has yielded intriguing results that continue to be debated. Meanwhile, the [American Psychological Association says](http://www.apa.org/topics/lgbt/orientation.aspx) that while there is no scientific consensus on the origins of sexual orientation, "most people experience little or no sense of choice" about it.