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April 7, 2010 /LGBT News - ManCentral/ Borrowing the concept from the science fiction film The Matrix, over 2,500 gay and bisexual men were given the choice: Take the blue pill, the story ends, and you wake up heterosexual. Or take the red pill and you remain in The Gaytrix. The statistics revealed that 3 in 4 of those surveyed would refuse to take a pill to change their sexuality.

Strange as it may seem, homosexuality was listed as a psychiatric disorder in the UK up until 1993. Whilst homosexuality has become more widely accepted, embraced and understood over the past 15 years, some people still promote the fallacy of a 'cure'.

In a recent survey conducted by the free gay dating website ManCentral.com, members were asked if they would take a pill to change their sexual orientation. Lee Martin, a spokesman for the site, explained the reasons for conducting the sensitive research; "In recent years, there have been reports of members of the LGBT community seeking to 'cure' themselves through various religious and questionably medical means. Whilst we strongly believe that sexuality is innate, and therefore not something that can or should be 'cured', we felt the research would enable the LGBT community to recognise the importance of self-acceptance alongside wider social acceptance."

Whilst 26% of those surveyed admitted that they would take a 'straight pill', if such a pill existed, almost three times as many men (74%) had no desire to alter their sexual preference and chose to reject any such 'cure'.

Considering the improved attitudes towards homosexuality in today's society, it may be assumed that younger males would be less inclined to covet heterosexuality than those who grew up in a less accepting social climates. However, males aged between 18 and 24 were the most likely to take a pill to change their orientation (37%), this gradually fell to just 13% of those aged 51 to 60.

Consequently, it seems that for the majority of gay and bisexual men, society bears little impact on the individual, whilst self-acceptance develops with age. On the other hand, younger males are more likely to feel anxious to conform to the norm, which may contribute to the higher percentage of 18-24 year olds willing to take a straight pill.

This theory is supported by the comments of several of those surveyed; one member said "I would not take a pill to change my sexuality now because I have the sense and maturity to realise that homosexuality is naturally occurring. But unfortunately when I was a young man, I am ashamed to say, I would have done anything to conform. That is because of peer pressure and religious pressure which led me to believe I was low-life because of my sexuality." Similarly, another member argued, "I would not [take a pill] because me being straight would not be me at all, being gay is who I am and it's taken me years to become comfortable with myself."

The survey also found that:

a.. 16% of openly gay and bisexual men admitted they would take a pill to change the sexual preference, whilst more than double the amount (38%) of closeted men would accept the altering drug.
b.. Gay men were the most likely to refuse a 'cure' with 79% unwilling to change their sexuality; compared to 66% of bisexual men and 54% of bi-curious males.
Though 1 in 4 of the men surveyed would take a pill to become straight, the research highlights that the majority of gay, bisexual and bi-curious men have no desire to leave The Gaytrix.

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About ManCentral:
ManCentral.com was launched in 2008 and has over 144,000 members, primarily from the UK and Ireland. The site allows gay, bisexual and curious men to join, create an online profile and contact other members of the site for free. Users of the site have free access to the forums, chat room, instant messenger and email features.