Jerry Sandusky being escorted by police after conviction

You can call Jerry Sandusky a horrible man, a monster or even evil and you would be correct, but there has been and presently are many more of these monsters causing severe damage to children but are not getting the proper attention. Sandusky took advantage of the trust kids had given him and used young boys to satisfy his perverted sexual desires and for that Sandusky will head to prison to live out the remainder of his years [applaud]. But there is a dark (unknown) number of people who impose their sexual desires unto innocent children, creating confusion for the rest of the child’s life and do not get the proper attention.  A child can be conditioned to like football, Disney or even be conditioned to be a Republican or a Democrat so why we ignore the possibility children are being conditioned through sexual abuse to attain attachments to a particular sexual behavior. My theory is that sexual abuse like that Sandusky illustrated can have an effect on the victim’s sexuality, especially when the victim is victimized at a very young age.  I’ve done a lot of listening and even done a small unscientific study that proved early childhood sexual abuse does have an effect on the child’s future sexual behavior. But one shoe definitely does not fit all.

Before some of you label me a “homophobe” as I’m sure some are ready, hear me out! This has been an important issue troubling my brain for a few years now, childhood sexual abuse has affected members of my family and others close and not so close to me. My words are meant to try to bring attention to an some-what ignored ripple-effect of childhood sexual abuse.  Suicide rates and depression are high in homosexual community and carrying around an evil done to one when they were a child can definitely weigh one down. Child sexual abuse is the greatest hidden epidemic in the world in the U.S. statistics reveal as high as 62 percent of females and 31 percent of males will be sexually violated before age 18. These individuals are heavily burdened, and without properly connecting the dots and recognizing “why one is the way they are” you can’t start to properly serve the individuals psychological needs.

My theory started to sprout when I started connecting the dots while being a youth minister.  In age I wasn’t too far removed and I had earned a level of respect from area youth; they communicated issues to me that they for whatever reasons couldn’t with their parents.  A few of the youth were openly gay and were understandably struggling and wanted a not so older ear to confide in. And as I listened to the few gay youth I began to notice a pattern, one by one, they told of sexual abuse as a very young child, and these horrible acts were often always done by a parent/step-parent/guardian or other family members (uncle).  Some of the horrors I heard were:

• My mom’s boyfriend had sex with me when I was 7 and she knew and did nothing (female)
• I found out that my uncle molested me when I was about 3-4 years old (this can possibly lead to individuals believing they were born gay, when in actuality they had been sexually programmed as far back as they could remember). (male)
• My stepfather sexually abused me and I hate him, I hate all men (female)
• I never thought of it but sex with men was something I’ve been used to ever since my cousin (older male) had sex with me when I was 6. (male)

Some said they didn’t know anything was wrong with what was going on at the time because they were told by the adults that what was going on was okay. And you know if you are a 6 or 7-year-old kid and your favorite uncle tells you to do something or “keep this a secret”, you’re more than likely would.

Many, even homosexuals accept that most humans are nurtured into a heterosexual lifestyle, because from an early age we are bombarded with concepts of mom and dad, girl and boy, men kissing women and so on.  So why is it so hard to apply that same logic to children who may have been bombarded with concepts of same-sex relationships?

The Problem beyond Childhood

To make a behavior acceptable, as humans we try to normalize the behavior and what better attempt to normalize a behavior than to say the behavior is wired in us from birth. This cause of homosexuality has been scientifically proven wrong; there is no “gay gene”.  However, there are a very small number of individuals having both male and female sexual reproduction organs.

I know as a society, pedophiles are the grimiest of the grimiest of humans and when I say these evil human beings are not getting proper attention, I mean they are not being considered as possible influences on homosexual behavior within their victims. Many simply do not want to connect homosexuality to learned behavior, instead activist push the “born this way” lie. But what that does is totally ignore a bigger problem of sexual abuse within the home and other “friendly” social environments and the effects that abuse have on its child victims.

Research shows child sexual abuse can result in psychological, emotional, physical, and social effects include depression, post-traumatic stress disorder, anxiety, poor self-esteem, dissociative and anxiety disorders; general psychological distress and disorders such as, sexualized behavior, school/learning problems; and behavior problems including substance abuse, destructive behavior, criminality in adulthood and suicide. But when speaking of sexualized behavior researchers tend to concentrate on behaviors such as being more active, aggressive or experimental toward sex and not considering homosexuality as result of child sexual abuse.

In an effort to legitimize homosexuality I believe some are ignoring a horrible truth, children are being socialized from an early age to attach to certain sexual behaviors. In studying human behavior we know environment can influence attitudes, beliefs and behaviors and we know at very young ages we are susceptible to being shaped even more by our surroundings and experiences. So why do we choose not to connect the dots and see that a person’s present homosexual behavior could be connected to past sexual abuse. This article is no one shoe fits all approach, individuals are gay for varying reasons, I only hope more research could be done to help fight the psychological trauma brought on by childhood sexual abuse. As a society we cannot continue to ignore a truth in order to go along. 

I must conclude with noting, I know not all individuals who are sexually abused in their youth become gay, for example Oprah Winfrey, Terri Hatcher and Drew Carey who all said they were sexually abused as children are heterosexual. On the other hand you see quite the opposite in celebrities like Queen Latifah, Maya Angelou, and Tatum O’Neal, they all are gay and were sexually abused as children. These are just a few celebrities, there’s a whole world of individuals who behaviors are being forced on them by traumatic events such as child sexual abuse.

Years back it was the Catholic Priest, today it’s Sandusky but there has always been sexual abuse within the walls of the home. If as a society we really care about our children, it is time we stop with the political correctness and examine the possible link between early childhood sexual abuse and it’s effect on an individual’s sexuality.