Homosexuality:  Can It Be Recruited

There is no evidence that homosexuals successfully prey on "vulnerable" heterosexuals to "convert" them to homosexual orientation by a process commonly referred to as "recruitment."  Because sexual orientation is a complex issue, simple persuasion will not change a person's innate sexual orientation.  Heterosexual Christian Americans have been particularly concerned that homosexuals seek to recruit new homosexuals by preying on vulnerable and conflicted children and adolescents.  But research has continually shown that the overwhelming majority of adult sexual predatory or coercive activities against children are committed by heterosexual individuals.^99,100  Certainly, adolescents are frequently conflicted by sexual feelings and often experiment with sexual behavior.  But this adolescent experimentation is rarely solicited by adult homosexuals or adult heterosexuals--and is representative of neither orientation as a general rule. 

99.  AN Groth, HJ Birnbaum.  "Adult sexual orientation and attraction to underage persons" in the Archives of Sexual Behavior 1978; 7: 175-81, as cited by RC Friedman, JI Downey, in the New England Journal of Medicine 1994; 14: 923-930.

100.  Lynn Witt, Sherry Thomas, Eric Marcus, editors.  "The Most Common Myths About Gay Men and Lesbians,"  Out in All Directions:  The Almanac of Gay and Lesbian America.  New York:  Warner Books, 1995, 359