You are right that the situation is much more complicated than a certain family nexus causing homosexuality. Freud's theory was that everyone passes through a homosexual phase, which usually occurs before puberty, and therefore it is not eroticized. Most gays remember having truly homosexual feelings long before puberty. As for family dynamics, we have mostly self-reported data, but there are gays who come from healthy families, who have not been molested, and who are otherwise emotionally healthy (Hooker). The determinants will surely be complex for each individual, and will differ from one individual to another.

30 August 1996. Copyright information is available.