Gay people have pretty much been abused, humiliated, and stigmatized for centuries. It's hard to believe someone would willingly choose the life of a pariah if they could help it.
Regarding a gene, I think it's some hormonal condition in the womb.
It's fear, it all breaks down to fear.
"It's hard to believe someone would willingly choose the life of a pariah if they could help it."
You speak truth.
It's also hard to believe someone would become so addicted to something that they would abandon their family, their job, their home...their everything. But people do it.