Does the Bible Say that God Made People Gay?

Recently, I was reading searching through Yahoo Answers and to my surprise I found an interesting question. There was a fellow that asked this question on the Yahoo Answers website: "If people choose to be Gay, why does the Bible say God turns people gay? I clicked on his question to read more. He quotes Romans 1:26-27:

²⁶Because of this, God gave them over to shameful lusts. Even their women exchanged natural relations for unnatural ones. ²⁷In the same way the men also abandoned natural relations with women and were inflamed with lust for one another. Men committed indecent acts with other men, and received in themselves the due penalty for their perversion. - (Romans 1:26-27)

Let me ask you a question: Does this passage say that God made people gay or turned people gay? The answer is no. It would be totally absurd to reach any other type of conclusion. However, I think I can understand why some people may read this passage and think that God turned people gay. It is the result of a flawed method of Bible interpretation.

God Did Not Make Anybody Gay

I think the point at which people think God turned people gay is when Paul writes "God gave them over to shameful lusts." We have to understand that the phrase "gave them over" does not mean that God made people gay. It just means that he allowed people to become gay. Let me give you an illustration.

One day, daughter comes up to her father and asks, "Can I marry John? I really love him Dad." Her father stares back at her and replies, "I don't want you to marry John. He doesn't have a job, and frankly, I don't think that he will make a good husband for you." The daughter was furious to hear her father say such a thing and persisted in asking him, "Can I marry John?" The father grew tired of her persistence and responded, "Since you persisted, you may marry John. But remember that I don't like him."

Did the father make the daughter marry John? No! He merely allowed her to marry John, but he was clear to say that he still did not favor the marriage. So then, when Paul says that "God gave them over to shameful lusts," God merely allowed mankind to engage in such sexual acts. This does not mean that God is okay with homosexuality. Neither does it mean that God made anybody gay.

"If people choose to be Gay, why does the Bible say God turns people gay?" Yahoo Answers.
"Biblegateway.com." Biblegateway.com