My wife came home from church yesterday and told me one of the families down the street has had yet another child come out of the closet, this time one of the daughters.
I know these people and they are absolutely wonderful parents, very faithful in their religion, un-ending kindness to everyone they meet.
Somehow, they have 4 of their 7 kids who have come out of the closet. (When I met the kids way back when we moved in, my "gay dar" went off on a few of them. Effeminate boys, butch girls, you can spot 'em a half mile away.)
In the short but informative book named "Brain Sex", the author describes three aspects of gender identificiation: 1) Do you think you're a man or a woman. 2) Do you act like a man or a woman, and 3) Which gender are you attracted to? There can be differenet combinations of responses to these questions.
My hunch is that homosexuality is mostly biological in nature, though not necessarily genetic. In the UK there was a time period where many pregnant women were prescribed a certain drug to lessen the likelihood of miscarriage, and the male offspring of these pregnancies had very, very high rates of homosexuality, like over 80%. So, this is a biological basis, but not necessarily genetic.
I truly, truly feel for these people, both the kids and the parents (and the "straight" siblings). They are absolutely enduring to the end. In my way of looking at things, homosexuality is just a biological variation, but it's easy to see how the issue is wrenching for faithful LDS (and Catholics, Prostestants, certainly Muslims.)
I told my wife that gays are 21st Century negroes, that there will be some kind of a revelation or proclamation, or something. The LDS church is a caring organization, and it has proven to be adaptive in adjusting to new ways of looking at things. This issue is a biggie, but I think the LDS church can bridge it. Many, many understandings would have to evolve, but I think it will happen.