To rebel, you have to first know what the authority's established standards of opinion and behavior are. Then you have to choose to react or diverge from them for some reason. This happens for most adolescents to some degree against their parents; it is normal and even healthy. In adolescence, we begin to move away from our parents as part of the natural maturation process because we need to form our own identity in order to make it as an independent adult. Often, however, the adolescent reacts much more than is needed, which is thought of as rebellion. Long term studies in the social sciences, though, have told us that individuals often realign with their parents' views and even behavior during young adulthood.

The only problem?

Most gay people know that they are attracted to the same sex (1) long before they have reached adolescence, and (2) before they have heard the words "gay, lesbian, homosexual" etc. or even know what they mean. If you don't believe this, just ask some gay folks (unless you think they're all liars too).

So how exactly is it supposed to be rebellion?

Also, if it was rebellion in adolescence, you would see a lot more people returning to heterosexuality in young adulthood and giving up their rebellious ways. Does this happen? No. Not only do they stay gay, they almost never return to strictly heterosexual behavior at any point in their lives. It almost sounds as if they ARE homosexual rather than CHOOSING to be homosexual.

Have you ever thought about this simple fact? We know a lot about human beings simply by observing their behaviors on a large scale. We know that many, if not most, people in the world ascribe to a religion. People leave their religion and people find their religion. People are converted every day. Yet people's sexual orientation are not tied to their religion for some reason. People who are Christian and straight don't turn gay just because they decide to be Buddhist or Atheist. People who are gay don't turn straight when they are converted to Christianity (I'm using Christianity because that's what I am).

Oh, and also, your reasoning has several flaws. It is highly unlikely that homosexuality is rebellion again parents, or church, or society. This is because the simplest way to rebel is to leave. If I don't like what my parents believe, I simply stop believing what they believe. Same for church, and same for society. If rebellious acts were a continuum, I suppose that killing people who don't think like you is on one extreme and that trying to change their minds is somewhere in the middle, but the simplest way to rebel is just to stop doing, thinking, or believing what the authority is doing, thinking, or believing. If my parents think that being gay is wrong, I can simply say I don't agree, I can tell them that they're stupid or that I hate them. I can try to change their minds, I can even say I'm gay to see if they'll change their minds. But would I truly change from being heterosexual to being homosexual simply to irk them? Could you? Could you choose to be gay, change your whole lifestyle, your sexual behavior, and your attractions simply because someone told you something was wrong? Even as a teenager, could you do that?

Anyway, I'm sorry for being so long-winded. I'm a sociologist and I've had a lot of conversations with individuals who are lgbt, so I have a lot to say. Thanks for listening.