If attractions only start manifesting in a child later in life

and if they start manifesting earlier?

Think back to your own childhood. Was it not obvious already that some of the kids were gay? Was it a huge surprise to find out later on? It's probably safe to say that many of us knew kids who were gay going back to early grade school. We all knew they were gay, it was obvious. Heck, this is such a common thing that I heard a comedian once joke about this (I believe it was in one of the "Kings of Comedy" dvd's) and get all manner of laughter and applause, cus it's a fairly universal experience.

So, how you get the impression that it only begins manifesting later in life, I don't know. I remember sexual dreams I had in kindergarten, and fantasies that occurred throughout childhood.

how can anyone know prior to that time whether or not such attractions are hardwired? Am I missing something?

The fact that sexual orientation is hardwired is not in question. The only people who refuse to accept this fact are the nutcases over at Exodus International and other "ex-gay" ministries. The question, then, isn't whether it is hardwired but rather at what age does it become hardwired.

For this, we have to rely on peoples past experience. Ritch Savin-Williams, professor of developmental psychology at Cornell University interviewed 150 gay and bisexual men and discovered that, on average, they realized they were attracted to other boys at the age of 8 (interestingly, 3 was the youngest age at which anyone realized they were attracted to other boys). Other research points to various ages between 8 and 11 as the average, although in those cases they use stricter terminology such as "when did you know you were gay?". This seems to match what you will find from reading the stories of other gays and bisexuals and from listening to our own stories here on CBF.


Have any studies been done that have shown conclusively (within a reasonable margin of error) that orientation is hardwired at such an early age?

It has been conclusively proven in studies using identical twins that sexual orientation is at least influenced by genetics, if not entirely dictated by it.

There have also been studies pointing to the possibility that one is hardwired at birth. Here are some:
http://www.uel.ac.uk/news/press_releases/releases/s_or.htm
http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,305217,00.html
http://www.tgcrossroads.org/news/?aid=770
http://media.www.wsusignpost.com/media/storage/paper985/news/2003/11/26/AtAGlance/Homosexuality.May.Be.Issue.Of.Brain.Chemistry-2108151.shtml

There is evidence (which I already went into) that sexual orientation is set very early in life.

Finally, there is a lack of evidence that sexual orientation can be changed at any point in life.

Even your informal survey of our board showed that your perception about the incidence of child sexual abuse amongst at least our little corner of the community was incorrect.

So, the real question is. Given that there is compelling evidence that people are born with their sexual orientation hardwired and that failing that, their sexual orientation is evident very early in life (and thus probably hardwired at the same time as sexual identity). Given that the most prominent theory on psychosexual development places the hardwiring of sexual orientation in infancy as well. Given the fact that the evidence that sexual orientation can be affected by childhood experiences beyond infancy lacks any evidence beyond the gut feelings of a handful of individuals who admit in their very stories to be unsure. Why would you choose to believe so adamantly the way you do? and perhaps more importantly, why does it matter? What difference does it make to any of us?