Speaking at a televised town hall meeting with 225 college students and younger voters on Thursday, US President Barack Obama told the audience that he doesn't believe being gay or transsexual is a choice.
"I don't profess to be an expert," the president said in response to a question sent via Twitter. "I don't think it's a choice. I think people are born with a certain make up, and we're all children of God."
He continued that he believes "we don't make determinations about who we love. That's why I think discrimination on the basis of sexual orientation is wrong."
The two other LGBT-related questions dealt with online harassment and the recent suicides of young people who were bullied, and ending the military's Don't Ask, Don't Tell (DADT) policy. Read Whitehouse transcript here.
The hourlong event was presented by MTV News, BET News and Country Music Television as part of the effort to mobilise the youth vote in the run-up to mid-term elections next month.
His comments come shortly after White House Senior Adviser Valerie Jarrett came under fire for remarking that a gay teen who committed suicide suffered because of his "lifestyle choice." She subsequently apologised for the comment and said she does not believe that sexual orientation is a lifestyle choice.
The Obama administration faces an increasing backlash from gay rights advocates for its lack of progress on issues like repealing the military's DADT policy and its defense of the Defense of Marriage Act in court.
The policy prohibits gay and lesbian service members from openly divulging their sexual orientation while serving in the armed forces.
As Obama reiterated during the meeting that the DADT policy on gays in the military “will end and it will end on my watch,” his Justice Department was appealing a judge’s ruling that would have allowed homosexuals to serve openly in the military.
Federal Judge Virginia Phillips of California had ruled in September that the DADT policy is fundamentally unconstitutional meaning the military would, in theory, have to stop the practice immediately.