Simon LeVay's Genetic Theory

The best genetic evidence is, to my mind, the twin studies, which follow identical and fraternal twins separated at birth through a adoption. If one identical twin is gay, then the likelihood of the other being gay is. . . i don't remember exactly. . . let's say 57%, which is close to the actual result. If one fraternal twin is gay, then the probability was more along the lines of, say, 32%.

Both results are greater than what you would expect by chance, and these were kids raised by different sets of parents or caregivers. But wait - even in the case of identical twins, a significant number of the siblings of gay kids - with identical genetic material - did not grow up to be gay. And note: there are environmental influences on fetuses before they are delivered, including the effects they can have on each other, physical shocks to one or the other, anomalies in the hormonal environment of the womb due to the mother's body. The bottom line? It is impossible to separate out nature from nurture, in practical terms.

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And the newborn infant's brain continues to shape itself and form neural connections to a wild degree through the first three years of life, and those developments are absolutely influenced by the environment, including the way parents talk to their kids, holding general nutritional levels constant.

The nature nurture question is no longer really interesting to scientists. It's like asking, which side of the coin is the coin, is it the head or the tail? To some either/or questions, the only reasonable answer is a spirited "Yes."

The interesting questions for developmental psychobiologists have to do with identifying how genetics and the environment intersect to produce a complex, living person, particularly during any critical periods for the development of various traits. Much research has focused on the release, timing and mixture of maternal hormones into the uterus in sexual development and sexual identity development, but no definitive answers are there yet.

The genetics question is the wrong one. The real questions that most people want to answer is the mutability question. Can sexual orientation change in adulthood? Even "reparative therapists," when you attend their conferences and read their papers (such as they are), admit that basic orientation almost never changes after early childhood, since they mostly adhere to Freudian, deterministic models. They seek to change behavior, not to satisfy the person in question so much as to satisfy their version of God.

But the reality that overwhelming research and decades of practical experience show (remember electric shock treatments for "deviant" sexual arousal?) is that sexual orientation is not mutable, that is, changeable, in adolescence or adulthood. Those who do "change" are likely to have been more or les bisexual anyway. And gay men have known for years that many of us can marry and have kids. Does that make us less gay?

When most people ask if it is "genetic," what they really are asking is, is sexual orientation changeable? And the answer, essentially, is "no."

By the way, there is some worthwhile, though somewhat heavy reading on this matter in Andrew Sullivan's latest book, Love Undetectable. Whether you like Sullivan or hate him, the second section of the book, which deals with these questions, is probably the strongest part of the book, by more than one reviewer's account.

A. Lorenzo

I'm an Anglican (Episcopalian for Americans), I'm gay, and some church members know about it including the assistant bishop and his wife. I serve on the bishop's council, I attend synod, I play the organ, I'm on my parish council - not a problem.

I am embarrassed by fundamentalist bigots. Embarrassed because of their ignorance of scripture. Embarrassed because they offend the central gospel message of love and forgiveness. Embarassed because they bring disrepute to the whole Christian message and lead to the kind of foul-mouthed but entirely understandable diatribes we see above from people like Brassy.

In short they don't just distort the Christian gospel, they positively subvert it. Which is why things like the www.Godlovesfags.com website is so wonderful, because it set out what the Bible ACTUALLY says about being gay.

True Ozzie

Your presence is NECESSARY at a rally against the University of Pittsburgh's attack on Civil Rights, Human Rights, Employee Rights, Gay Rights, Domestic Partner Rights!!

The University is still attempting to challenge and invalidate Pittsburgh's civil rights law (Anti-Discrimination Ordinance) and still refuses to include LGBT employees' Domestic partners in their health care plan.

Concerned citizens need to take a stand against bigotry at the beginning of the semester to send a clear message to the administration that community opposition has not and will not go away until Pitt's policy changes.

There are now six(6) employees suing Pitt and the trial may begin this fall, provided Pitt's stalling and recent change in law firms doesn't continue to delay the trial in this 3-year-old case.

Pitt's Chairman of the Board of Trustees, J. W. Connelly says he will NEVER address Domestic Partner Benefits and will NOT allow the issue to be discussed with the Board of Trustees! Does this sound like a Institution of higher learning?? Or does it sound like one man is CONTROLLING and ABUSING an entire University system who's Faculty, Staff, and Students have all called for an end to this type of BIGOTRY.

Now is the time to build momentum against Pitt's leading administrators discriminatory policies.

S.D.Wms.-Justice