Are gays ‘born that way’? Most Americans now say yes, but science says no [LifeSiteNews]

Fr. Mark Hodges
Wed May 20, 2015 - 4:29 pm EST

Are gays ‘born that way’? Most Americans now say yes, but science says no

PRINCETON, NJ, May 20, 2015 (LifeSiteNews.com) -- For the first time, a majority of Americans say that homosexuals are "born that way."

According to the latest Gallup poll, 51 percent of Americans say that people are born gay or lesbian, while only 30 percent say outside factors such as upbringing and environment determine sexual orientation.

However, science would not bear that out. No fewer than eight major studies from around the world have found homosexuality is not a genetic condition.

Peter Sprigg of the Family Research Council says that these numerous, rigorous studies of identical twins have now made it impossible to argue that there is a "gay gene." If homosexuality were inborn and predetermined, then when one identical twin is homosexual, the other should be, as well.

Yet one study from Yale and Columbia Universities found homosexuality common to only 6.7 percent of male identical twins and 5.3 percent of female identical twins.

The low rate of common homosexuality in identical twins – around six percent – is easily explained by nurture, not nature.

Researchers Peter Bearman and Hannah Brueckner concluded that environment was the determining factor. They rejected outright that "genetic influence independent of social context" as the reason for homosexuality. "(O)ur results support the hypothesis that less gendered socialization in early childhood and preadolescence shapes subsequent same-sex romantic preferences."

"Less gendered socialization" means, a boy was without a positive father figure, or a girl was without a positive mother figure.

In light of the evidence, Sprigg said simply, "No one is born gay."

Psychiatrists William Byne and Bruce Parsons summarize the science: "Critical review shows the evidence favoring a biologic theory to be lacking. ... In fact, the current trend may be to underrate the explanatory power of extant psychosocial models." In other words, homosexuality is a psychological malady, not something people are born with.

Some homosexuals openly admit that their lifestyle is a choice. Lindsay Miller, who describes herself as a "queer woman," complained in The Atlanticmonthly, "I get frustrated with the veiled condescension of straight people who believe that queers 'can't help it,' and thus should be treated with tolerance and pity.”

“I was not born this way,” she wrote. “The life I have now is not something I ended up with because I had no other options. Make no mistake – it's a life I chose.”


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https://www.lifesitenews.com/news/f...of-americans-believe-homosexuals-are-born-tha

 

I wonder how much publicity will be received by this interesting article

 

The article is a little misleading to presume the science is conclusively on the conservative end. The only scientific consensus is that there is no consensus. The concept of a "gay gene" is admittedly fuzzy at best, and many people looking at the science at the surface could come to simplistic conclusions science doesn't. These studies don't conclude anything on the question, only add to the turbulent conversation.

 

This is an interesting discussion. If "gay gene" is a fuzzy concept in science, then how did it come to be that is it heresy to say it is fuzzy, in the media, popular culture?

 

It's pretty sensationalized. Anybody willing to do the reading, progressive or otherwise, wouldn't agree to the gay gene, as nobody would reduce any kind of behavioral genetics, for the most part, to a single gene.