What do the new ‘gay gen’ tell about sexual orientatn? | New Scientist

Contents:

• MANY GEN INFLUENCE SAME-SEX SEXUALY, NOT A SGLE ‘GAY GENE’
• WHY ARE PEOPLE GAY? GAY BY CHOICE OR IS BEG GAY GEIC?
• NEW STUDY FDS GEICS INFLUENCE LGBTQ SEXUALY, BUT STILL NO 'GAY GENE'
• THERE IS NO ‘GAY GENE.’ THERE IS NO ‘STRAIGHT GENE.’ SEXUALY IS JT PLEX, STUDY NFIRMS
• WHAT DO THE NEW ‘GAY GEN’ TELL ABOUT SEXUAL ORIENTATN?
• 'NO GAY GENE' SAYS MAJOR STUDY, BUT GEICS DO FLUENCE SEXUAL BEHAVUR
• IS BEG GAY GEIC?
• THERE'S NO SUCH THG AS A 'GAY GENE,' A NEW STUDY ARGU
• THERE’S NO ONE ‘GAY GENE,’ BUT GEICS ARE LKED TO SAME-SEX BEHAVR, NEW STUDY SAYS

MANY GEN INFLUENCE SAME-SEX SEXUALY, NOT A SGLE ‘GAY GENE’

Muny there said they were worried the fdgs uld give ammunn to people who seek to e science to bolster bias and discrimatn agast gay ncern is that evince that gen fluence same-sex behavr uld e anti-gay activists to ll for gene edg or embryo selectn, even if that would be technilly impossible.

WHY ARE PEOPLE GAY? GAY BY CHOICE OR IS BEG GAY GEIC?

Another fear is that evince that gen play only a partial role uld emboln people who sist beg gay is a choice and who advote tactics like nversn therapy. Neale, who is gay. Dpe s limatns, the rearch was much larger and more varied than prev studi, which generally foced on gay men, often those who were tws or were otherwise related.

NEW STUDY FDS GEICS INFLUENCE LGBTQ SEXUALY, BUT STILL NO 'GAY GENE'

“That right there is the big issue wh lookg for the geics of sexual orientatn — social ntext uld be a big part of the exprsn of the tra, ” said Jeremy Yor, an assistant profsor of blogy at California State Universy, Northridge, who is gay and follows geic rearch the field. He and others noted that olr participants me of age when homosexual behavr was crimalized Bra and that for much of their life homosexualy was classified as a psychiatric Reilly and others said such stark differenc between olr and younger participants show the tricks of tryg to draw reprentative blogil rmatn om a study populatn so strongly fluenced by society’s changg attus.

Dean Hamer, a former Natnal Instut of Health scientist who led the first high-profile study intifyg a geic lk to beg gay 1993, said he was happy to see such a large rearch effort.

THERE IS NO ‘GAY GENE.’ THERE IS NO ‘STRAIGHT GENE.’ SEXUALY IS JT PLEX, STUDY NFIRMS

“Havg said that, I’d like to emphasize that ’s not a gay gene study — ’s a study of what mak people have a sgle same-sex experience or more, ” said Dr.

“Of urse they didn’t fd a gay gene — they weren’t lookg for one, ” Dr. More about Pam BelluckA versn of this article appears prt on, Sectn A, Page 1 of the New York edn wh the headle: Rearch Fds Not One ‘Gay Gene, ’ but a Multu of Influenc. Estimat as to the number of gay people the populatn range om 1--20 to 1--10, so why are some people gay?

Are they gay by choice or is beg gay geic? The simplt answer is to look at the fn of the word "gay.

WHAT DO THE NEW ‘GAY GEN’ TELL ABOUT SEXUAL ORIENTATN?

" The term gay is a synonym for homosexual, which is fed as, 1, 2. In other words, 5-10% of people experience same-sex sexual attractn or behavr; of urse, this don't speak to what mak people gay. No one knows for certa why any dividual is gay, but the current thought is that beg gay is not a choice.

(read: Cure the Gay: Gay Conversn Therapy – Real or Hoax? ) The reasons people are gay are both physlogil and psychologil.

Why Are People Gay? Morn science is workg to show that geics is one of the of beg gay, although some science nflicts this area.

'NO GAY GENE' SAYS MAJOR STUDY, BUT GEICS DO FLUENCE SEXUAL BEHAVUR

"In recent years, evince has accumulated that a homosexual orientatn is hered. Study of fay history reveals that homosexual men have more homosexuals their fay tree than do heterosexuals.

The precise gen volved the of beg gay have not yet been intified but they appear to e om the mother. Addnally, some studi have found that the bras om homosexuals differ om the bras of heterosexuals.

IS BEG GAY GEIC?

Psychologil reasons also appear to be part of why a person is gay.

Acrdg to, what mak people gay may clu:5. A female-domated upbrgg a gay man's past, wh an absence of a male role mol. While psychologil factors may crease the likelihood that someone is gay, no sgle factor is known to e homosexualy.

THERE'S NO SUCH THG AS A 'GAY GENE,' A NEW STUDY ARGU

Is Beg Gay a Choice? Consirg whether people choose to be gay is plex. It very much appears that same-sex sexual attractn is not a choice but actg on is; so if you fe gay as the mere prence of same-sex attractn, then om everythg we unrstand, beg gay is not a choice.

THERE’S NO ONE ‘GAY GENE,’ BUT GEICS ARE LKED TO SAME-SEX BEHAVR, NEW STUDY SAYS

If, on the other hand, you nsir someone to be gay only if they act on their same-sex attractn then beg gay n be nsired a choice pendg on an dividual's behavr.

Whether science n ultimately prove the blogy of beg gay or not, 's important to support all adults their choic no matter how they intify.