Your Good Health: Why is one ‘intil’ tw gay, the other straight? - Victoria Tim Colonist

Contents:

• MEN WH OLR BROTHERS ARE MORE LIKELY TO BE GAY, STUDY SUGGTS
• BROTHERS AND SISTERS OF GAYS AND LBIANS
• ARE YOUNGER BROTHERS MORE LIKELY TO BE GAY?
• YOUR GOOD HEALTH: WHY IS ONE ‘INTIL’ TW GAY, THE OTHER STRAIGHT?
• IS A PERSON ‘BORN GAY’, OR IS BEG GAY A LEARNED BEHAVR?
• WE MAY KNOW WHY YOUNGER BROTHERS ARE MORE LIKELY TO BE GAY

MEN WH OLR BROTHERS ARE MORE LIKELY TO BE GAY, STUDY SUGGTS

Men wh olr brothers are more likely to be gay, acrdg to a study published Wednday the journal Proceedgs of the Royal Society B. This new report builds upon prev rearch regardg male birth orr and homosexualy, though there is still no cisive ncln as to why there’s a lk between the cross-analyzg data om 10 scientific studi wh more than 5, 000 subjects, rearchers found that men wh olr brothers were 38 percent more likely to intify as gay.

BROTHERS AND SISTERS OF GAYS AND LBIANS

”The study, which pared the probabily of the youngt brother a two-son fay beg gay as pared to the olst son, did not clu female subjects, as prev rearch has tablished that women do not fluence the sexual orientatn of their younger siblgs, acrdg to this study did not terme a ncrete reason for the rrelatn between a man havg an olr brother and intifyg as gay, Blanchard said that “pots toward the need for more rearch on the 'maternal immune hypothis'” — a theory Blanchard troduced 1996 that suggts that a mother is exposed to “male-specific substanc” durg pregnancy wh or the birth of a son. Acrdg to proponents of the theory, the mother’s immune rponse is changed durg the pregnancy of a boy, creasg the likelihood that a subsequent male child would be gay.

ARE YOUNGER BROTHERS MORE LIKELY TO BE GAY?

Is possible for two siblgs to be gay?

YOUR GOOD HEALTH: WHY IS ONE ‘INTIL’ TW GAY, THE OTHER STRAIGHT?

What is like to have a siblg who is gay or lbian? Based on the ltle b of rmatn available, seems that siblgs may share the stigma of their gay brothers and lbian sisters. They may have to pe wh tnts om peers, which clu accatns that they, too, are gay.

In my own study of 65 gay youth and their fai, young Ain-Amerin men talked about how their brothers and other male relativ felt they were addg to society's already negative image of black manhood. Like parents, their brothers also felt they had to fd ways to handle their peers' homophobic ments and behavrs.

IS A PERSON ‘BORN GAY’, OR IS BEG GAY A LEARNED BEHAVR?

Si by Si: On Havg a Gay or Lbian Siblg by Andrew Gottlieb is a sensive, sightful anthology nsistg of says wrten by siblgs of lbians and gays who discs how they, too, bee objects of abe and tolerance, sharg the stigma of their gay siblgs. However, like some fortunate parents, people who learn their siblgs are lbian or gay n fd ways to grow and ga new perspectiv.

Several of the ntributors to this volume discsed how they formed pecially close bonds wh their gay brothers and sisters and, like some of the parents my study, veloped new, more tolerant worldviews that enriched their liv.

The pcy of available rmatn about siblgs of gay and lbian youth do not mean their issu are small or unimportant. Sisters and brothers might need help pg wh feelgs of shame that they have someone gay the fay. They may also need help alg wh peer nmnatn and harassment once others fd out that they have a gay or lbian siblg.

WE MAY KNOW WHY YOUNGER BROTHERS ARE MORE LIKELY TO BE GAY

In addn, I have also seen parents wh good tentns isolate their gay children's younger siblgs, keepg the gay child's sexual orientatn a secret and therefore excludg brothers and sisters om fay discsns of this topic. At other tim, this is done advertently when, after the gay child out, parents and gay kids emotnally whdraw om the fay, leavg siblgs to al wh their reactns alone.

For all the reasons, is a good ia to pay close attentn to siblgs fai wh g-out gay and lbian youth. However, there are ways to expla homosexualy to a small child whout gettg to the nty-grty sexual tails.

" Many therapists who have worked wh young children, whose prejudic are not yet fully formed, know how surprisgly flexible they n be when to unrstandg topics such as homosexualy if they are explaed ways that are le wh their gnive abili. Mothers and fathers might also fear that such rmatn uld fluence the younger siblg to actually "turn gay.