Born this way? Society, sexualy and the search for the 'gay gene' | Geics | The Guardian

Contents:

• THERE IS NO ‘GAY GENE.’ THERE IS NO ‘STRAIGHT GENE.’ SEXUALY IS JT PLEX, STUDY NFIRMS
• THE 'GAY GENE' IS A TOTAL MYTH, MASSIVE STUDY CONCLUS
• BORN THIS WAY? SOCIETY, SEXUALY AND THE SEARCH FOR THE 'GAY GENE'
• IS THERE A 'GAY GENE'? THE PROBLEM WH STUDI NNECTG GEICS AND LGBTQ INTY

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

** In the 1990s, certa rearchers thought they had disvered a geic mutatn that ed homosexualy some ia of a "gay gene" has been around for s, but has never been proven.

In the 1990s, a study by Dean Hamer suggted that a gene on the X chromosome might be lked to homosexualy men. However, subsequent studi have failed to replite the fdgs, and is now wily accepted that there is no sgle "gay gene.

THE 'GAY GENE' IS A TOTAL MYTH, MASSIVE STUDY CONCLUS

However, environmental factors, such as upbrgg and culture, also play a ia of a "gay gene" is often ed to stigmatize and discrimate agast LGBTQ+ people. There is nothg wrong wh beg gay, lbian, bisexual, or transgenr. There is no sgle gene rponsible for a person beg gay or a lbian.

The study of nearly a half ln people clos the door on the bate around the existence of a so-lled “gay gene. In s stead, the report fds that human DNA nnot predict who is gay or heterosexual.

It is worth keepg md that this study only vers some typ of sexualy — gay, lbian and cis-straight — but don’t offer many sights to genr inty. Humans have tried to unrstand human sexualy for centuri — and geics rearchers joed the ay the early 1990s after a seri of studi on tws suggted homosexualy ran fai. “As a teenager tryg to unrstand myself and unrstand my sexualy, I looked at the ter for “the gay gene” and obvly me across Xq28, ” said Fah Sathirapongsasuti, a study -thor and senr scientist at 23andMe, which he joked once led him to believe he hered his gayns om his mother.

BORN THIS WAY? SOCIETY, SEXUALY AND THE SEARCH FOR THE 'GAY GENE'

“We worried a lot about volunteer bias, ” said Bailey, whose rearch clus a wily publicized study on Xq28 and gay brothers om 2018. Sanrs llaborated wh Bailey on those earlier studi and said their work had always admted that there was no sgle “gay gene.

The rearchers had members of the same-sex muny review the study’s sign and language, and they adm that their termology and fns for gay, lbian and heterosexual do not reflect the full nature of the sexualy ntuum. In other words, tri to judge if a person leans gay, straight or bisexual.

“[Our study] unrsr an important role for the environment shapg human sexual behavr and perhaps most importantly there is no sgle gay gene but rather the ntributn of many small geic effects sttered across the genome, ” Neale said. No dividual gene alone mak a person gay, lbian or bisexual; stead, thoands of gen likely fluence sexual orientatn, a massive new study of the genom of nearly half a ln people human societi and both sex, between 2% and 10% of people report engagg sex wh a member of the same sex, eher exclively or addn to sex wh a member of the oppose sex, the rearchers said. Related: 5 Myths About Gay People Debunked"Bee is a ntroversial topic, fundg has historilly been limed and recment of participants was difficult, " study -thor Fah Sathirapongsasuti, a senr scientist and putatnal blogist at the geic ttg pany 23andMe, told Live Science.

IS THERE A 'GAY GENE'? THE PROBLEM WH STUDI NNECTG GEICS AND LGBTQ INTY

However, the fdg that there's no sgle gay gene do not mean that sexual orientatn is not geic or blogil, and is therefore a liftyle choice. 13 Facts on the History of Marriage51 Sultry Facts About Sex10 Milton Gay Rights HistoryOrigally published on Live Science. The mantra has bee a polil strategy, particular for gay and lbian muni, who see as a way to protect themselv om discrimatn.

In the most horrible of exampl, the Nazi regime Germany vted signifint rourc attempts to fd the reasons for homosexualy attempt to cure recent s the search for a “gay gene” has tensified. Sanrs studied the gen on 409 pairs of gay brothers, fdg they may share geic markers on the X chromosome and chromosome each study, nfince the gay muny about a geic lk to our sexualy has bee stronger.

It has bee generally assumed that a gay gene mt exist. But take look at the actual science, and the history of sexualy, and you will fd ser problems wh the, all of the recent studi searchg for a gay gene have signifint issu. For example, as Samantha Allen not, blogist Anne Fsto-Sterlg “tore LeVay’s origal study to shreds, notg that there is substantial overlap between the cell clter size rang of gay men and straight men his sample.