Is There a “Gay Gene"? | Psychology Today

Contents:

• WHY ARE PEOPLE GAY? GAY BY CHOICE OR IS BEG GAY GEIC?
• IS THERE A “GAY GENE"?
• SEARCH FOR 'GAY GEN' COM UP SHORT IN LARGE NEW STUDY
• THERE’S (STILL) NO GAY GENE
• IS THERE A 'GAY GENE'? THE PROBLEM WH STUDI NNECTG GEICS AND LGBTQ INTY
• WHAT DO THE NEW ‘GAY GEN’ TELL ABOUT SEXUAL ORIENTATN?
• THERE’S NO ONE ‘GAY GENE,’ BUT GEICS ARE LKED TO SAME-SEX BEHAVR, NEW STUDY SAYS

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

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.

" 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?

IS THERE A “GAY GENE"?

) 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.

"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.

SEARCH FOR 'GAY GEN' COM UP SHORT IN LARGE NEW STUDY

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. 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.

Is Beg Gay a Choice? Consirg whether people choose to be gay is plex.

THERE’S (STILL) NO GAY GENE

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. 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.

Gay By Choice or Is Beg Gay Geic?, HealthyPlace. “So, is there really a gay gene? But even more pellg is their argument that the different ways of beg gay also lead to different ways of beg gay.

For stance, the mon assumptn that all gay men are effemate is simply wrong. Fay studi dite that homosexualy clters some fai but not others. Different Ways of Beg Gay.

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

Gay men often tegorize themselv to what they ll “tops” and “bottoms” ('s also possible to be a "swch"). Later-born mal are more likely than first-borns to be gay, but only as bottoms, not as tops.

In other words, this pattern of rults would appear to place gay men at the two extrem of the “mascule” sle, wh heterosexual mal occupyg the middle ground, “bottoms” at the lower end, and “tops” at the higher end.

In sum, the data suggt that askg whether there’s a “gay gene” isn’t the right way to thk about the issue. To evolutnary blogists, the geics of homosexualy seems like a paradox.

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

In theory, humans and other animals who are exclively attracted to others of the same sex should be unlikely to produce many blogil children, so any gen that predispose people to homosexualy would rarely be passed on to future generatns. Yet same-sex attractn is wispread humans, and rearch suggts that is partly a study of data om hundreds of thoands of people, rearchers have now intified geic patterns that uld be associated wh homosexual behavur, and showed how the might also help people to fd different-sex mat, and reproduce.

The thors say their fdgs, published on 23 Augt Nature Human Behavur1, uld help to expla why gen that predispose people to homosexualy ntue to be passed down. No ‘gay gene’: Massive study hom on geic basis of human sexualy.

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

None of the variatns seemed to greatly affect sexual behavur on s own, backg up prev rearch that has found no sign of a ‘gay gene’.

Most of the participants were born durg a time when homosexualy was eher illegal or culturally taboo their untri, so many people who were attracted to others of the same sex might never have actually acted on their attractn, and uld therefore have end up the wrong group the Monk, an elogist and evolutnary blogist at Yale Universy New Haven, Connecticut, thks that the veats are so important that the paper n’t draw any real nclns about geics and sexual orientatn. Instead, he thks the rearchers have found geic markers associated wh openns to new experienc, which uld expla the overlap between people who have had a homosexual partner and heterosexual people who have had many partners.

And he adms that g a sgle homosexual experience as an ditn of sexual orientatn isn’t ial, but says that the UK Bbank didn’t provi data on attractn. A clear geic lk would suggt that gay people are “born this way, ” as opposed to havg ma a liftyle choice. Yet some fear that such a fdg uld be mised “cure” homosexualy, and most rearch teams have shied away om tacklg the topic.