There is no ‘gay gene.’ There is no ‘straight gene.’ Sexualy is jt plex, study nfirms | PBS NewsHour

Contents:

• WHY ARE THERE GAY MEN?
• PEOPLE N INTIFY WHETHER A MAN IS GAY OR STRAIGHT BY THEIR VOICE. BISEXUALS? NOT SO MUCH
• THERE IS NO ‘GAY GENE.’ THERE IS NO ‘STRAIGHT GENE.’ SEXUALY IS JT PLEX, STUDY NFIRMS
• GAY RIGHTS MOVEMENT
• GAY THEORY AND CRICISM

WHY ARE THERE GAY MEN?

Queer theory emerged om a variety of studi and cultural movements, cludg femism, gay and lbian studi, sexual subcultur, and black activism, particularly around the late 1980s and early 1990s. The homosexual inty and other groups of “viant” people who were typified by the medil field “were signed to prerve and foster a productive and procreative populatn (or workforce) that met the needs of a velopg palist system”, wrote Spargo. Public opn studi over the 1970s, 1980s, and 1990s routely showed that, among large segments of the public, lbian, gay, and bisexual people were the target of strongly held negative attus.

The associatn of HIV/AIDS wh gay and bisexual men and the accurate belief that some people held that all gay and bisexual men were fected served to further stigmatize lbian, gay, and bisexual people. Dpe the persistence of stereotyp that portray lbian, gay, and bisexual people as disturbed, several s of rearch and clil experience have led all mastream medil and mental health anizatns this untry to nclu that the orientatns reprent normal forms of human experience. Helpful rpons of a therapist treatg an dividual who is troubled about her or his same sex attractns clu helpg that person actively pe wh social prejudic agast homosexualy, succsfully rolve issu associated wh and rultg om ternal nflicts, and actively lead a happy and satisfyg life.

PEOPLE N INTIFY WHETHER A MAN IS GAY OR STRAIGHT BY THEIR VOICE. BISEXUALS? NOT SO MUCH

The phrase “g out” is ed to refer to several aspects of lbian, gay, and bisexual persons’ experienc: self-awarens of same-sex attractns; the tellg of one or a few people about the attractns; wispread disclosure of same-sex attractns; and intifitn wh the lbian, gay, and bisexual muny. Th, is not surprisg that lbians and gay men who feel they mt nceal their sexual orientatn report more equent mental health ncerns than do lbians and gay men who are more open; they may even have more physil health problems.

Lbian, gay, and bisexual youth who do well spe strs—like all adolcents who do well spe strs—tend to be those who are socially petent, who have good problem-solvg skills, who have a sense of tonomy and purpose, and who look forward to the future. If they are a heterosexual relatnship, their experienc may be que siar to those of people who intify as heterosexual unls they choose to e out as bisexual; that se, they will likely face some of the same prejudice and discrimatn that lbian and gay dividuals enunter. For example, are the children of lbian or gay parents more vulnerable to mental breakdown, do they have more behavr problems, or are they ls psychologilly healthy than other children?

The picture that emerg om this rearch shows that children of gay and lbian parents enjoy a social life that is typil of their age group terms of volvement wh peers, parents, fay members, and iends. In summary, social science has shown that the ncerns often raised about children of lbian and gay parents, ncerns that are generally ground prejudice agast and stereotyp about gay people, are unfound. When lbians, gay men, and bisexual people feel ee to make public their sexual orientatn, heterosexuals are given an opportuny to have personal ntact wh openly gay people and to perceive them as dividuals.

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

Antigay attus are far ls mon among members of the populatn who have a close iend or fay member who is lbian or gay, pecially if the gay person has directly e out to the heterosexual person.

[1, 2] In 1993, Diamond and lleagu performed a review of studi nducted wh var populatns and nclud that the prevalence of predomant homosexual attractn was lower than Ksey had predicted. Likewise, Bell and lleagu nducted a study of 1500 dividuals intified as gay and lbian through tailed terviews volvg var aspects of their childhood environment, cludg parental relatnships. Teenagers this velopmental phase may try to ny or change their homosexual feelgs; some may display outward hostily toward persons who are GLB, sometim to the pot of harassment or vlence.

[8] Teenagers who ny their homosexualy or bisexualy to the outsi world (ie, " the closet") expend tremendo amounts of energy hidg and nyg their sexual clatns; some may channel much of their energi to excellg amics, athletics, or other enavors. " If a pediatrician feels reluctant or unable to ask qutns and support adolcents who are gay, lbian, or bisexual (GLB), he or she is obliged to make a referral to a lleague or another profsnal who has personal fort and experience this area. Macklemore and Ryan Lewis's h song Same Love, which has bee an unofficial anthem of the pro-gay marriage mpaign the US, reflects how many gay people feel about their mocks those who "thk 's a cisn, and you n be cured wh some treatment and relign - man-ma rewirg of a predisposn".

GAY RIGHTS MOVEMENT

The evolutn of lbianism is relatively unrstudied - may work a siar way or be pletely gen that for homosexualy do other thgs tooThe allele - or group of gen - that sometim s for homosexual orientatn may at other tim have a strong reproductive benef. "We know that women tend to like more feme behavural featur and facial featur their men, and that might be associated wh thgs like good parentg skills or greater empathy, " says Qazi Rahman, -thor of Born Gay; The Psychoblogy of Sex Orientatn. Gay people were 'helpers the nt'Image source, Jeante MankelowImage ptn, The fa'afafe of Samoa dislike beg lled "gay" or "homosexual"Some rearchers believe that to unrstand the evolutn of gay people, we need to look at how they f to the wir culture.

The ia is that gay people pensate for their lack of children by promotg the reproductive fns of brothers or sisters, ntributg money or performg other uncle-like activi such as babystg or tutorg. Vasey hasn't yet measured jt how much havg a homosexual orientatn boosts siblgs' reproductn rate, but he has tablished that Samoa "gay" men spend more time on uncle-like activi than "straight" men. Vasey speculat that part of the reason the fa'afafe are more attentive to their nephews and niec is their acceptance Samoan culture pared to gay men the Wt and Japan ("You n't help your k if they've rejected you").

That hypothis has led Vasey to speculate that the gay men who intify as men and have mascule tras - that is to say, most gay men the Wt - are scend om men who had a cross-genred people do have childrenImage source, Getty ImagImage ptn, Elton John and David Furnish have had two children wh a surrogate mother, although the inty of the blogil father is secretIn the US, around 37% of lbian, gay, bisexual and transsexual people have a child, about 60% of which are blogil.

GAY THEORY AND CRICISM

Acrdg to the Williams Instute, gay upl that have children have an average of figur may not be high enough to sta geic tras specific to this group, but the evolutnary blogist Jeremy Yor pots out a blog post that for much of morn history gay people haven't been livg openly gay liv.