In This Article
Subscribe to Science Updates
Homosexuality is Biological, New Research Suggests
Scientists have observed similarities in the brain structure of homosexual individuals and heterosexual members of the opposite sex.
30-Second Summary
Researchers in a Swedish study used brain scans to examine the brain size and structure of gay men and women, and their heterosexual counterparts.
They found that brain halves in heterosexual women and gay men were similar in size. In heterosexual men and gay women, the right side of the brain was larger than the left.
Another difference researchers noted dealt with neural connections in the left and right sides of the amygdala, a portion of the brain that directs emotional responses like whether someone is attracted to a potential mate.
Heterosexual women and gay men had more connections in the left amygdala, while heterosexual men and lesbian women had more connections in the right.
“As far as I’m concerned there is no argument any more—if you are gay, you are born gay,” said Dr. Qazi Rahman, a lecturer at Queen Mary, University of London.
These findings come at a time when members of the gay community are pressing for equal rights, and continuing to argue that they haven’t chosen their sexual orientation.
Recently, the gay marriage debate has been particularly prevalent in news headlines. “If science proves homosexuality is innate, is there any basis to deny gays equal treatment—including the right to marry?” asks the Seattle Times.
“Controversy can’t obscure the facts,” according to Brian Mustanski, who has studied genetics and homosexuality. “It’s pretty definitive that biological factors play a role in determining a person’s sexual orientation.”
They found that brain halves in heterosexual women and gay men were similar in size. In heterosexual men and gay women, the right side of the brain was larger than the left.
Another difference researchers noted dealt with neural connections in the left and right sides of the amygdala, a portion of the brain that directs emotional responses like whether someone is attracted to a potential mate.
Heterosexual women and gay men had more connections in the left amygdala, while heterosexual men and lesbian women had more connections in the right.
“As far as I’m concerned there is no argument any more—if you are gay, you are born gay,” said Dr. Qazi Rahman, a lecturer at Queen Mary, University of London.
These findings come at a time when members of the gay community are pressing for equal rights, and continuing to argue that they haven’t chosen their sexual orientation.
Recently, the gay marriage debate has been particularly prevalent in news headlines. “If science proves homosexuality is innate, is there any basis to deny gays equal treatment—including the right to marry?” asks the Seattle Times.
“Controversy can’t obscure the facts,” according to Brian Mustanski, who has studied genetics and homosexuality. “It’s pretty definitive that biological factors play a role in determining a person’s sexual orientation.”
Headline Link: ‘Gay men and heterosexual women have similar brains, study says’
Scientists have long known that there are differences in cognitive abilities of homosexual individuals, leading them to suspect that there may be structural differences in their brains as well. This is the first time they have used scanners to support that idea, however.
Source: The Telegraph
Opinion & Analysis: Consequences of scientific research
The social and political consequences stemming from scientific findings about why someone may be gay “are impossible to ignore,” according to the Seattle Times. People have long argued that homosexuality isn’t a choice, but they haven’t had proof to support their claims. “If you’re going to say people choose a sexual orientation when they reach puberty, you’re going to have to find some people who remember making that choice, and there aren’t any,” said Michigan State University neuroscientist Marc Breedlove.
Source: Seattle Times
Related Topics: Sexual responses; gay marriage debate
Sexual responses
In 2005, a study suggested that the smell of a chemical found in testosterone elicited similar brain responses in women and gay men. “This is one more line of evidence that there’s a biological substring for sexual orientation,” according to Dean Hamer, a geneticist at the National Institutes of Health.
Source: National Geographic News
Dr. Meredith Chivers, a researcher at the Center for Addiction and Mental Health at the University of Toronto, recently released the results of a study about the sexual preferences of women. She gauged female responses to sexual and non-sexual images of men and women and found that for “heterosexual women, looking at a naked man walking on the beach is about as exciting as looking at landscapes.” Chivers’s research “adds to a growing body of scientific evidence that places female sexuality along a continuum between heterosexuality and homosexuality, rather than as an either-or phenomenon,” according to the New York Times.
Source: New York Times
Gay marriage
In May 2008, New York announced that it would revise laws and statutes so same-sex couples who wed in other states have all the rights of marriage.
Source: findingDulcinea
The California Supreme Court has ruled that it is illegal to ban gay marriage, and local courts are getting ready to perform such marriages when the ruling takes effect.
Source: findingDulcinea
Reference: GLBT Resources
FindingDulcinea’s GLBT Resources Web Guide recommends some of the best online resources to answer coming out questions, access the GLBT community, get involved with GLBT rights and more.
Source: findingDulcinea
Most Recent Beyond The Headlines
© 2012 Dulcinea Media, Inc.
