Nature vs Nature

This is such a beautiful summary of the research done being gay "nature vs nature".

Sifting through divergent theories

Stefanie Frith
The Desert Sun
September 21, 2006
Nature versus nurture.

Biology versus environment.

Scientific studies have led to many divergent theories about what makes people gay, including the announcement in 1993 that there is a "gay gene."

But none of these biologists, psychologists and academics have a concrete answer.

Organizers of the Love Won Out conference, to be held Indian Wells on Saturday, say they can change homosexuality.

Others say this is simply impossible.

The following are some of the studies and theories that claim to support the two major theories:

American Psychiatric Association It took the APA until 1973 to remove "homosexuality"
from its manual of mental disorders.

Today, the group remains opposed to psychiatric treatment to "cure" homosexuality, such as
"reparative" or conversion therapy, which is based on the assumption that homosexuality is a mental
disorder.

The APA's handbook on homosexuality says the following:

"There are numerous theories about the origins of a person's sexual orientation. ... There is also
considerable recent evidence to suggest that biology, including genetic or inborn hormonal factors, play a
significant role in a person's sexuality ... there are probably many reasons for a person's sexual
orientation and the reasons may be different for different people."

American Medical Association In its official statement concerning homosexuality,
the American Medical Association includes the following:

"(The AMA) opposes the use of 'reparative' or 'conversion' therapy that is based on the assumption
that homosexuality per se is a mental disorder or based upon a prior assumption that the patient should
change his/her homosexual orientation."

First Biological Test
In 1957, Karen Hooker conducted the first psychological test for biological determination on a
grant from the National Institute of Mental Health.

Looking at both homosexuals and heterosexuals, Hooker conducted three psychological tests. The results
yielded no significant differences in answers to the tests. Because both groups had similar scores, Hooker
concluded a zero correlation between social determination of sexuality.

As a result of her study, the APA removed homosexuality from its list of mental disorders.

1990 Brain Size Study
D.F. Swabb was the first to document a physiological difference in the anatomical structure of gay men's
brains.

In a post-mortem examination of homosexual males' brains that a portion of the brain believed to control
sexual behavior was structurally different than a heterosexual brain, a small portion of the hypothalamus was twice the size of a heterosexual's.

At the same time, another scientist, Laura S. Allen, also made a similar discovery that the hypothalamus
was larger in homosexuals' brains.

1991 Brain Size Study
San Diego-based neuroscientist Simon LeVay said in 1991 he had found a key difference between the brains
of homosexual and heterosexual men he had studied. A tiny group of neurons of a part of the brain believed
to control sexual behavior was, on average, more than twice the size in straight men than gay men.

A limitation, however, is that the clumps could have changed size because of homosexual behavior.

A Twin Study
Boston University psychiatrist Richard Pillard and Northwestern University psychologist announced in 1991
that, in identical twins, if one twin was gay, the other had about a 50 percent chance of also being gay.
In fraternal twins, the rate was about 20 percent.

Since identical twins share their genetic makeup and fraternal twins only half, the researchers believed
genes were the explanation. The more closely genetically linked a pair is, the more likely they are
to exhibit gay or straight tendencies.

Still, twin studies remain a highly debated area of experimentation.

Gay Gene Study
Harvard-trained Dean Hamer announced the biggest news in 1993 with his discovery of the "gay gene." The
National Cancer Institute researcher found that gay brothers shared a specific region of the X chromosome
at a higher rate than gay men shared with straight brothers.

Hamer took 40 DNA samples from homosexual men and genetically examined them. He found there was a
remarkable link for five genetic markers on a section of the X chromosome called Xq28.

Hamer hypothesized after examining the family trees of the same men that on each of the subjects' mother's
side, there were higher numbers of homosexual men.

Parental Manipulation Theory
This 1974 theory from Richard Alexander says that one or both parents are able to neuter and control
offspring to promote their (the parent's) evolutionary fitness, which passes the genes into the next
generation. If heterosexuality is the only acceptable practice, parents are then attempting to promote their
passage of genes.

Kin-Selection Theory
This 1963 theory from William Hamilton states that it doesn't matter how genes are passed to the next
generation, as long as they are passed along. For example, regardless of a homosexual outcome, the
similar genetic makeup of siblings will still allow family genetics to be passed to the next generation.

Planophysical Theory
Freudian psychologist David Halperin believed homosexuality is a freak of nature, an error.

He said that a weak father and strong mother with an unresolved Oedipus complex will lead to a weak, then
homosexual son because the mother has a strong image. Other psychologists have argued the opposite, however. A stronger son who is compensating for his weak father.

Homosexuality Unequal
Social theorist Jean Foucault believes homosexuality was created 100 years ago, after a German neologism
came up with the term 20 years later.

According to John Thorp's "The Social Construction of Homosexuality," Foucault believes that homosexuality
appeared as one form of sexuality, only "after it was transposed from the practice of sodomy into a kind of
interior androgyny, a hermaphrodism of the soul."

The Ex-Gay Study
In 2001, Robert Spitzer, a professor of psychiatry at Columbia University, discovered that some highly
motivational people can change people from gay to straight.

He conducted 200 telephone interviews with people who had already changed their sexual orientation.

About 66 percent of men and 44 percent of women he interviewed had, over the course of a few years,
achieved a level of "good heterosexual functioning."

There were limitations, though. For example, there was no way to tell if the subjects were telling the truth.
Also, many of his subjects were religious figures who said they had changed.

Opposite Sex Twin Study
In 2002, Peter Bearman from Columbia University and Hannah Bruckner from Yale studied factors related to
same-sex attraction in a group of 20,745 adolescents.

They found that males with an opposite-sex twin were more than twice as likely to report same-sex
attraction compared to males with a male or female non-twin sibling.

Unlike studies looking at the fraternal birth order effect (FBOE) that state the more older biological
brothers one has, the more likely one is to be gay, no FBOE was found in this study.

Instead, Bearman and Bruckner found the opposite-sex twin effect was eliminated by the presence of an older
brother. Furthermore, they found no evidence for genetic or pre-natal effects. For example, the
presence of a twin sister with no older brother could push family and peer life away from male-gendered
activities.

Sweat and Urine Study
Last year, Swedish researchers reported finding differences in how the brains of straight men and gay
men responded to women's urine and male sweat, both believed to be pheromones (scent-related chemicals
that are key to sexual arousal in animals).

When straight men smelled the female urine compound, their hypothalamus lit up. Not so with the gay men.
Instead, their brains lit up when they smelled the male sweat compound.

Fruit Fly Study
In 2005, scientists in Vienna isolated a master genetic switch for sexual orientation in fruit flies.
When they flipped the switch, the genetically altered females ignored advances from males and attempted to
mate with females, even doing to the courting dance and song that males use.

Gay Brothers Study
A five-year genetic study of gay brothers is now under way in North America. A sample of 1,000 gay brother
pairs will be used, as well as the latest in genetic screening. The study aims to bring clarity to what role genes play in homosexuality.

Sources: American Medical Association, American
Psychological Association, Boston.com, allpsych.com,
wikipedia.com, narth.com, family.org, glad.org.