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Is there a "Gay" gene?


Gomar

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I'd like to propose an argument for a lack of a so-called "gay" gene, proving instead that being gay is indeed a choice, based on social and cultural factors and influences; or even a fad which will

be laughed at and ridiculed in 25 years, much as 70's hair cuts are today.

I am not a PH.D. in biology, genetics, or psychology, but after studying the issue of homosexuality I feel my statements are not only correct but logical as well.

Wisecracks such as "if one chooses to be gay, does one choose to be straight?" do not prove the natural existence of a gay gene. A person does not "choose" to be black, white, blonde, short, tall, blue eyed, etc. those traits are determined by genetics.

Surely, carriers of a gene for blonde hair and blue eyes will likely produce kids with those traits...

unless a parent lacking those genetic traits are dominant. A black man mating

with a white blonde woman will most likely produce a dark skinned child with dark hair and eyes.

It is genetically not possible for a white father&mother to have a black or an Asian baby; likewise, black parents will not have an Eskimo, or an Irishman. Humans as well do not give birth to kangaroos,

sharks, hippos, or any other mammals besides human. The point is if something is scientifically and genetically impossible, it will not happen... straight parents cannot have gay kids.

Even if a "gay" gene exists, it surely would be recessive instead of dominant. Why? Because most people in the world are not gay.

We could expect an even distribution of "gay" genes among all the world's population, nations, races; Arabs and Asians, Russians, Japanese, Indians, Jews should all have the same percentage of gays; but that is not so.

Most gays reside in western societies where being "gay" is tolerated, such as Holland, Germany, U.S., Canada.

From this we can conclude that carriers of a so-called "gay" gene will produce a "gay" baby. However, both parents would need to be gay(male&female) in order for the baby's genome to be 100% gay. A 50% gay person logically would have a single gay parent. Considering the fact that gays do not engage in sexual

intercourse with the opposite sex, but only with a partner of his/her own sex, how then would "gay" genes be passed from generation to generation?

Supposing gays existed 300 years ago, unless they pass 100% of their genes to next generations without the introduction of heterosexual genes into the pool during all that time, then eventually gay genes will die out.

The fact remains that to this day not a single shred of evidence has been presented to prove the existence of a "gay" gene(s). No medical, genetic, scientific journals, books, papers, exist proving otherwise.

No blood tests have been performed on anyone with a result stating "you are gay!".

Surely, new parents would want a blood test done on their baby to establish its "gayness" so as to know how to properly raise that child... whether in a gay or a straight manner.

Lacking any evidence to prove the existence of "gayness" as a genetic, natural, or biological trait, we can conclude that it is nothing more than a social and a cultural phenomenon. People do indeed choose to act in a "gay" manner, simply because society permits it.

http://www.councilforresponsiblegenetics.org/ViewPage.aspx?pageId=77

http://www.whattoexpect.com/forums/october-2012-babies/archives/gay-gene-testing.html

http://www.narth.org/docs/istheregene.html

http://www.narth.org/menus/born.html

http://www.slate.com/blogs/outward/2014/02/18/gay_gene_research_why_does_it_make_people_freak_out.html

http://bigthink.com/think-tank/the-gay-gene-new-evidence-supports-an-old-hypothesis

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You make some interesting points. But I doubt a real discussion will happen because people will view what you say as a attack on gay people. Which is not what your doing you have a reasonable argument about whatever there is a "gay" gene or not.

If gay is a gene it hasn't died out because people have been forced to repress it for a long time( as in probably having kids with wifes they never really cared for but just because it was the social norm). But that also leads to the conclusion as it becomes more accepted does that also mean it will genetically die out? iv never thought of that before. :unsure2:

Edited by spartan max2
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That PDF is way above my uneducated head. Got any links supporting existence of gay genes, and how they are passed to kids if gays do not have sex... as in male+female=baby.

BTW, did you read the links I posted?

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I have made peace with myself that most people who are homosexual are so due to being born that way. I also am no scientist but in this case I think one need not be, just observant of the human condition. In modern cultures, especially in the west, the stigma attached to this lifestyle would prevent almost any sane person from CHOOSING to face it. Vilified and even subjected to violence and murder, I think no one just decides as a teen to feel this way toward another. Can someone fall into the lifestyle in this day and time by choice? Certainly - but NOT back then. The few gay people I've had as friends to a man or woman have said they knew they were gay at the same time I knew I was straight - IOW when we reached puberty and became aware of our sexuality. I believe God says this is wrong according to his word but I have no idea why he considers this to be the case. And most importantly I believe he very clearly tells all who follow him that HE judges, not us. And I further believe that sin is sin no matter what it is and mine are no better than others - we are all sinners who need to love each other as best we can.

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I'd like to propose an argument for a lack of a so-called "gay" gene, proving instead that being gay is indeed a choice, based on social and cultural factors and influences; or even a fad which will

be laughed at and ridiculed in 25 years, much as 70's hair cuts are today.

Homosexuality dates back farther than i care to mention. In has been going on for Centuries. It was common, if not practical, for the ancient Greeks to practice homosexuality. It was widely accepted. Homosexuality has been going on for over 2,000 years. You make some interesting points but that one just caught my eye as surprising.

~Peace,

B

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Personally I believe persons are born genetically predisposed to be gay. I know of a some friends that seemed different as kids in Elementary school, they grew up to be gay. Know I understand what was different about them. I have no problems with them but I very happy im heterosexual.

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For something that could be considered a fad, it sure has been around for a long long long long time. Even in Native American cultures it was accepted (at least for the most part), it was around during the roman times, during the times of Plato

http://plato.stanfor.../homosexuality/

so for being a fad or something that is going to die out, it seems to be lasting longer than Christianity, which has been trying to stamp it out since it began.

I do believe it is genetic and I think that it will grow more widespread because more and more babies are being born healthy and living to adulthood. Laws have been changing a lot over time and becoming less based on religious views as time goes on, which means homosexuality is not always going to be so persecuted, even today in most countries, to be homosexual in public is NOT a death sentence. (in most countries, I know in some countries.. it is not safe.. but then it is not safe in those countries to be an outspoken woman either).

so in the places where homosexuality is embraced, and there are parts of the country where it is.. it is not dying out.

Why should it? 1. there is nothing wrong with being homosexual 2. I think there is a genetic factor and it may be recessive, but with more live births, and children living to adulthood it will be more common as these children also have children. and many donate sperm to surrogates, et et et.

I just do not know why it matters? WHy is it even important?

Edited by willowdreams
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I am not a PH.D. in biology, genetics, or psychology,

You should probably just stop right there because this;

but after studying the issue of homosexuality I feel my statements are not only correct but logical as well.

Is not going to be correct or logical.

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I'm a believer of a gene that decides your sexuality, it's a basic function and all of these are so far are generally proven to be genetic so I can't see this being excluded. Besides that I have a friend who I've known most of my life who no one was surprised to hear he was gay when he announced it, we never felt this was any choice made by him but was already a part of who he was as with me being hetro.

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so is it a fad with animals too? tons of homosexual activity in the animal world.

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straight parents cannot have gay kids.

:o

  • The average size of the INAH-3 in the brains of gay men is approximately the same size as INAH 3 in women, which is significantly smaller, and the cells more densely packed, than in heterosexual men's brains.[34]
  • Gay men's brains respond differently to fluoxetine, a selective serotonin reuptake inhibitor.[59]
  • The functioning of the inner ear and the central auditory system in lesbians and bisexual women are more like the functional properties found in men than in non-gay women (the researchers argued this finding was consistent with the prenatal hormonal theory of sexual orientation).[60]
  • The suprachiasmatic nucleus was found by Swaab and Hopffman to be larger in gay men than in non-gay men,[61] the suprachiasmatic nucleus is also known to be larger in men than in women.[62]
  • Gay and non-gay people's brains respond differently to two putative sex pheromones (AND, found in male armpit secretions, and EST, found in female urine).[30][64][65]
  • The amygdala, a region of the brain, is more active in gay men than non-gay men when exposed to sexually arousing material.[66]
  • Gay men and lesbians are significantly more likely to be left-handed or ambidextrous than non-gay men and women;[72][73][74] Simon LeVay argues that because "[h]and preference is observable before birth...[75] [t]he observation of increased non-right-handness in gay people is therefore consistent with the idea that sexual orientation is influenced by prenatal processes," perhaps heredity.[34
  • http://en.wikipedia....ual_orientation

Edit: I can't get my 'quotes' to work for some reason.

Edited by StarMountainKid
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Gay gene? Ofc not. No one is born gay.

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Gay gene? Ofc not. No one is born gay.

Gay people are born gay just as men are born men and women are born women. They just have their "turn on" signals reversed (man attracted to masculine features, etc). How this happens is not known but doesn't seem to be genetic (at least entirely that) or such a gene would have been found by now. This is just one of many complications to human sexuality and sexual identity, part of the variety that makes up the world.
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Gay people are born gay just as men are born men and women are born women. They just have their "turn on" signals reversed (man attracted to masculine features, etc). How this happens is not known but doesn't seem to be genetic (at least entirely that) or such a gene would have been found by now. This is just one of many complications to human sexuality and sexual identity, part of the variety that makes up the world.

So there is no 'gay' gene but people are born gay or straight and their sexuality is 'decided' at birth? Sounds really complicated. How can we explain the fact that there are many gay people today and few decades ago there were not many? Its hard to tell really but from all that i know its hard for me to accept that people are born with such sexual orientation. I know one person who is gay and he did have normal childhood, also he had few girlfriends but today he doesnt see attraction in girls. Hard subject :)

Everyone have right to live their lives as they wonna do it, i leave it there.

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I think there have always been gays and straights in about the same proportions as now, but in the past it wasn't visible because of persecution and ignorance. We still see some of that so probably in future there will seem to be even more gays.

I have no theory that works on what causes someone to be gay or straight. Previous messages pointed out some areas of study, but nothing really works. This is just one of many things about the world that puzzle us. We do owe it to ourselves however to be honest with ourselves and admit that we don't know why we are gay or straight -- we just are and pretty much always have been, so it is convenient to say we were born that way.

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That PDF is way above my uneducated head. Got any links supporting existence of gay genes, and how they are passed to kids if gays do not have sex... as in male+female=baby.

BTW, did you read the links I posted?

Does it have to be a "gay" gene specifically, as in one gene? There are a variety of genes that predispose us to sexual arousal and physical attraction to other people. It can be a complicated balancing act of which genes related to this area are dominant and which are recessive in relation to each other in an individual.

aka: a gene which has been recessive for many generations can become dominant if the other genes in the current generation are suddenly the weaker of the group. It is complicated, the dance between recessive and dominant is different in each person. The same gene (imagine exactly the same gene) can be weaker than other genes in one person and stronger than other genes in another depending on the strength of all the other genes each person possesses. This is really oversimplifying it and far from the whole story but it might help stretch the brain a little to consider the consequences of this across a wide population just on it's own.

Edited by libstaK
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Yeah, i must aggree that before it was kept private mostly from safety reasons. U speak wisely about this @Frank.

Its a long subject and only way for me to talk about it might be insulting for some people so i rather finish :)

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Don't get too worried; while these things have their swings the world is going your way. I dare say were I younger I would give it a try -- well, probably not. All my life I had my wife as a ready and accepted excuse for politely declining all offers that came my way, and since she died I've been rather ostentatiously celibate.

Heterosexual males do have a lot of discomfort about this I suspect because we are all at least a tiny bit bisexual so if the culture or religion is intolerant it is bound to. Not being a woman I don't know if heterosexual women have similar worries.

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Thank you, Gamrat, I couldn't have said it better.

Sexual orientation is the same as one's hair color or eye color or any other physical attributes, one is born with these as well as with one's sexual orientation.

Furthermore, sexual orientation is either/or for perhaps 20% or so of the population. In the other 80% or so one's sexual orientation is a mixture of both in varying degrees. I think this is a clue to the interest in homosexuality that seems to be pervasive in society. If only 10% of human beings were strictly homosexual and the other 90% were strictly heterosexual, I don't think this subject would be of much interest to that 90%.

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Wow... some people's obsession with this gay topic makes me wonder... Why are you SO interested in it??? Would you like to try it? Or are you just looking for an excuse to be hateful??? If you are NOT gay then what we do will have NO effect on you. As a gay man i'm a bit offended that every other month i've got some dumbass questioning if i'm in "God's" image... Why don't you just worry about yourself and let us gays do what we need to do! I promise we won't "recruite" any of your children and society won't fall apart! I'm so tired of stupid people telling me it's a choice... and then want to give me reasons why it is. I don't come to these boards to be schooled on my sexuality but when i see the posts i can't help but read them because i'm curious as to how hilariously stupid your opinions are but sometimes i find one that just down right p*sses me off! Let it go folks... you won't be solving that mystery here. It's not really a mystery at all but I know the fools will believe what they want to believe anyways. Until you have a brother, sister, father, mother or child that is gay... you will never understand so just stop trying.

I dont think that anyone was, as u say, obsessed with this topic and if only talking about this stuff offends u then i am not sure why u join this conversation at all. If my words are reason for you to write such a rude post i am sorry but u are very wrong.

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or even a fad which will be laughed at and ridiculed in 25 years

There have been gay people around for centuries. Some fad.

However, both parents would need to be gay(male&female) in order for the baby's genome to be 100% gay. A 50% gay person logically would have a single gay parent.

As others have said, genetics is a lot more complicated than that. This is like saying that a child born of one blue-eyed and one brown-eyes parent would have one blue and one brown eye.

Most gays reside in western societies where being "gay" is tolerated, such as Holland, Germany, U.S., Canada

In some countries people get killed if they say they are gay or do anything that might even look gay. You think whatever statistics you are looking at to come up with these notions are correct?

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So there is no 'gay' gene but people are born gay or straight and their sexuality is 'decided' at birth? Sounds really complicated. How can we explain the fact that there are many gay people today and few decades ago there were not many? Its hard to tell really but from all that i know its hard for me to accept that people are born with such sexual orientation. I know one person who is gay and he did have normal childhood, also he had few girlfriends but today he doesnt see attraction in girls. Hard subject :)

Everyone have right to live their lives as they wonna do it, i leave it there.

Up until recent years, gay people had to keep it hidden. That would explain most of why there seem to be more today. Another reason is the acceptance of it and how gays are portrayed in movies and on TV. Typically a real nice guy. I think when young teenagers are confused when going through puberty (like nearly everyone), they may be more inclined to think they may be gay.

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