Debunking the Links between Sexual Orientation and Genetics
New Study Undermines Theory of ‘Gay’ Gene
By AFA Journal
April 5, 2005
(AgapePress) – While new research claims to have found proof of a genetic cause for homosexuality, some scientists say the actual words of the study undermine that conclusion.
The study was conducted by a team of researchers led by University of Illinois at Chicago (UIC) psychologist Brian Mustanski and published in the March 2005 issue of the biomedical journal Human Genetics.
“In the first-ever study combing the entire human genome for genetic determinants of male sexual orientation,” said a UIC press release, Mustanski “has identified several areas that appear to influence whether a man is heterosexual or ‘gay.'”
Conservative critics were quick to respond. Dr. Warren Throckmorton, associate professor of psychology at Grove City College in Pennsylvania, said the study itself actually undermines Mustanski’s claims. In a press statement of his own, Throckmorton cites admissions by the researchers that their evidence of genetic differences between heterosexual and homosexual men falls short of being statistically significant.
Three members of the scientific advisory committee for the National Association for Research and Therapy of Homosexuality (NARTH) also reviewed Mustanski’s study and found it lacking.
NARTH’s Dr. A. Dean Byrd, for example, said sexual orientation involves complex behaviors which involve multiple factors. Homosexuality, he added, might involve certain predispositions that are “strongly influenced by cultural and environmental factors.”
LINKS:
New Study Undermines Theory of ‘Gay’ Gene
March 2005 Human Genetics study concerning sexual orientation in men