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 | a biological trait with which people are born, or |
| due to other factors, such as upbringing or environment. 1 |
The correct question has already been determined, at least for males, by pedigree studies and by studies of the sexual orientation of identical twins, as described elsewhere. It appears that the tendency towards homosexuality is determined genetically. But that this tendency may or may not be triggered during childhood into inducing a homosexual orientation later in life. Thus, for males, the answer which agrees with medical research is: both a biological trait and environmental triggering factor. The gap between science and public opinion appears to be widening. The percentage of people who gave the "both" answer has dropped from 14% to 6% over the period 1977 to 1998.
Asking the public about the causes of sexual orientation is like inquiring their belief whether the universe was created or evolved. The answer only tells us of people's beliefs; it has no impact on the actual causes of homosexuality.
| Date | "Born with" | Other factors (e.g. upbringing, environment) | Both | Neither | Don't know |
| 1977-JUN | 13% | 56% | 14% | 3% | 14% |
| 1982-JUN | 17 | 52 | 13 | 2 | 16 |
| 1989-OCT | 19 | 48 | 12 | 2 | 19 |
| 1996-NOV | 31 | 40 | 13 | 3 | 13 |
| 1998-JUN | 31 | 47 | 6 | 3 | 13 |
In a separate question, 63% of respondents agreed that the cause of homosexuality "depends upon the person." Fewer than 20% said that there is only a single cause of homosexuality for all persons.
The margin of error of the poll is within 5 percentage points, 19 times out of 20.
Is there some other cause of sexual orientation?
When human sexuality researchers talk about the causes of sexual orientation, they normally try to consider two determinants: genetic and environmental factors. Separating the two factors is not easy. "Pedigree studies" show that there is a strong genetic component to homosexuality. But the "identical twins separated at birth" studies have shown that genes do not completely determine sexual orientation. Some environmental influence after conception (perhaps before birth) might trigger one or more "gay genes" in some people. The absence of this influence in other individuals would cause the gene(s) to remain dormant.
Some suggested causes are:
| A bacterial basis for sexual orientation: Biologist Paul Ewald and Physicist Gregory Cochran theorize that
homosexuality orientation may be caused by a bacteria or virus. Their reasoning
is indirect. Any genetic trait that reduces a person's chance of procreating is
said to have a "fitness cost." A trait that has a fitness cost of 1%
lowers the probability of having children by 1%. The cost would cause the trait
to essentially disappear within 100 generations. Homosexuality has a
"fitness cost that is much higher than 1%." A 1981 study in San
Francisco showed that gays and lesbians have only 20% of the number of children
as do heterosexuals; i.e. the fitness cost factor among that sample of
homosexuals is 80%. This number was probably much lower in the past, as gays and
lesbians were often forced into marriages in order to escape detection. But it
would only have to be 0.001% to wipe out the trait in the lifetime of the human
race. 8 Since homosexuality has not disappeared and yet appears to have a high fitness cost, the researchers speculate that the trait is at least partly determined by some outside agent, like an infection. There is a good chance that this theory will not pan out. Infections tend to peak in a few geographical areas and/or during a few years duration. Yet there are no obvious concentrations of gays and lesbians who spent their childhood in the same area or who are of nearly the same age. A second possible criticism of the theory might be that homosexuality may have a sufficient advantage to society to overcome its fitness cost. |
| Hormones: One theory promoted by Dr. Gunter Doerner of East Germany and other scientists is that sexual orientation can be determined by exposure to specific hormones before birth. A persons gender is determined at conception. But it is only about the 6th week of pregnancy that the fetus start to develop either female ovaries or male testicles. The theory is that hormones produced by the developing testes might be produced off schedule and cause the brain's neural networks to develop in such a way that the child will exhibit homosexual indicators in early childhood, and that he will mature as a gay male. Lab experiments on rats and monkeys have proven that this sequence happens in other species. 9 Needless to say, it is ethically impossible to perform the same experiments on humans. |
| Demonic Possession: Some very conservative Christians believe that homosexual orientation is caused by indwelling demons. This is a natural result of their belief in the inerrancy of the Bible. The New Testament discusses how countless demons under the authority of Satan roam the world, attempting to lead people into sin and causing both mental and physical illnesses. Since they believe that the Bible is inerrant (without error), then demons and Satan must exist. J.F. Gogan writes about demons: "Where illicit sex is already practiced, they flock to that site as observers and catalysts. Where it is not happening, they attempt to infest those vulnerable to evil supernatural powers with lust. You became homosexual...when one or more of Satan's demons detected your susceptibility to demonic influence. This susceptibility could have been brought on by any one, or a combination of causes. Perhaps you were drawn into homosexual activity by a same-sex friend who was also troubled by a demon. Or perhaps a demon convinced you were a man in a woman's body or vice versa." 10 |
| Parenting: Other conservative Christians believe that the roots of
homosexual behavior are found in childhood, if the child is unable to form a
loving relationship with the parent of the same gender. A son, for example,
would take this incompleteness into adulthood, where he would continue to seek
love from another adult of the same gender. The result is a sexually active
relationship. They believe that the cure is reparative
therapy, in which the client develops a loving but non-sexual relationship
with a person of the same gender. This completes the person's longing, and
converts them to heterosexuality. Although this belief system is generally
accepted by conservative Christians, articles about the effectiveness of
reparative therapy have never been published in peer-reviewed journals. Anecdotal
evidence from conservative Christian therapists indicates that this therapeutic
technique is generally successful. Evidence from other therapists indicates that
it invariably fails; they note that it often leaves the client in a depressed
mood, and is sometimes responsible for suicidal ideation. Some conservative Christians researchers have conducted studies which appear to indicate a high rate of parental dysfunction among some gays and lesbians. But other studies done by investigators who are not conservative Christians find no correlation between the incidence of homosexuality and parenting styles. This effect is found quite often in the social sciences; study results frequently tend to match the researchers pre-conceived beliefs more than they match reality. |
If lack of a relationship with one's father causes male homosexuality, one would expect that the generation of American boys born in the early 1940's would have a much higher incidence of homosexuality than other generations, because so many fathers were away at war. One would also expect to find a much larger percentage of male gays among men who had been raised without a father present in a single parent family. We have been unable to find either phenomenon mentioned in the literature.
Related essays:
| Is homosexuality genetically determined? |
| Homosexuality: a choice or fixed orientation |
References:
- Athenadorus, "Homosexuality: Its Genetic Basis & Evolutionary Benefit," at: http://www.danaanpress.com/
- Chandler Burr, "A Separate Creation: The search for the biological origins of sexual orientation", Hyperon, New York, NY (1996)
- Dean Hamer & Peter Copeland "The Science of Desire: The Search for the Gay Gene & the Biology of Behavior", Simon & Schuster (1994)
- Dean Hamer et al, "A Linkage Between DNA Markers on the X Chromosome and Male Sexual Orientation" Science 261 (1993-JUL-16): pp 321-27.
- Mike Haley, "Straight Answers: Exposing the myths and facts about homosexuality," Focus on the Family, Love Won Out series, (2000), Page 9.
- Kerby Anderson, "Homosexual Theology," at: http://www.probe.org/
- Caleb Crain, "Did a germ make you gay," Out magazine, 1999-AUG, Pages 46 to 49.
- Anne Moir and David Jessel, "Brainsex", Dell Books (1993)
- Dean Hamer & Peter Copeland "The Science of Desire: The Search for the Gay Gene & the Biology of Behavior", Simon & Schuster (1994)
- J.G. Cogan, "Special message for gays and lesbians," at: http://www.gelservices.com/
- Essay no longer available
- Sylvia, "The Biological Basis of Homosexuality," at" http://www.geocities.com/
- Daniel R. Heimbach, "Notes for The Bible in the Moral War over the Rejection of Homosexuality by the Military Services: A View from Inside the Pentagon," PREMISE, Volume II, Number 7, 1995-AUG-27, Page 10. Online at: http://capo.org/
- Sue Bohlin, "A Christian perspective on homosexuality," at: http://www.northave.org/
- Dr . Tahir I Jaz, M.D., "Homosexuality - An Analysis of Biological
Theories of Causation" at:
http://salmon.psy.plym.ac.uk/
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