Scientists say homosexuality may be epigenetic

[Chaochamp]

Sourcefed just released a story about the Quarterly Review of Biology which had some pretty interesting info in it. Apparently, being gay is not caused by DNA, but rather something known as epigenetics... (full story here please read it and inform yourself before posting!)

So what do you guys think about this finding? To me it makes a lot of sense, as a "gay gene" would have a tough time being passed on. However, it does prove that being gay is still not a choice, and you are still born as a gay individual.



Edited title to avoid tons of confusion and bad posts :/

[ShmooDude]

Sounds similar to what I read in a cracked article about how the amount of testosterone you get as a fetus correlates to your sexual orientation (not guaranteed obviously).

[Anjerith]

Why does it matter? If someone wants to have a relationship with someone of the same sex, its their call. All this sort of research does is fuel the "Let's fix it!" group of people.

[Molyneux]

Why does it matter? If someone wants to have a relationship with someone of the same sex, its their call. All this sort of research does is fuel the "Let's fix it!" group of people.

Agreed. Its irrelevant whether or not its a choice. Even if it did happen to be by choice, it should still not be discriminated against.

[Dhurn]

Can't say it effects me much one way or another, it seems pretty obvious that homosexual orientation is not a choice regardless of what biological process causes it to manifest. There's so many tragic instances of people who have deep shame and self hatred stemming from their homosexuality, if it's a choice why would such people exist? They would just choose to be straight, but clearly they can't.

[solvexx]

Sounds similar to what I read in a cracked article about how the amount of testosterone you get as a fetus correlates to your sexual orientation (not guaranteed obviously).

That's not really accurate at all.

[Landin55]

That's not really accurate at all.

Cracked normally isn't.

[shimerra]

Why does it matter? If someone wants to have a relationship with someone of the same sex, its their call. All this sort of research does is fuel the "Let's fix it!" group of people.

No further understanding into how the brain functions or the human genome could come of this. Nope. Why homosexuality occurs is no less legitimate of a scientific question than any other. Now if I were to pick between knowing that answer and how to create a hyperdrive I'd go with the hyperdrive but our choices are rarely so simple.

[semaphore]

Apart from biology and biologists, this really has zero relevance to anything. Whether it is a choice or not, it's anyone's right to love whoever they want in a safe and consensual relationship between adults.

[Chaochamp]

Why does it matter? If someone wants to have a relationship with someone of the same sex, its their call. All this sort of research does is fuel the "Let's fix it!" group of people.

It matters because it's a massive topic of discussion in America right now. We're in the middle to a pro-gay revolution - and we just figured out why we're here in the first place.

I honestly don't feel that this discovery promotes an anti-gay agenda, but more so the fact that people are actually born gay at the fault of the parents. That's what is interesting about it (to me at least).

[TheImmortalLordAtlas]

I'm sure there's at least one guy/gal named Gene who is gay and I'm sure they are nice once you get to know them.

[chadwix]

Likes and dislikes in sexuality are no different than those of taste. Maybe they left out the 8th sense since it wasnt for the kids.

[semaphore]

It matters because it's a massive topic of discussion in America right now. We're in the middle to a pro-gay revolution - and we just figured out why we're here in the first place.

Pro-equality isn't pro-gay. Equal treatment is being equal, not promoting a minority.

I honestly don't feel that this discovery promotes an anti-gay agenda, but more so the fact that people are actually born gay at the fault of the parents. That's what is interesting about it (to me at least).

It's not anyone's fault when it's not even wrong.

---------- Post added 2012-12-13 at 03:24 AM ----------

Likes and dislikes in sexuality are no different than those of taste. Maybe they left out the 8th sense since it wasnt for the kids.

Oh, you and your disproven bigotry again.

[anyaka21]

after reading that article, it seems more like, "it's not a genetic, therefore it 'could' be epi-genetic'"

No offense, but doesn't seem definite or provable at this point.

My own personal gut feeling, it's not. It's a choice made somewhere whether it's conscious or unconscious. And all it really does if fuel what I like to call the "Gattaca" syndrome which seems to me to be, "if you can find out if it's somehow genetic or epigenetic, then you'll be able to find a a cure or some kind of pre-natal gene therapy that will predetermine how your child will look and be, etc..."

So my personal advice, if you are gay, accept it, own it. If you come out and say "I'm gay, I've made the choice to be gay and I'm proud of who I am." At least to me, that says a lot about someone. However, the other side is the, "I was born this way," sends a message of lack of confidence in yourself and who you are.

And fueling this, there is the LBGT association or whatever it's called who try and push the genetic part, yet silence those that actually choose. Just look up Cynthia Nixon (I think that's her name, she was one of the women from Sex in the City on HBO), she came out as gay and said she was proud and that she chose to be gay and that she was proud of who she was and loved her partner.

[Tziva]

For starters, I don't think it matters. If anything I think the strong need to correlate "involuntary" and "genetic" is a bad idea. For second, I think it's kinda a silly idea to expect there to be one single magic gene for anything.

[Deleted]

Likes and dislikes in sexuality are no different than those of taste. Maybe they left out the 8th sense since it wasnt for the kids.

Mmm not entirely sure on that one sparky. Taste is a social thing, to do with familiarity, deviance & fetish's.

[Maxilian]

I don't really know if there's a "gay gene" or not... (For me it sounds kind of silly but meeehhh), but most of the people don't think their sexual orientation is optional, cause... there come a time when you start hating yourself because of that..., and sometimes... you just start fooling everyone around you and you start hurting them, for example: when i was younger... i knew i liked guys, but i didn't cared... so i told it to my bestfriend but... he didn't taked it well..., he stopped talking to me, he looked at me with his eyes saying "You're disgusting" and i feel really bad, then i noticed how people talked about homosexuals..., how they insulted gay people and called them "aberrations"... and i started thinking the same... so i started dating a lot of girls that i liked... but just as friends..., as you may guess none of my relationships didn't had a happy ending, in every of these relationships... i feel bad, like if i were using them, so i stopped dating people... in resent times i started accepting myself and, once again, i tried talking with my friends about these but these time they had no problem with it and now i'm way happier and i feel better with myself.

And now i think "Why would anyone want to feel like that?"
P.S: sorry guys, english is not my first language... so don't be so harsh with me

[Shinoashi]

cant wait to see the roller coaster the hate-filled, bigot jackoffs, on this forum, take us.

[Zavri]

Being gay is a product of the person's childhood. No one is born gay.

[Neganova]

Why does it matter? If someone wants to have a relationship with someone of the same sex, its their call. All this sort of research does is fuel the "Let's fix it!" group of people.

They're not researching with the intent to fuel those groups, though. They're researching to expand the collective knowledge and understanding of the human being. Fueling is just an unwanted byproduct.