Homosexuality is defined as “a sexual attraction to (or sexual relations with) persons of the same sex.” Because of religious beliefs and social norms, homosexuality was and unfortunately sometimes still is seen as a sinful orientation that roots from interpersonal problems. Though, in reality, homosexuality is just a normal variation of sexuality. With that being said, there is an important question that psychologists and scientists yearn to find the answer for; Is homosexuality biologically determined?
Many researchers such as Simon Levay believe that homosexuality is in fact biologically determined. Studying the patterns of genes in which homosexuality occurs is one way that researches have come to this conclusion. For example, “the cell group INAH3 was found to be larger in straight men than in gay men.” There was also no significant difference between this cell group in gay men and in women. INAH3 is the sexually dimorphic nucleus of humans.
A dimorphism is a physically expressed trait that is different between males and females. Therefore, if this cell group shows the difference between men and women and women and gay men show no significant difference of INAH3, then this shows a biological difference between gay and straight men. Additionally, Hamer’s studies show “gene sharing in a genetic region known as Xq28 is significantly greater in homosexual brothers than in the general population.” This shows that human sexuality is influenced by heredity.
Inversely, many argue that homosexuality is determined by behavior and environment such as Richard N. Williams. Researchers counteract the INAH3 theory by stating that INAH3 was actually caused by hormonal abnormalities associated with AIDS. For example, Levay’s published study shows all the brains of gay men who were also AIDS patients.
Therefore, it is possible that the effects on the size of INAH3 that he attributed to sexual orientation wereactually caused by the hormonal abnormalities associated with AIDS. Levay’s experiment was not accurately adequate. Additionally, Hamer’s Xq28 theory is also deemed inaccurate by
Williams. For example, “no single, specific Xq28 sequence (a putative “gay gene”) was identified in all 66 men.” Hamer’s study is often misinterpreted as showing that all 66 men from these 33 pairs shared the same Xq28 sequence, though that is not the case.
I believe that homosexuality is determined biologically, though no one factor can determine something so complex as sexual orientation. I do not believe that homosexuality roots from solely environment and behavior because homosexuals cannot “unlearn” their sexual orientation. There is no way through therapy or religion to change someone’s sexuality.
Additionally, there is no sign that a child who grows up with gay parents will “become” gay due to their living circumstances. Though, no matter what the answer is, homosexuality is an orientation that must be accepted by society. Either biologically determined or environmentally impacted, either no choice or choice, being homosexual is a normal variation of sexuality and a way many humans simply “are.” The science behind sexuality should not be an excuse to not provide everyone with basic human rights argue that homosexuality .
