Is Being Gay Hereditary/Genetic?

[cjmewett]

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100% social conditioning.

[/ QUOTE ]I always get a good laugh out of this. So what you're really saying is that if you had been raised differently, you could easily SIIHisP?

[Rduke55]

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Superficially this is a stupid question. However, if gayness is inherited, it could be by being a recessive gene or set of genes. Recessive genes means they only come to the fore when they meet the same recessive genes in pairing. A bit like blue eyes, or blood groups etc.

However, if they were strictly genetic and were, in all other respects, neutral (eg having a gay gene didn't confer better hunting skills, or better abilities to survice), there'd be powerful evolutionary forces at work to cut out the gayness (simply put, you don't breed, you don't get in the next generation).

It's possible gayness could survive if carrying the recessive gave the carrier better skills at carrying on into the next generation. Say having the recessive made you superfit, then those carrying the recessive would breed more successfully in the long run than the others.

This is speculative and off the top of my head, but there are bound to be some good works on this somewhere.

Also, this should be in SMP not OOT.

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Trying to figure out the fitness of having a particular gene isn't simple. For example, some scientists believe that the same gene (or genes) for making men gay (or predisposing them or whatever - I'm simplifying) may be responsible for hyperfertility in women. In these cases you can see why it would not neccessarily be selected against.

Another good example is the sickle cell gene that also provides some resistance to malaria.

[FouTight]

I feel as though homosexuality is in the same vein as a fetish. Albeit, to the extreme, but I think it's not to disimilar from a fetish in that certain people are just aroused by one thing or another, some times it's pretty unsual.

But I also think it's hormonal, because in a large number of cases, homosexual men tend to be much more feminine then their heterosexual coutnerparts, and vice versa for women.

[Georgia Avenue]

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I feel as though homosexuality is in the same vein as a fetish. Albeit, to the extreme, but I think it's not to disimilar from a fetish in that certain people are just aroused by one thing or another, some times it's pretty unsual.

But I also think it's hormonal, because in a large number of cases, homosexual men tend to be much more feminine then their heterosexual coutnerparts, and vice versa for women.

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This is what you think? GFY!

[Clarkmeister]

If only we could isolate the hot lesbian pornstar gene.

[Paluka]

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Are there any animals known to be gay? Like prefer gay sex over hetero sex? I know some animals such as Rams and Wolves mount each other, but that can be explained with social status and stuff. Alpha male exerting his dominance and all that jazz.

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At the central park zoo in NYC there are 3 homosexual penguin monogamous couples. 2 Female/Female and 1 Male/Male.

[mgsimpleton]

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I'm pretty sure plenty of homosexuals have engaged in heterosexual sex.

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i was waiting for someone to say that.

i do think there are some hereditary aspects of homosexuality. i have no evidence to back this up other than examples i have seen, but i know so many sets of identical twins who are both gay (and i cannot think of any where one is and one isn't). personally, my parents were both gay (but didn't individually realize it until long after they'd had me and my brother) and i am as well. i dont know what's going on with the bro but in any case i can point to so many families with gay parents and gay children. can this really be merely a coincidence? (and i dont believe for a second that if you grow up around gay parents you will "learn" to be gay)

[peterchi]

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If only we could isolate the hot lesbian pornstar gene.

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HAHA

[peterchi]

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i do think there are some hereditary aspects of homosexuality. i have no evidence to back this up other than examples i have seen, but i know so many sets of identical twins who are both gay (and i cannot think of any where one is and one isn't). personally, my parents were both gay (but didn't individually realize it until long after they'd had me and my brother) and i am as well. i dont know what's going on with the bro but in any case i can point to so many families with gay parents and gay children. can this really be merely a coincidence? (and i dont believe for a second that if you grow up around gay parents you will "learn" to be gay)

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Sample size blah blah [img]/images/graemlins/tongue.gif[/img]

Just kidding. Sorry, I work as a genetic data analyst so I had to throw that at you.

[mgsimpleton]

lol sample size is why i claim i basically only have anecdotal evidence. but it would be one hell of a coincidence because i know too many examples not to be somewhat convinced.