Nature or nurture? Born this way or developed over time? A reality or a choice? These are the questions that have surrounded homosexuality and other alternative sexual preferences since science started truly tackling the human genome in the 1990s. The best answer science has been able to come up with to these questions was revealed following an exhaustive study by Harvard and MIT researchers that spread across around half-a-million genetic samples.
In short, they couldn’t find a “gay gene” and could only match a tiny fraction of genes to possible predisposition to homosexuality.
Even GLAAD, the Gay & Lesbian Alliance Against Defamation, said the study confirmed “no conclusive degree to which nature or nurture influenced how a gay or lesbian person behaves.”
One thing was clear in both the way the study was conducted and media reaction to it: Both really, really wanted to prove homosexuals are “born gay.” The reason for this has much more to do with politics than anything cultural. Today, the LGBTQ community is experiencing its greatest level of acceptance in society. In many ways, being part of the community is empowering in ways that straight people can never have in a society that is trying desperately to establish superiority, not equality, for LGBTQ individuals. But that’s a different story.
This study is important from a political perspective because it pushes against the argument that sexual-preference and lifestyle perspectives should be treated in the same class as race or biological gender. From the race-perspective, if one can be “born gay,” they need to have the same protections as those who are born black, for example. Since we have no control over our genetic makeup, attaching sexual preference to genetics is a an important political battleground.
As for lifestyle perspectives, this study also means gender fluidity truly is a choice. This hasn’t been as hotly contested as whether or not someone is “born gay,” and it also may not make a difference. As radical progressives push to build their post-truth society in America, science has no bearing on their feelings.
Scientists tried really hard to spin this study as inconclusive, that the question is still open despite hitting over 500,000 genetic samples. Media is spinning it as pro-LGBTQ news despite the numbers saying otherwise. The truth: “Born this way” is debunked.
We are currently forming the American Conservative Movement. If you are interested in learning more, we will be sending out information in a few weeks.
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