Death of the ‘Gay Gene’A new study involving hundreds of thousands of participants finds that homosexual behavior is about one-third genetic — and that many genes are involved, each having only a tiny effect.
If you’re still captivated by the idea of a single, all-powerful “gay gene,” or for that matter an all-powerful gene for any behavioral trait, please drop it.
The more interesting questions are whether the causes of homosexuality have any political implications in this day and age, and whether it would make sense to try to stop research like this from happening.
In covering the study, the New York Times summarized its critics’ fears. To them, this is a Catch-22 where a result in either direction gives the bad guys — social conservatives — ammo:
"One concern is that evidence that genes influence same-sex behavior could cause anti-gay activists to call for gene editing or embryo selection, even if that would be technically impossible. Another fear is that evidence that genes play only a partial role could embolden people who insist being gay is a choice and who advocate tactics like conversion therapy."https://news.yahoo.com/death-gay-gene-093053130.html
