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Is the Gay Gene a myth? Scientists say homosexuality impossible to determine by DNA
Christian News ^ | 07/23/2014 | Garrett Haley

Posted on 06/26/2014 7:09:25 PM PDT by NetAddicted

CHICAGO – The results of a comprehensive scientific study released earlier this year suggest that homosexuality cannot be directly traced to a ‘gay gene,’ but is instead dependent on a variety of factors, including environmental and social influences.

Pro-homosexual activists have long claimed that homosexuality and abnormal “sexual orientations” are primarily caused by genetic factors. They argue that individuals with a hereditary “gay gene” are predisposed toward same-sex attractions and thus unable to appreciate traditional marriages.

However, scientific findings released earlier this year during the American Association for the Advancement of Science in Chicago call this premise into question. During the meeting, Michael Bailey of Northwestern University unveiled comprehensive research results which suggest that genetics alone do not determine “sexual orientation.”

In his research, Bailey and other scientists examined the DNA of 400 men who described themselves as homosexual. Ultimately, the researchers concluded that homosexuality cannot be traced to specific genes.

“The genes were neither sufficient, nor necessary, to make any of the men gay,” wrote Ian Sample, science correspondent for The Guardian.

The findings show that it is impossible to accurately predict a person’s sexual behavior by solely examining DNA.

“The flawed thinking behind a genetic test for sexual orientation is clear from studies of twins, which show that the identical twin of a gay man, who carries an exact replica of his brother’s DNA, is more likely to be straight than gay,” The Guardian article continues. “That means even a perfect genetic test that picked up every gene linked to sexual orientation would still be less effective than flipping a coin.”

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Alan Sanders, a Northwestern University professor who led the recent study, confirmed that the “gay gene” theory is largely unfounded.

“We don’t think genetics is the whole story,” Sanders stated, according to The Telegraph. “It’s not.”

Though the scientists maintained that genetics do at least partly influence sexual orientation, these recent findings undermine the belief that homosexuality is predetermined. Environmental factors, such as the absence of a father or an unhealthy domestic upbringing, might play significant roles.

Bryan Fischer of the American Family Association says the scientific findings show that homosexual behavior is ultimately an individual choice.

“Without a genetic causation, sexual preference in behavior is clearly a choice, a choice which no one is compelled to make,” Fischer wrote in a column last week. “And that choice can be evaluated in any number of ways, including whether or not it is good for human health and whether or not same-sex households are sub-optimal nurturing environments for vulnerable young children.”

“If homosexual conduct is ultimately a matter of choice,” Fischer continued, “then the homosexual lobby has nothing, because homosexual conduct is clearly harmful to human beings in any number of ways, not the least of which is serving as the leading cause of HIV/AIDS, which can leave young men disease-ridden and destined for an early grave.”

“I am not persuaded that genes are even a contributing factor,” he added. “But even if they are, the great news is that if individuals are not biologically predetermined to pursue the homosexual lifestyle, then change is possible as a matter of scientific fact. This leads to one simple, salient truth: there is hope for the homosexual.”


TOPICS: News/Current Events
KEYWORDS: genetics; homosexualagenda; homosexuality; scientists
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To: Misterioso

With that insane reasoning, so is all the pain, sorrow, death, and destruction in this world.


41 posted on 06/26/2014 8:29:43 PM PDT by SgtHooper (This is not my tag!)
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To: NetAddicted

If there’s no bisexual gene, there’s no homosexual gene either.


42 posted on 06/26/2014 8:40:49 PM PDT by onedoug
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To: NetAddicted

It was a stupid idea to begin with born of people who are hostile to the very idea of freewill and self determination. They need an easy justification for their moral and physical weaknesses which all human beings have in some form or another. We are all born with drives whether driven by hunger, desire for sex, anger, etc. The truly dangerous thing about the lgbt movement is how anti American its core assertions are because their assertions of absolute biological determinism are not only a wholesale justification for sexual deviancy but also for all forms of human moral weakness and at the heart of it is a self defeatism and prideful sinful patheticness that is packaged up with rainbows and demand for approval.

I do feel for those who get caught up with this path but they wrong and the logical end to their very flawed ideas is absolute insanity.


43 posted on 06/26/2014 8:41:41 PM PDT by Maelstorm (America wasn't founded with the battle cry of "Give me Liberty or cut me a government check!".)
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To: ealgeone

Adultery exists? Murderous anger exists. Only someone who is clueless about God would make such a lame argument.


44 posted on 06/26/2014 8:43:16 PM PDT by Maelstorm (America wasn't founded with the battle cry of "Give me Liberty or cut me a government check!".)
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To: NetAddicted

As a Christian who believes we are fallen because of original sin then we humans have much to overcome. Doesn’t necessarily mean this condition will show up in our genes.


45 posted on 06/26/2014 9:19:54 PM PDT by pleasenotcalifornia
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To: NetAddicted

Ha ha ha - A Gay Gene!

What a farce.


46 posted on 06/26/2014 10:06:26 PM PDT by ForYourChildren (Christian Education [ RomanRoadsMedia.com - a classical Christian approach to homeschool])
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To: onedoug

“If there’s no bisexual gene, there’s no homosexual gene either.”

Hmm, no transgender gene?

No lesbian eskimo gene?

No polygamy gene?

No beastiality gene?

Really?! </s>


47 posted on 06/26/2014 10:15:15 PM PDT by ForYourChildren (Christian Education [ RomanRoadsMedia.com - a classical Christian approach to homeschool])
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To: SgtHooper
With that insane reasoning, so is all the pain, sorrow, death, and destruction in this world.

That's what I figured out at about the age of fourteen when I saw the handwriting on the wall. That's when I discovered the difference between sanity and faith.

48 posted on 06/26/2014 11:22:49 PM PDT by Misterioso
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To: Lysandru
Then I'd like to know how “nurturing” can result in a young male or female child feeling from an early age that he/she is sexually attracted to the same sex. I believe your sexuality is determined at birth. You can't fake what sexually turns you on. I've read that many homosexuals say they'd rather be heterosexual, for all the misery their lifestyle brings them, but you can't fake your sexuality.
Some folks may play around with bisexuality, but ultimately they're either homosexual or heterosexual. Young children can't “learn through nurturing” to be homosexual or heterosexual. It either feels good, or it doesn't. I think the jury is still out on this one.
49 posted on 06/26/2014 11:29:44 PM PDT by itssme
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To: Lysandru
Then I'd like to know how “nurturing” can result in a young male or female child feeling from an early age that he/she is sexually attracted to the same sex. I believe your sexuality is determined at birth. You can't fake what sexually turns you on. I've read that many homosexuals say they'd rather be heterosexual, for all the misery their lifestyle brings them, but you can't fake your sexuality.
Some folks may play around with bisexuality, but ultimately they're either homosexual or heterosexual. Young children can't “learn through nurturing” to be homosexual or heterosexual. It either feels good, or it doesn't. I think the jury is still out on this one.
50 posted on 06/26/2014 11:29:44 PM PDT by itssme
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To: NetAddicted

The “gay gene” was one of the original Darwin Award winners.


51 posted on 06/27/2014 2:14:06 AM PDT by clearcarbon
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To: Maelstorm
Adultery exists? Murderous anger exists. Only someone who is clueless about God would make such a lame argument.

Adultery, murder, etc arise from man's desires and temptations.

The Bible, in James 1:13-16, tells us that God does not tempt man.

Again, sin of all types is against God's nature.

52 posted on 06/27/2014 5:10:16 AM PDT by ealgeone (obama, borderof)
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To: NetAddicted
Homosexuality is not biologically determinable because it's not physiological.

It is a spiritual matter, best left to that which deals with the spiritual - God and his Word.

53 posted on 06/27/2014 6:29:05 AM PDT by fwdude (The last time the GOP ran an "extremist," Reagan won 44 states.)
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To: Mr Ramsbotham
Neither does homosexuality come in genes.

Homosexuality often comes in cans...

54 posted on 06/27/2014 9:21:35 AM PDT by BlueMondaySkipper (Involuntarily subsidizing the parasite class since 1981)
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To: itssme
Respectfully...

We know that often with twins that one can be gay while the other is traight. So...if two people with identical DNA wind up differently, how can you say that these things are determined at birth?

Open your eyes and observe the real world rather than your preferred answers.

55 posted on 06/27/2014 4:44:20 PM PDT by Lysandru
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To: itssme

A lot of homosexuality results from homosexual sexual abuse. Homosexual magazines & websites have written extensively about “intergenerational intimacy”, so they are obviously into child sexual abuse. Probably from their own abuse.


56 posted on 06/27/2014 7:19:32 PM PDT by NetAddicted (Just looking)
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To: itssme

Also, if it was determined at birth, identical twins would be homosexual, which is not the case.


57 posted on 06/27/2014 7:25:33 PM PDT by NetAddicted (Just looking)
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To: NetAddicted

Correction: If you’re “born that way”, then identical twins would both be homosexual.


58 posted on 06/27/2014 7:28:36 PM PDT by NetAddicted (Just looking)
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To: NetAddicted

I happened to see a few minutes of a TV show on some cable channel where a guy was gay and the host of the show berated the twin that he must also be gay. It was sickening.


59 posted on 06/27/2014 7:30:36 PM PDT by GeronL (Vote for Conservatives not for Republicans)
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To: Lysandru
I do understand that based on DNA findings, twins with identical DNA can wind up with different sexual orientations. But I still have questions, and I haven't heard/read anything that may explain the following. For instance, you're born a male, but very early in your childhood, you realize that sexually you're attracted to other males. You may or may not display feminine tendencies, but you're only turned on by your homosexual feelings for another male. And so you appear to all the world as a heterosexual male, but your true sexual preference is homosexual. Now, baring any homosexual abuse at home or from outside influences, what determines your sexuality? If DNA is not the key, then what determines our sexual preferences?

I'm not a scientist, but a person who has questions. Your sarcastic remark about “opening my eyes and observing the real world, rather than my preferred answers” is not necessary. We're here on FR to read posts, to learn and to feel free to ask questions, in the hopes of finding answers.

60 posted on 06/28/2014 12:34:15 AM PDT by itssme
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