As the likes of Joseph Campbell and Jordan Peterson have so aptly demonstrated, myths are the mightiest of constructs. These widely held beliefs have the power to become self-validating entities, encouraging individuals to accept certain narratives without ever seeking a second opinion. Myths come in many different flavors. Some are good, and some, like the ‘gay gene’ myth, are bad. Not to mention incredibly dangerous.
The myth of the so-called ‘gay gene’ was disproved many years ago. But, for reasons that will become clearer later in this essay, it’s back again. In a recent piece for Psychology Today, David Ludden asked if a ‘gay gene’ exists. His answer: “Well, yes, sort of.” My answer: “Well, no, not at all.” My answer, unlike Ludden’s, is backed by actual science.
Welcome to the least fun game in the world: the genetic blame game. It has become fashionable to blame our genetic makeup for everything, from laziness and obesity to poor decision making,
Biological determinism, also known as genetic determinism, is the belief that human behavior is directly controlled by an individual’s genes or some component of their physiological makeup. This belief fosters a sort of learned helplessness, a refusal to believe that an individual can affect the environment he or she finds themselves in. Just like we have the power to affect our immediate environment, our immediate environment has the power to affect us—often in the most profound of ways.
This brings us back to homosexuality. In 2019, scientists from MIT and Harvard explored whether or not a genetic basis for sexual orientation actually existed. The study, extensive in nature, saw the scientists perform a genome-wide association study on close to 500,000 participants from the U.S., the UK, and Sweden. In short, the ‘gay gene’ hypothesis was disproved. As the researcher Paul Sullins noted at the time, the study “definitively refutes the idea that being gay is an innate condition that is controlled or largely compelled by one’s genetic makeup.” The dominant cultural narrative regarding sexual orientation (the “genes made me do it”), insisted Sullins, “simply cannot be true.” One of the authors of the study, Andrea Ganna, echoed his remarks, telling the New York Times that it was “basically impossible to predict one’s sexual activity or orientation just from genetics.”
Deena Wassenburg and Sehoya Cotner, two biologists at the University of Minnesota, have discussed the intimate association between one’s environmental conditions and the development of same-sex sexual preferences.
For example, they note, children of gay parents are considerably more likely to grow up expressing same-sex sexual preferences than those who grow up with straight parents. “Is this because growing up in a gay family actually influences an individual’s sexuality, or because a family that is accepting of homosexuality creates a safe space for a homosexual or bisexual individual to express their sexuality?” they ask. We don’t know. What we do know, however, is that the child’s immediate environment plays a crucial role in their sexual trajectory.
Similarly, the biologists discuss studies that show the link between growing up in an urban environment and the development of same sex proclivities. This makes sense; metropolitan areas are more diverse—racially, politically, and sexually. Exposure to such diversity and broader acceptance of certain lifestyles may very well act as a sort of psychological trigger. Another study, according to the professors, shows that some individuals who enter into homosexual relationships come from broken homes (maternal death during their formative years, divorced parents, absent fathers, etc.).
This is not to say that genes don’t play any role. It’s very possible that, due to one’s genetic makeup, an individual has a predisposition towards certain thoughts and behaviors. However, it’s the environment that one finds himself in that appears to be the major catalyst for very specific changes.
This explains why, in recent times, so many young Americans have started embracing homosexuality. Between 2015 and 2019, as the science writer Cara Murez previously noted, the percentage of 15- to 17-year-olds identifying as “non-heterosexual” rose from 8.3% to 11.7%. Of course, the U.S. is not alone in embracing homosexuality. The United Kingdom has also seen a sharp rise in the amount of young people identifying as gay. Germany is also home to a staggering number of gay people. Sure, the United States, the UK, and Germany have become more open minded, and this has encouraged more adolescents to feel comfortable expressing their sexual preferences. But, as studies show, there is much more at play.
Blerta Perci, an academic at the University of Tirana, Albania, recently published an illuminating paper, clearly demonstrating that teenagers’ sexual behavior is directly influenced by the thoughts and actions of their peers. Again, this makes sense. Until about the age of 12, parents tend to be the most influential people in a child’s life. But, once a child enters their teenage years, the power of parental influence is substituted by the power of peer influence. Couple this influence with the current state of the Western education system where an increasing number of teachers now offer questionable life advice, and you have a recipe for confusion and distorted narratives.
This is not an attack on homosexuality. This is an attack on the people who insist on promoting harmful myths. Encouraging young boys to accept homosexuality as completely and entirely coded in their genes is, at best, unwise. At worst, absolutely reckless. The biologist Nicanor Pier Giorgio Austriaco has shown that homosexual men tend to suffer from greater levels of depression, anxiety disorders, conduct disorder, and substance abuse issues than straight men. Moreover, they are more likely to have suicidal thoughts. If there is any remedy to these disorders, it is cruel and unfair to foreclose it to young men by telling them it’s all rooted in their genes. Young men deserve much better than bad science and bad advice. Myths are no substitution for reality.
The ‘Gay Gene’ Myth Just Won’t Go Away
As the likes of Joseph Campbell and Jordan Peterson have so aptly demonstrated, myths are the mightiest of constructs. These widely held beliefs have the power to become self-validating entities, encouraging individuals to accept certain narratives without ever seeking a second opinion. Myths come in many different flavors. Some are good, and some, like the ‘gay gene’ myth, are bad. Not to mention incredibly dangerous.
The myth of the so-called ‘gay gene’ was disproved many years ago. But, for reasons that will become clearer later in this essay, it’s back again. In a recent piece for Psychology Today, David Ludden asked if a ‘gay gene’ exists. His answer: “Well, yes, sort of.” My answer: “Well, no, not at all.” My answer, unlike Ludden’s, is backed by actual science.
Welcome to the least fun game in the world: the genetic blame game. It has become fashionable to blame our genetic makeup for everything, from laziness and obesity to poor decision making,
Biological determinism, also known as genetic determinism, is the belief that human behavior is directly controlled by an individual’s genes or some component of their physiological makeup. This belief fosters a sort of learned helplessness, a refusal to believe that an individual can affect the environment he or she finds themselves in. Just like we have the power to affect our immediate environment, our immediate environment has the power to affect us—often in the most profound of ways.
This brings us back to homosexuality. In 2019, scientists from MIT and Harvard explored whether or not a genetic basis for sexual orientation actually existed. The study, extensive in nature, saw the scientists perform a genome-wide association study on close to 500,000 participants from the U.S., the UK, and Sweden. In short, the ‘gay gene’ hypothesis was disproved. As the researcher Paul Sullins noted at the time, the study “definitively refutes the idea that being gay is an innate condition that is controlled or largely compelled by one’s genetic makeup.” The dominant cultural narrative regarding sexual orientation (the “genes made me do it”), insisted Sullins, “simply cannot be true.” One of the authors of the study, Andrea Ganna, echoed his remarks, telling the New York Times that it was “basically impossible to predict one’s sexual activity or orientation just from genetics.”
Deena Wassenburg and Sehoya Cotner, two biologists at the University of Minnesota, have discussed the intimate association between one’s environmental conditions and the development of same-sex sexual preferences.
For example, they note, children of gay parents are considerably more likely to grow up expressing same-sex sexual preferences than those who grow up with straight parents. “Is this because growing up in a gay family actually influences an individual’s sexuality, or because a family that is accepting of homosexuality creates a safe space for a homosexual or bisexual individual to express their sexuality?” they ask. We don’t know. What we do know, however, is that the child’s immediate environment plays a crucial role in their sexual trajectory.
Similarly, the biologists discuss studies that show the link between growing up in an urban environment and the development of same sex proclivities. This makes sense; metropolitan areas are more diverse—racially, politically, and sexually. Exposure to such diversity and broader acceptance of certain lifestyles may very well act as a sort of psychological trigger. Another study, according to the professors, shows that some individuals who enter into homosexual relationships come from broken homes (maternal death during their formative years, divorced parents, absent fathers, etc.).
This is not to say that genes don’t play any role. It’s very possible that, due to one’s genetic makeup, an individual has a predisposition towards certain thoughts and behaviors. However, it’s the environment that one finds himself in that appears to be the major catalyst for very specific changes.
This explains why, in recent times, so many young Americans have started embracing homosexuality. Between 2015 and 2019, as the science writer Cara Murez previously noted, the percentage of 15- to 17-year-olds identifying as “non-heterosexual” rose from 8.3% to 11.7%. Of course, the U.S. is not alone in embracing homosexuality. The United Kingdom has also seen a sharp rise in the amount of young people identifying as gay. Germany is also home to a staggering number of gay people. Sure, the United States, the UK, and Germany have become more open minded, and this has encouraged more adolescents to feel comfortable expressing their sexual preferences. But, as studies show, there is much more at play.
Blerta Perci, an academic at the University of Tirana, Albania, recently published an illuminating paper, clearly demonstrating that teenagers’ sexual behavior is directly influenced by the thoughts and actions of their peers. Again, this makes sense. Until about the age of 12, parents tend to be the most influential people in a child’s life. But, once a child enters their teenage years, the power of parental influence is substituted by the power of peer influence. Couple this influence with the current state of the Western education system where an increasing number of teachers now offer questionable life advice, and you have a recipe for confusion and distorted narratives.
This is not an attack on homosexuality. This is an attack on the people who insist on promoting harmful myths. Encouraging young boys to accept homosexuality as completely and entirely coded in their genes is, at best, unwise. At worst, absolutely reckless. The biologist Nicanor Pier Giorgio Austriaco has shown that homosexual men tend to suffer from greater levels of depression, anxiety disorders, conduct disorder, and substance abuse issues than straight men. Moreover, they are more likely to have suicidal thoughts. If there is any remedy to these disorders, it is cruel and unfair to foreclose it to young men by telling them it’s all rooted in their genes. Young men deserve much better than bad science and bad advice. Myths are no substitution for reality.
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