FREE ESSAY ON HOMOSEXUALITY

HOMOSEXUALITY

Homosexuality- The Major Cause of Homosexuality
The origins of human sexuality and homosexuality in particular have puzzled philosophers,
theologians and ordinary people for thousands of years. In scatter cultures, homosexuals
have been regarded as a normal part of life, however, same sex attraction to most
cultures have been treated as an unforgivable sin or a terrible crime. Many psychologists
and psychiatrist had attempted to "treat and counsel" the homosexuals. In our social
norm, male attracts to female and female attracts to male. To everyone this is a natural
and biological urge. However, there is a significant minority who attracts to their own
sex. It's about five percent of the population in the world. There are many opposing
viewpoints of whether it derives from variation in our genes or our physiology, from the
intricacies of our personal history or from convergence of these? Is it for that matter a
choice rather than a compulsion? Chances are no one factor or study can alone explicate
and clarify the human sexual orientation. However, there are evidences that prove being
gay is not a choice. The nature of homosexuality primarily comes from one's biological
sexual orientation and the environment is just a source to bring forth or repress the
behavior
Many researchers and scientists have long search for the distinguishable brain
structures, the biochemistry in the human brains to differentiate the differences to
classify between the two obvious sexes we now have in our society, male and female. Such
sex differentiation of the brain's structure is called sexual dimorphism. . (LeVay/ Hamer
22)
The first significant observation of sexual dimorphism performed in an animal laboratory.
Roger A. Gorski, a professor at University of California, Los Angeles, conducted an
experiment on rats. In 1978, Gorski examined the rat's hypothalamus, a region at the base
of its brain that is involved in instinctive behaviors and regulation of metabolism. He
discovered there is a group on front of the hypothalamus is several times larger in
millimeter of the male rats compared to the female rats. The cell group is very small but
it could be easily observed on a stained slice when being viewed under a microscope. More
interestingly, Gorski's finding applied to the sexual orientation between males and
females. That particular group of cell is known as the medial preoptic are has been
involved in the sexual behaviors typically displayed in males. For instance, if there is
a male rat has a injury medial preoptic area, he apparently couldn't indifferent to sex
with another female. From the study of Gorski and his co-workers, we now know the
androgen is the typical male hormone and the estrogen is the female hormone played a
major role in bring about dimorphism during the fetus development. (LeVay/Hamer 23)
Another finding also involved with Gorski and his colleagues at U.C.L.A, especially with
his student, Dr. Laura S. Allen. They also found the dimorphic structure in the human
brain. A cell group named INAH3, shorten for the third interstitial nucleus of the
anterior hypothalamus, in the medial preoptic region of the hypothalamus is about three
times larger in men that in women. (LeVay/Hamer 23)
Animal studies make available a good deal of evidence for biological basis of disease,
but in this case, sexual orientation. Through a careful exploitation of hormone level on
rats, Gorski as been able to produce male rodents that demonstrate feminine behavior and
injected into the female fetus that develop with the male fetus and it appear to be
masculine because of the male testosterone. They also look and act more like males. In
addition, they are less attractive to male mice (Gorman 60)
Related to Gorski and Allen's study, Simon LeVay, a British biologist and neurologist at
San Diego Salk Institute, who is also gay, performed another study for Biological
Studies, in 1990. LeVay decided to check whether INAH3 or some other cell group in the
medial preoptic area varies in size with sexual orientation as well as with sex. LeVay
conducted an experiment on the hypothalamus in autopsy specimens from nineteen homosexual
men, all of whom died of AIDS and sixteen heterosexual men, six of whom had also died of
complication of AIDS. After encoding the specimens to eliminate all the bias that could
skew the outcome. LeVay carefully sliced the hypothalamus into serial slices. He measured
their cross-sectional areas and their thickness under a microscope. LeVay has concluded
the sexually dimorphic nucleus INAH3 were significantly larger than of female and smaller
in male homosexuals than in straight men and similar in size to the nucleus of female. In
some gay men, this group altogether nonexistent; this is statistically proven in 1 in
1000 gay men. LeVay hypothesized that this is a biological factor and possibly
genetically based has influenced in the brains of homosexuals to become feminized.
(LeVay/Hamer 25)
William Byne, a psychiatrist at Mount Sinai Medical Center decided to challenge and test
LeVay's finding. Byne compared the brains of nineteen heterosexual men and seven women
and found the male nuclei were larger, as LeVay had initiated. Byne came up with several
arguments that other factors could also influenced the cause of homosexuality but chosen
not to publish his result until he can rule out all the possibilities that could
contradict his argument. He is also collecting numerous human brains for a comparison of
gay and straight males. (Horgan 26)
There are many conservatives who disapprove of homosexuality and have the intense
hostility with the concept of "gay gene" and have traditionally argued against it. But
this is because those conservatives do not understand the implications that lie behind
the gay gene. Homosexuality is life left-handedness. It's neither chosen nor a
psychological illness. Since the homosexuality exposed and became a controversial issue
in United States in the last three decades, many conservatives argue, "Homosexuality is a
chose lifestyle, like vegetarian. It's a disease like schizophrenia." (Burr 22). But
since scientists had proven those are not completely cases of homosexuality and it
clearly a biological development like and it does not correlate with any environment
factors.
Scientists has classified homosexuality is a trait. For every trait they studied,
clinicians and biologists often assemble a trait profile of the sum total they have
gathered in their studies. The trait usually shows up in the population as two
"orientation". Ninety-two percent of the population usually has the majority orientation
and about eight percent has the minority orientation. Either the two traits are
non-pathological and chosen. The minority orientation runs in the families has a name of
"maternal effect" given by the geneticists which men always receive it from their mother.
If it is inheritable, as demonstrated by the fact those identical twins, whose are
naturally clones are far more likely to share the minority orientation than siblings who
are not twins. For example, handedness, right- handed holds the majority orientation in
the populations that the left-handed holds the minority orientation. This theory could
apply to the homosexuals and heterosexuals. Heterosexuality accounts roughly ninety-five
percent of the population while the homosexuality is the minority orientation, which
holds the other five- percent of the population. Clearly family, social norms, friends,
teacher or school education can't make you to become gay, which is a minority
orientation. (Burr 24)
Dean H. Hamer of National Cancer Institute studied the DNA from forty pairs of homosexual
brothers and found thirty-three of them share genetic markers on the X-chromosome in a
region know as Xq28. X chromosome is one of the two sex determined chromosomes. It is
always inherited from mothers. Genes are arranged along 46 chromosomes and each
chromosome contains tiny coils of DNA, deoxyribonucleic acid, which carries the
instruction to manufacture a particular body substance. There was no such similar sharing
in the same region among heterosexual men. Researchers have not yet compared the
homosexuals' genetic information to the other group. The finding does not explain all the
homosexuals; seven out of forty homosexual brothers did not have the common genetic
factor. The explanation for this is it might cause by other unknown genetic influence.
(LeVay/Hamer, 27-29). Since the DNA strand is long enough to contain hundreds of genes.
Hamer's team has not found the gene that makes some men gay but the Xq28 is one of the
possibilities of the gay gene (Begley, Sharon, Hager, Mary)
If homosexuality is inherited and the male homosexual gets the gay gene from the
X-chromosome of his mother, then aren't that twin brothers and other siblings of the
family have a good chance of being genetically influenced by that trait. Looking for
linkage, Hamer has conducted a random survey and a survey with families with gay brothers
between the maternal and paternal relatives. The possibilities of maternal uncle and
maternal cousin through aunt have the highest percentage of being gay. It's from 7.3 % to
12.9% compared to the paternal uncle and cousin through aunt of 3.9% to 5.4%. Why are
most gay men relatives are gay on their mother's side of the family? The possibility is a
man has two chromosomes, X and Y. The Y chromosome is the sex chromosome and any traits
that on the X chromosome pass to the child come mostly from his mother. Chances are she
had inherited those traits from her side of the family. (Hamer/Copeland 111)
In 1985, Richard C. Pillard and James D. Weinrich conducted the first modern study on the
pattern of homosexuality runs in families. "The random pooled data for men show that
about 57% of identical twins, 24% of fraternal twins and 13% of brothers of gay men are
also gay. For women, 50% of the identical twin, 13% of sisters of the lesbians are also
lesbians."(LeVay/Hamer 26)
Data of homosexuality combined and analyzed, it showed a good possibility of family
clustering of sexual orientation becomes evident for both sexes. But others say this
finding reveals another significant problem with a "born gay" conclusion.
The argument against the data indicating above is if homosexuality is inherited then
identical twin brothers who share 100% of their genes should have 100% chance of being
gay instead of 57%? The respond to this argument is in a gene there are two alleles. For
example of Huntington's disease, it comes in two alleles. One is to suppress the gene and
the other activates the disease. Therefore, the baby has a 50% to 50% change of his
identical twin brother will get the same "gay" trait. Another example is Type 1 diabetes;
this disease has only 30% active, so in another word, you could only have 30% chance of
this gene will become activate. Therefore two identical brothers could have share the
same gene for diabetes but one might develop it and one might not. The activeness of the
gay gene is only 50%, for that reason, some twins do not share the same sexual
orientation unless there is something that triggers those alleles to activate. There are
traits that emerge at the different time of life, some at the beginning and others that
emerge later on in time. (Kangas 20)
Another explanation is after the fertilized egg separated into two individuals. The DNA
sequence might have a few changes and that could lead to the personality as well as the
sexual orientation differences. This has not been proven, but it could be one of the
possibilities of why identical twins do not have 100% chance of being gay. " Bailey and
Pillard say their research indicates that male sexual orientation is "substantially
genetic". Research on social factors has proven fruitless, with no evidence that parental
behavior or even parent's homosexuality affects the children's sexual orientation.
(Pillard 32)
Applying the homosexuality to the gene concept, New York psychiatrist Kenneth Paul
Rosenberg believes that we, as people, should be more open-minded to the study of
homosexuality because it could help to fight for gay and lesbian rights in this society.
Hopefully it also could decrease an escalating hate crime rate and the discrimination
toward homosexuals.(Horgan) 
Like any genetic research, finding the gene sequence is time consuming and expensive. The
finding of Huntington's disease took about a decade and cost millions of dollars. What
are the advantages of the study's outcomes and who will be effects by it? Human sexual
orientation is no ordinary topic or study. It's at the center of a fierce debate
involving politics, the law, religion, ethics and the origins and meaning of human
behavior. Many legal experts felt the evidence for a genetic link to homosexuality would
strengthens the evidence for immutability and therefore cause tighter scrutiny of laws
that permitted discrimination against gays and lesbians in housing, employment, or
participation in the political process. Others, though, argued that immutability was a
red herring and that the real issue was equal protection, not biology.
There were also ethical, medical and economic issues involved as well. Although
scientists did not provide any test for the still hypothetical gay gene but we are
heading in that direction. If such test were developed, might parents decide to screen
the fetus for homosexuality, just as they do for Down syndrome and other genetic defects?
Would some doctors regard homosexuality as a genetic defect that should be cured and
weeded out of the population? Would insurance companies charge men with the gay gene more
on coverage or refuse to serve them because they have a higher risk of AIDS faced by gay
men? These are questions that worried many people. 
"In addition, homosexuals are frequently the targets of discrimination and violence. The
treat of violence and discrimination is an obstacle to lesbian and gay people's
development. In a 1989 national survey, 5% of the gay men and 10% of the lesbians
reported physical abuse and/or assault...47% report some form of discrimination over
their lifetime. Other research has show similarly high rates of discrimination or
violence toward homosexuals" (Yahoo.com, APA Q&A)
Personally I do hope the genetic surgery will reveal the true nature of homosexual and
find the right loci of the gay gene in the near future. Optimistically with finding of
the biological influences on the gay gene can help to eliminate the discrimination and
the escalating hate crimes rate toward the homosexuals. Homosexuals are normal people
like the heterosexuals. They have feelings and their sexual orientation of attracting the
same sex is innate. They have no control over this destiny. Counseling, therapy or the
environment can't change this so since we can't convert this then why don't we accept
this and give those homosexuals all the respects and rights that they deserve like any
other heterosexuals. 
Work cited
? Answer to Your Questions about Sexual Orientation and Homosexuality. APA Public
Communication. *http://www.apa.org/pubinfo/orient.html. *
? Begley S.; Hager M. (July 26, 1993) Newsweek. Vol. 122 Issue 4 Does DNA Make Some Men
Gay? P59 2/3p, 1c
? Burr C. (Dec 16, 1996) Weekly Standard. Suppose There Is a Gay Gene... What Then? P
22-26
? John, H. (Nov 95). Scientific American, Vol. 273 Issue 5, Gay Genes, Revisited p26,
5/6p, 1c
? Kangas S. (1999) Homosexuality Is Biologically Determined. Homosexuality: Opposing
Viewpoints. Mary E. Williams, Greenhaven Press. 17-21
? Gorman, C. (Sept 9, 1991) Time Magazine. Are Gay Men Born that Way? P 60-61
? Pillard R. (1999) The Causes of Homosexuality Are Probably Genetic. Homosexuality:
Opposing Viewpoints. Mary E. Williams, Greenhaven Press. 27-34