12th June 2003, 4:33 PM
You're looking for proof in one direction when you fail to realize that there is no proof to support your opinion. I read 5 of those reports and none of them undoubtedly supported your claim that gayness is not genetically linked. In fact, I will quote one of your "sources."
Rice himself doesn’t discount the idea of a genetic link to homosexuality. He just doesn’t think Xq28 is the spot. “The search for genetic factors in homosexuality should continue,” he says, adding that he’s currently searching for other genes that could be linked to sexuality.
But where do these traits come from? Aren't they inherited?
We do not know yet. Some may be. Or rather, we do not know how much is inherited, and which elements are direct and which merely further associated and linked with other yet more fundamental traits. But you are getting the picture. That is how the research ought to proceed. It
is not necessarily that the traits that facilitate homosexuality are themselves bad; perhaps many are gifts. Athleticism is a generally good thing, and we think highly of people who satisfy their athletic impulses as, say, outstanding BBPs. Not so the fellow who merely becomes a thug.
None of the sources you point out seem to make any claim that, "The fact is that the chance of there being a gay gene is practically nil."
So, let's assume that being gay is genetic. What makes being gay any more of a defect than having brown hair? Or having blue eyes? Having darker skin tone? With obesity, it's clear. Obesity directly causes the individual to have adverse health consequences. With gayness, it's not clear. Nothing about gayness makes one biologically unhealthy. There is the "natural" argument, that it is the inherent nature of males to screw females for the survival of the species, but what makes animal homosexual behavior unnatural? Does God punish these animals? I mean, this is the same argument that slave owners had: being born black means that God hates you, it is a defect, and so you don't deserve the same rights as white people.
But there are some inherent questions that Weltall mentions. Regardless of how much it is a choice, should gay people have the same rights as straight people? To marry? To have consentual intercourse? To fight for the country? These are not "special" rights. These are simply rights that people take for granted.
Rice himself doesn’t discount the idea of a genetic link to homosexuality. He just doesn’t think Xq28 is the spot. “The search for genetic factors in homosexuality should continue,” he says, adding that he’s currently searching for other genes that could be linked to sexuality.
But where do these traits come from? Aren't they inherited?
We do not know yet. Some may be. Or rather, we do not know how much is inherited, and which elements are direct and which merely further associated and linked with other yet more fundamental traits. But you are getting the picture. That is how the research ought to proceed. It
is not necessarily that the traits that facilitate homosexuality are themselves bad; perhaps many are gifts. Athleticism is a generally good thing, and we think highly of people who satisfy their athletic impulses as, say, outstanding BBPs. Not so the fellow who merely becomes a thug.
None of the sources you point out seem to make any claim that, "The fact is that the chance of there being a gay gene is practically nil."
So, let's assume that being gay is genetic. What makes being gay any more of a defect than having brown hair? Or having blue eyes? Having darker skin tone? With obesity, it's clear. Obesity directly causes the individual to have adverse health consequences. With gayness, it's not clear. Nothing about gayness makes one biologically unhealthy. There is the "natural" argument, that it is the inherent nature of males to screw females for the survival of the species, but what makes animal homosexual behavior unnatural? Does God punish these animals? I mean, this is the same argument that slave owners had: being born black means that God hates you, it is a defect, and so you don't deserve the same rights as white people.
But there are some inherent questions that Weltall mentions. Regardless of how much it is a choice, should gay people have the same rights as straight people? To marry? To have consentual intercourse? To fight for the country? These are not "special" rights. These are simply rights that people take for granted.