Jesse
Harmon
Psych
110
Dr. Torello
November
5, 2010
The Biology of
Homosexuality
Homosexuality
is, according to the Oxford Dictionary, “sexually attracted to people of one's own sex.” The panel held at the Capital
University Bridge of Learning lecture hall on November 4, 2010 at 7:30pm. The moderator that night was a Capital
University senior seeking a religion major, with Dr. Torello, Dr. Broh, and
Dr. Anderson sitting on the panel.
Dr. Torello has a doctorate degree in biological psychology from The
Ohio State University. Dr. Broh
has a Ph.D in sociology from The Ohio State University. Dr. Anderson has a Ph.D in Zoology from
Miami University. This paper is a
summery of what happened during the debate.
The
first question asked to the panel was if there were any differences between
the brains of a homosexual man and a heterosexual man. Dr. Torello responded that the
hypothalamus of the brain is responsible for sexual behavior. Simon LeVay, a neuroscientist,
documented that the hypothalamus of a homosexual man resembles that of a
heterosexual woman. However,
replications of LeVay’s studies failed to conclude this hypothesis. LeVay again conducted this experiment,
claiming that his hypothesis is correct, even though subsequent studies proved him
wrong. Years later, LeVay ‘came
out of the closet’ as a homosexual himself, (which may or may not conclude that
he made up his findings). Other findings in the animal kingdom
have found that 10% of male rams have hypothalamuses that are similar to those
of female rams.
Heredity
was the next question in the discussion.
Dr. Anderson stated that a 1993 study concluded that a ‘gay gene’ has
been found. However, after
reviewing and attempting to reproduce the study in 1999, other scientists
proved this theory false. There is
no connection between the X-Chromosome that had looked different in homosexual
males and sexual orientation. However,
the scientists in the 1999 study were unsure about how the original study was
conducted, because families were excluded for various reasons such as the
father being a homosexual himself.
The 1999 study was a much larger study, having about 450 participants,
while the 1993 study had a lot less.
Is
a person born into his or her sexual preference, and how does one’s development
express his or her sexual orientation?
Dr. Broh responded that studies cannot be replicated, and that scientist
can only make assumptions. Dr.
Torello went on to explain that there is no ‘light switch’ effect, where
someone can be completely homosexual or completely heterosexual; instead, there
is a large spectrum, which can in fact be measured using the Kinsey Scale. Are homosexuals born the way they
are? Dr. Torello seemed to infer
that people could be born homosexual.
He mentioned a study done on lab rats. A mother rat was injected with testosterone into her uterus,
much more than naturally produced.
When the pups were born, their gender was recorded. When the pups sexually matured, the
female rats sometimes attempted to mate with other female rats. When a mother rat was injected with
estrogen, the male pups that were sexually mature attempted, in their own
unique way, to mount other male rats.
This possibly concludes that the amounts of testosterone or estrogen in
someone could affect their sexuality preference.
Dr.
Anderson mentioned that in the first part of the 20th century,
scientists considered homosexuality as being a mental disorder. In the 1970s, however, this idea was
thrown out. There used to be many
‘gay fixing’ clinics around the United States, but since the seventies, the
amount has significantly dropped.
Dr.
Anderson also mentioned a study that concluded that if a mother has multiple
male children, the probability that the younger male child will be homosexual
goes up a third of a percent; meaning that there is a higher chance the ‘baby
brother’ of the family will be homosexual than the oldest male child. This may have to do with the fact that
younger sons tend to weigh less than their older siblings. According to the study, 1/7 of
homosexual men in North America have an older brother. This study does not conclude any
correlation between homosexuality and if that male had an older sister. This theory hasn’t been tested since.
A
question from a young man in the audience was brought up. Does a father figure have any influence
on the chance someone is homosexual?
Dr. Broh took this question.
She said there was no consistent evidence that a father figure has
anything to do with a child being homosexual. Dr. Anderson stated, however, that the age of the mother could determine if the child is
homosexual or not. The younger the
mother, the more likely the child could be homosexual. A mother is more likely to have
maternal stress if she is having her first child, then she is if she’s having
her third. This maternal stress
might altar the natal environment that the baby is in. Dr. Torello mentioned a study done by
John Money, at John Hopkins University, that homosexual males act the way they do
because they have lower testosterone levels in their bodies. Money received funds for his experiment
where he injected self-described homosexual males with testosterone, thinking
that he might be able to change their sexual orientation. However, the testosterone had a
surprising effect; instead of changing the subjects’ sexual orientation, the
testosterone instead made them more
attracted to the same gender. Dr.
Broh also agreed with the other two panelists when she stated that hormone
levels vary in every human. Some
males may have higher estrogen levels than other males, and some females may
have higher testosterone levels than other females.
An
audience member brought up a surprising question. Could the image of homosexuality be changed? Dr. Broh rhetorically asked the
audience member what he considered homosexuality. Is the image based on appearance, behavior, sexual
preference, or some other variable?
The identity of someone cannot be change. Calling someone homosexual is a very vague description,
according to Dr. Broh. This
question shocked me as well as a few other audience members because it seemed
to have nothing to do with what this forum was about.
Another
unexpected question came from an audience member. This question pertained to a statistic that Dr. Torello
mentioned earlier in the discussion.
Dr. Torello mentioned that on average, ten-year-old boys know whom they
are going to be attracted to later in life. This audience member questioned Dr. Torello’s statement by
saying that at the age of four, he was going to like females. Low chatter began around the room as
Dr. Torello attempted to clarify what he stated earlier, that on average, boys at the age of ten know whom
they are going to be attracted to.
The
discussion went another route.
What is the home life versus the social impact on sexuality? Dr. Broh said that children being
raised in a single parent home, (single mothers or single fathers), has NO
correlation to the outcome of a child’s sexual attractions. Instead, if homosexual parents raise a
child, there is a slight increase in the probability that the child will be
homosexual, compared to a child being raised by a heterosexual family. She concluded that the child who is
raised by the homosexual family would have a larger range of choices in
sexuality compared to a child raised by a heterosexual family. However, she
stated that this has nothing to do with sexual orientation.
Could
homosexuals deny their own sexuality? Dr. Torello said it’s possible. Could someone be one hundred percent
gay, or one hundred percent straight?
Again, the panel states that there is a spectrum on sexuality. If someone was one hundred percent gay,
they would most likely detest members of the opposite gender.
What
could be done to combat campus negativity toward homosexuality? The panel discussed that with
information collected, and if in fact an answer could be found about biology
having anything to do with homosexuality, it could be used to help with the
equal rights movement, and with anti-discrimination classes.
A question was brought up about ‘fixing’
homosexuality. Dr. Torello quickly
stated that homosexuality, “[is] not broken.” A better question would have been, “If someone was
homosexual, and they didn’t want to be homosexual, is there a way to ‘change’
them to be heterosexual?”
There
has been rigorous testing on male homosexuals, but not so much on female
homosexuals. The behavior of males
tends to be more scrutinized than the behavior of females. If two females hug, society sees it as
perfectly normal. However, if two males hug, some parts of society see it
as being abnormal, wrong, or strange.
Dr. Torello asked the audience, if two females can hug, why can’t two
males?
The
final thoughts on the three panelists summed everything up. Dr. Anderson stated
that there are a lot of hypotheses and that a lot of testing still needs to be
done. Dr. Broh stated that
sexuality is fixed at a certain point, and that nature versus nurture is a
battle that needs to be solved.
The ‘way they are’ and ‘who they are’ is more important about ‘how they
got there.’ Dr. Torello states, what
does it matter? What does it
matter if we’re Italian, black, white, Jewish, or homosexual? Some say that if we pray hard enough,
our sexuality would change. Dr.
Torello states that God can’t change us.
A
lot of work still could be done on the biological effects on
homosexuality. Why? There are much
bigger issues to worry about such as cancer, diabetes, and other diseases that
affect peoples’ lives much more tremendously than a sexual orientation. In conclusion, sexuality is probably
biological, but we still don’t know.
Will we ever figure it out?
Maybe, but maybe not.
Matthew 7:1, "Do not judge, or you too will be judged."
Luke 6:37, "Do not judge, and you will not be judged. Do not condemn, and you will not be condemned. Forgive, and you will be forgiven."
I have a serious problem with bullying, not only in school, but in society. Read this article. This is unacceptable. As someone who has attempted suicide in the past, I find this appalling. As mentioned in the article, for 13 year old Brittany, 7th grade was absolute hell. It was also a nasty time for me. I heard nothing but teasing from the kids in my class not only toward me, but toward other students. I still have trouble respecting some of my classmates, which is probably why I don't contact them very much. The things they said were just awful, and Logan-Hocking Middle School did nothing about it.
But I forgive them. I've come to the conclusion that what I've experience exasperated my mental illness to this day. I had a really thin skin, but it's grown thicker. I'm now able to take that kind of thing, but it still bothers me.
John 8:7, "When they kept on questioning [Jesus], he straightened up and said to them, 'if any one of you is without sin, let him be the first to throw a stone at her."
I find it appalling that people within the church are condemning homosexuality, saying it's a sin. The act of homosexuality is a sin. We are ALL sinners. EVERY SINGLE ONE OF US is a sinner.
Romans 14:10, "You, then, why do you judge your brother? Or why do you look down on your brother? For we will all stand before God's judgement seat.
As my friends know, I believe divorce to be a terrible thing, worse than the act of homosexuality. Divorce splits apart families. Of course there are some obviously good excuses to get divorced, such as spousal abuse, but if two people are getting divorced just to get divorced, that's not right. Divorce is not traditional family values.
The word abomination that's used in the Bible can be translated from many different words. It does not convey the same meaning as we see it today. Today, we see the definition of abomination as something that should be banned. However, back in the day, abomination was seen as something just simply disliked.
1 Corinthians 4:5, "Therefore judge nothing before the appointed time; wait till the Lord comes. He will bring to light what is hidden in darkness and will expose the motives of men's hearts. At that time each will receive his praise from God."
It's not our job here on earth to judge others. It's the Almighty God's job. I have sinned. I will be judged. I have this immense fear that I will not be good enough to enter heaven because of my sins.
You may say that what I say here is blasphemy. Go ahead. Kick me out of the church. I double-dog dare you.
It's what I believe. Is the act of homosexuality a sin? Yes. Is the homosexual person a sinner? Yes, but I'm a sinner, and you are a sinner as well. Is homosexuality a sin? No.
To all my homosexual friends, I love you all. You are all very special to me. Everyone is special to me. May God grant you peace in your lives and be safe on your quests to find true love.
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