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Published online by Cambridge University Press: 29 July 2009
Reports about possible genetic bases of homoerotic sexual orientation in adults have received a kind of schizophrenic social reception. On the one hand, these reports have been welcomed by some gay men and lesbians as biological confirmation of the commonly held view that sexual orientation is an involuntary trait, that sexual orientation is not in any meaningful sense chosen. Simon LeVay has received mail from thankful correspondents who welcomed his 1991 report about the possible neuroanatomical basis for male homoerotic sexual orientation, and some legal analysts see important implications of biological studies for the ways in which civil rights are recognized, especially those that depend on an immutable characteristic like race or gender.
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9. On the supposition that sexual orientation is localized in statistical correlation to a specific chromosomal region, Hamer may be mistaken in thinking that refusal to license his patent to others would prevent access to this information. Other techniques might provide access to the same information in different, unpatented ways.
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11. I am also assuming here that adults bifurcate neatly either homoerotic or heteroerotic lives. There are, I think, good reasons for rejecting this assumption. I will nevertheless accept the assumption for the sake of the argument given that it seems consonant with the assumptions of many discussions about the meaning of genetic prenatal tests for sexual orientation.
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17. See note 15. Bell, , Weinberg, . 1978:339, table 12. Saying yes to the question of “Want magic pill at birth?” were: 28% of 569 WHMs, 23% of 109 BHMs, 16% of 228 WHFs, and 11% of 63 BHFs. Saying yes to the question “Want magic pill today?” were: 14% of 574 WHMs, 13% of 109 BHMs, 5% of 229 WHFs, and 6% of 64 BHFs.Google Scholar
18. See note 15. Bell, , Weinberg, . 1978:339, table 12. 27% of 573 WHMs, 27% of 111 BHMs, 23% of 225 WHFs, and 21% of 64 BHFs agreed or strongly agreed that homosexuality is an emotional disorder.Google Scholar
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21. It should be observed that it does not follow that fewer gay men and lesbians in the future means that they will necessarily be less politically able and increasingly victimized because the absolute size of a group does not predict its relative social fortunes.
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23. Money, J. Gay, Straight, and In-Between. New York: Oxford University Press, 1988:73–4, 124, 131, 134, 171, 176–7. These claims are hard to evaluate. I note them here not to judge their conceptual or evidential adequacy but merely as a reminder that biological accounts are not the only accounts of homoeroticism, and that a biological focus may in fact obscure the other factors that determine the overall incidence and prevalence of homoeroticism.Google Scholar
24. See note 22. D'Emilio, . 1992:13–6.Google Scholar
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27. To make this point is to say nothing, however, about the relative merit of such inquiry compared to other inquiries competing for both researcher interest and financial sponsorship.
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29. See note 3. Stein, . 1994. While I am sympathetic in large measure to the thesis that civil rights for gay men and lesbians are independent of particular theories of biological causation, I do not accept all of Stein's particular arguments on behalf of this thesis.Google Scholar
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