New research suggests that roughly half of all people — including heterosexual women and men — could carry “gay genes.”
In layman’s terms, this means so-called “gay genes” are continuously passed down through the generations in spite of the fact that homosexuals are still relatively unlikely to have children.
The research suggests that gay men’s sisters tend to have more children, which may help explain how homosexuality persists in larger populations.
Meanwhile, heterosexual men could also carry genes predisposing them to being gay.
The study was conducted by Giorgi Chaladze of Ilia State University, based in Tbilisi, Georgia.
In order to gather his research, Chaladze utilized a computational model to examine how genes and heredity influence homosexuality, closely monitoring its existence throughout human history and through every culture.
He wanted to discover why genes commonly tied to homosexuality haven’t died out, especially since heterosexual men have five times more kids than homosexual men.
Earlier research that found gay men are more likely to come from larger families figured into his research, which was published in the Archives of Sexual Behavior.
To sum up, Chaladze’s research suggests that male homosexuality survives in at “low and stable frequencies,” provided that half the men and more than half the women are carrying the genes that predispose men to homosexuality.
H/t: LGBTQ Nation
Mark Angstman
Yes.
Leigh Brash
I grew up not knowing any of my cousins . i grew up in Canada another cousin in Scotland and another in Austrailia. We all connected through facebook. we are all gay and all on my fathers side 🙂
Leonard Woodrow
Like many human traits, sexuality is decided by a a number of genes, not just one. That is why sexuality varies form totally hetero to completely homo. Most people’s sexuality is around the centre of the spectrum, the numbers thinning out as each end is approached.
Billy Budd
It is my personal belief that, if there were absolutely no repression from society and homosexuality were in fashion again, MOST, if not almost everybody would be bisexual. Bisexuality was THE NORM in ancient societies such as Ancient Greece and Rome. It is also my personal belief that what makes a person turn into 100% gay is the phenotype, not the genotype. It’s the life experiences that a person has as a child. I am not saying that gay guys were molested as children. Not at all, and this would be utterly absurd. But I believe that the relationships with mother and father are crucial in explaining a strong prefference towards men. I also believe that a genetic predisposition to homosexuality may exist, but it is NOT strong and MOST people would have the gene that “allows” them to feel attracted to men (and women) anyway.
Benet Leigh
Sounds plausible.
Kangol
I think it’s a combo of genes, but there does seem to be a correlation between homosexuality in some family members and fertility among females in a family. Also, I wonder how much environmental factors affect sexual orientation. Whatever is behind it, being gay, bisexual, and transgender are expressions of human and multispecies existence, and not “unnatural” or any of the other things homophobes and transphobes claim.
tonylovesotis
The sibling fecundity theory is still probably the most compelling explanation for the persistence of the “gay gene/s” in the human population.
Poncho Sanchez
If homosexuality was completely genetic, then it would emerge 100% of the time among identical twins, because identical twins share the same genes, however, it doesn’t. Just like one identical twin can b left handed and one right, some scientist believe that each fetus gets a slightly different amount of prenatal hormones exposure, which organizes the brain differently, therefore homosexuality would b an epigenetic trait.
Poncho Sanchez
@Billy Budd: let’s put the nuture trumps nature theory to rest as far as homosexuality goes. I find it quite insulting to suggest that parental relationships influence sexual orientation. U might as well advocate Freudian penis envy and anal fixation.
Invert
@Poncho Sanchez: actually, identical twins don’t share 100% of genes.
Not even all of the dna in our own bodies is identical. Look up Somatic Variation.
gaym50ish
@Poncho Sanchez: The reason it’s not 100 percent among identical twins is that identical twins are not really “identical.” But Dean Hamer’s “gay genes” study reported in the journal Science in 1993 showed that in more than 60 percent of monozygotic twins, if one was gay the other was also. Among fraternal twins it was only 22 percent, and in non-twin brothers it was 11 percent.
A similar study of twins was conducted by J. Michael Bailey and Richard Pillard. They found the correlation to be 52 percent among identical twins and 22 percent among fraternal twins. Their sample also included pairs of non-related adopted brothers, and among those siblings only 5 percent shared the trait of homosexuality. Because they were raised in the same way in the same household, that would appear to eliminate environmental factors as the sole cause.
So, I will concede that both genetic and environmental factors may be involved. But I definitely think there are genes that influence our orientation.
Guy068
Just a thought: Why would nature even have a gay gene? It wouldn’t be to promote fabulousness. The only reason to have a gay gene is to keep the whole package of genetic characteristics from passing to the next generation…
CivicMinded
@Guy068: Au contraire. Society needs a certain percentage of fabulousness. That is exactly why gay genes exist. Without that creativity humans wouldn’t have become the dominant species. Gay people think outside the box and force others to get uncomfortable and do so as well.
Daggerman
..obviously his calculation is wrong–gay men have been around for literally the same time as heterosexual men! So why has the human race been through-out history so unfair and so bigoted toward people inclined to want same sex engagements?? Well, I tell you ‘RELIGION!’
Billy Budd
@Daggerman: You are absolutely right. The creation and dissemination of religion is the cause of our troubles. Quoting Geneticist Richard Dawkins: RELIGION IS THE ROOT OF ALL EVIL.
Invert
My own particular theory is that males that hold the gay gene are the members of the species able to befriend other males, rather than compete against them.
Gay gene males don’t want to fight other males- they want to be friends with them and/or have sex with them.
So the gay gene results in higher social bonding and group cohesion. It results in cooperation rather than competition. The gay gene, whether it results in exclusively homosexual sex or not, is what stops males from literally tearing each other- or the group- apart.
Imagine if all males had no gene for friendship and cooperation- there’d be endless competition for females and there would be a high male mortality rate; competition in the animal world is usually deadly or results in the loser not being able to pass on their genetic information because they didn’t ‘win’ the female.
Males and male offspring would not survive to pass on their genetic material through straight sex. And we can see from the distribution of exclusively gay men in any population being relatively small that most males would therefore have both the gay gene AND the straight gene (we know this because of how often gays crop up in populations- it has to be being passed on through sexual activity and exclusively gay men don’t usually have offspring) with another set of males having only the straight gene.
But males who have the gay gene aren’t threatened by other males- or the male offspring of other males- so there’s higher male survival rates and a higher incidence of males that carry the gay gene due to higher survival rates but also crucially those who also carry the straight gene which results in heterosexual activity and therefore more offspring- to keep the population rates of the species at a high level.
So there’s a multiple effect created by the gay gene; survival of more males generally, more males with the gay gene, more males with both gay and straight genes and more males with the straight gene.
Males who don’t have the gay gene ARE threatened by other males and are genetically compelled to compete with them. This males without the gay gene are more prone to violence, murder and social disruption because they don’t have the gay gene for cooperation or friendship.
youarekiddingme
@Invert: Don’t try to argue science with Poncho…he makes up his own “theories” as he goes along. He also states that there’s a correlation between being gay and “handedness” (i.e. Left handed)! Good luck arguing with him on this one!
Invert
@youarekiddingme: I’ve read the handedness theory. I’ve also read there’s a correlation between lesbianism and the inability to hear certain frequencies of sound.
Considering I’ve got a personal theory about the gay gene and friendliness I’m not exactly in the position to look down on poncho for his opinions.