How can being Gay be genetic if a gene must be passed on sexually?... read details?

Question

I have heard people say that there is a sort of gay gene that will make you more likely to be gay (in other words being gay isnt a choice). that must be the stupidest thing I have ever heard of. I would think that certain traits may make you more likely to end up gay than someone else who does not have those traits, what traits I dont know... flimsy hand maybe, seriously though, maybe more sensitive, or open to try new things. This leads me to believe that being gay is obviously a choice. you just may be more likely than others to make the choice of being gay. for example some people are fat because genetically their bodies tell them to eat more while others have no problem turning away from a peice of cake. what do you all think?

very true about the carrier. I somehow forgot about that. but over time even if you could carry the gene, it should eventually die out like any gene that wouldnt promote any sort of survival in nature. grant it that it would take a LONG time but humans have been around a while so by now something that negative to human survival would have been erased by now.

Answer 1

Scientific researchers who specialize in human sexuality have shown that homosexuality is linked to biology and genetics.

An October 2004 scientific research publication stated that scientists have found that women tend to have more children when they inherit the same genetic factors linked to homosexuality in men & that this fertility boost more than compensates for the lack of offspring fathered by gay men and keeps the “gay” genetic factors in circulation.

A 2005 study reported genetic scans showing a clustering of the same genetic pattern among gay men on three chromosomes & a study published in Human Genetics in February 2006 found extreme differences in X chromosome inactivation in mothers of gay sons and mothers whose sons were not gay.

Another 2006 scientific study found that a man's likelihood of being gay rises with the number of older biological brothers even if gay men were raised away from their biological families. Anthony F. Bogaert, Ph.D., professor at Brock University, said "The research suggests that the development of sexual orientation is influenced before birth."

The older-brother effect was constant regardless of whether the men were raised with natural, adopted or stepbrothers. It also didn't matter if they weren't raised with their biological mothers. If gay younger brothers and older brothers don't have the same home environments, what do they have in common? "They shared the same uterus, the same womb, the same mother," Bogaert said.

Answer 2

Assuming that there is such a thing, how can a "gay gene" be passed on sexually? Well, presumably like all the other genes, from one of the parents. Just because someone carries a gene does not mean that it will be expressed in that person (e.g. eye colour). What about parents who are gay?
There are a whole number of things that determine what a person will be like and not all of it boils down to just coding. That doesn't mean that just because there is no "gay gene" people aren't born gay. I was born left handed. From the start of my life, my left hand was dominant. Is that genetic? Both my parents are right handed. Being left handed wasn't a choice - I was born that way.
To think that having a limp wrist or being sensitive will cause someone to be gay is completely illogical. It makes no more sense than phrenology - i.e. whether the bumps and shape of someone's skull determines their personality. There is absolutely no causal relationship.
If this was really a serious question rather than a wind up, go and do some research. Do you believe the Earth is flat?

Answer 3

Recessive genes can exist in generations and be passed on through people without even knowing they have them. Both my parents have curly hair, how did I end up with straight hair?

Also, gay people can still reproduce, it certainly is an extra step or two than for straight couples, but that does not mean all gay people do not have children of their own. Then, there are gay animals. Animals wouldn't simply choose to be gay for the heck of it.

Also, it can be a variety of things like a gene that alters the size of the hypothalamus, a series of genes, pre-natal hormones...there is biological proof out there, it's discovering the cause of that biological difference that is proving to be difficult.

EDIT: But really let's say there's a mom and dad. The dad is carrying the recessive gay gene (if there is one, I prefer the prenatal hormone theory), they have 5 children. None of them are gay, but ALL of them are carriers. They go and have children, each of them 2, and none of them are gay, BUT, all those children are carriers. It's only a matter of time until someone with the recessive gene has sex with another person with it, they have a child, and voila, a chance to have gay children. It's possible the majority of us are carriers and we would never know. The gene, if there is one, more than likely would have not died out by now or probably ever.

Answer 4

If being gay is a choice, then all sexuality is a choice and I just don't believe thats possible. i didn't choose to be straight, I just am. Homosexuality has existed as long as heterosexuality has and I don't believe it's possible for a person to change eiher way. I cannot imagine how hard it must be for some people to be told they shouldn't feel the way they do, it would be the most difficult thing.

I think your sexuality is just part of how you arrive in the world. As for your question about a possible gay gene being passed on sexually and therefore between a presumably heterosexual couple, it's entirely possible. You are the sum of your parents genes and YOUR OWN. Genes are responsible for hundreds of things, like cystic fibrosis, haemophilia etc that neither parent actually has, yet they carry the gene. Is there a 'gay' gene ? I don't know and I don't really think it matters.

Answer 5

I think if you are looking for a bunch of people to say that homosexuality is a choice you are looking in the wrong section. I do not believe that homosexuality is a choice but I would not go as far as saying that it is genetic either. Also, you argument has one major fault - not all gay people have these stereotypical traits that you mention - the limp hand, emotional, etc. I am gay and I am very masculine, as is a number of my gay friends.

The difference between a fat person being genetically inclined to eat more cake is that they have a choice - eat more and be happy or eat less and be happy. That choice is not given to homosexuals - their choice is embrace your sexuality and be happy or ignore your sexuality and live to regret it.

Answer 6

umm, you sould probably listen to emily on this one. it's unlikely that being gay is genetic, while they did have all the hype about having discovered a 'gay gene' it was pretty much just that, hype. they didn't manage to prove that all gay people have the same version of the same gene--because they don't. but the media likes stories like that, because 'it sells papers', as it were.

the most commonly accepted scientific hypothesis is that being gay has to do with hormonal imbalances in the mother's womb, which leads to a part of the brain (which i guess could have something to do with sexual orientation) bring formed differently, leading to an attraction to the same gender.

i *think* (this is all from memory, no wikipedia for me) that ray blanchard came up with the 'birth order' hypothesis in 2001 or something, which was that men with older brothers are more likely to be gay. that's not saying that ~all~ gay men have older brothers, or that all men with older brothers are gay, but i think that when this was tested, it was found to be true, at least with the sample that he used.
his hypothesis was that after having a son (or more than one), the mother develops a sort of 'protection' against testosterone, in the womb. i guess it would be a sort of protection from any side-effects for her, from all those hormones causing biological or reproductive damage. but, the idea is, that this also affects the amount of testosterone reaching the next male foetus during a certain period of time in utero, causing a part of the brain to develop differently, leading to being gay.

i imagine there's a similar sort of hypothesis to deal with lesbian women, but nobody ever tests that sort of thing. women aren't important enough, is probably their reasoning *rolls eyes*.

i wouldn't trust a lot of things that ray blanchard does (bbl), but this one seems reasonable. so no, not genetic. but it isn't a choice either.

Answer 7

This shows exactly how much, or how little, you really know about genetics.!
Think about it for awhile.

If someone gets their skin color, eyes,height,intelligence, and everything else from genetic inheritance then why shouldn't it be possible for them to get their sexuality from genetics too ?
Wise Old Mother Nature is NOT going to take any chances by throwing all her eggs into one 'basket', is she ?? Evolution uses sexual reproduction in order to create VARIETY. This is what keeps us a a species just one step ahead of millions of viruses. They MUTATE all the time, constantly, 24 hours a day ,never sleeping. If we don't 'mutuate' as well then we are done for. Each generation is slightly different from the one that went before it. Think of it like a huge kaleidoscope that is constantly changing. There are over 300,000,000 sperm in one dose of semen. Each one is ever so slightly different from the others.The chance factor in creating life is enormous. THIS is what saves us all from certain destruction. Along with this RANDOM chance factor comes hap-hazard selection. This works in good ways and bad, - a lot of the awful inherited diseases and complications caused by hereditary factors proves this. This happens in every part of us, including the sexual part. The bottom line is that Mother Nature is still tweaking and fine tuning us all, and there is no reason to think that our sexual parts are not being tweaked and experimented with by evolution either.
Why ?
No one knows really. The need for survival is obviously the most important reason. Look what happened to the Dinosaurs. They couldn't ADAPT to changed conditions so they all dies out. It's as simple and brutal as that.
Your going to think 'How does guys fooling around with guys save us?'. It doesn't - DIRECTLY - but it IS a spin off of the whole MUTATION process that is constantly driving all Life Forms on this planet.Maybe when populations become too large for comfort some kind of gene kicks in to stop guys killing each other all off over women.
There is no 'right' or 'wrong' in any of this. Evolution does not have those kind of moral values. All evolution does is SURVIVE. There's no more to it all then that.
If this has made you THINK again then it's good.

Answer 8

You're assuming that no married "straight" person who has children was ever actually supressing or denying the fact that they were gay. There are gay people all over the world who, for one reason or another, can't accept that or won't face it because of cultural or family pressure, job status, etc., so they chose to live their lives pretending to be something they aren't. Some live their entire lives in the role of a straight person, married, with children, and so on, but it doesn't mean that they aren't really gay. And if it's possible that homosexuality is passed on genetically, then it would have come from the parent or grandparent who was denying their sexuality.

Answer 9

Being Gay is not a choice. A lot of us fought to NOT be what we are, I physically harmed my self trying to not like other girls. It is true that there has been no specific gene found to be responsible for sexuality. How ever, I do think that it is 100% natural. I personally think that it is linked to Epigenetics, rather than Genetics. Your epigenetics are even more unique than your fignerprint, and even your DNA, since even twins will have different Epigenetics, and your epigenetics vary in different parts of your body.

Epigenetics are what activate certain parts of the DNA, or shut off certain parts of your DNA. The entire strand of DNA is not active in every part of the body. Their are certain parts for eyes, skin, etc, your Epigenetics decide what is turned on or off. I believe that with a combination of certain things being turned on, or off, that it leads to homosexuality. No less controlable than if it was caused by your DNA, and no less changable.

This would also explain why some times, one twin will be homosexual, and the other. Since by DNA they are identical, but their Epigenetics can be very different.

I never chose my sexuality. I fought hard against it for years.I harmed my self, I litterally tried to bleed it out of me. It did not work, and I accepted who I am.

Answer 10

im not disagreeing or agreeing with you but.....have you ever heard of a carrier? people carry genetic traits, the ones that don't show. A person could carry the blue eyes trait, a short trait, a brown hair trait.....think, that's all you have to do is think.

edit: it could be a recent mutation. mutations do happen within genes and cells. Im not saying this is true, just pointing out possiblities.