Wayne Besen - Author, Activist, Columnist, Public Speaker

Wednesday, May 11, 2005

New Brain Study Challenges Bigotry of the Brainwashed

by Wayne Besen

A monumental new study released by Swedish scientists this week shows that biology plays a pivotal role in determining a person's sexual orientation. With this new research, can the brainwashed finally abandon their bigotry and admit that the brain, not the Bible, decides sexual attraction?

It must be difficult for the right wing to accept that God did create Adam and Steve, after all. Instead of anti-gay political campaigns, the extremists should call it a day, visit the mall and buy this oft-maligned gay couple nice wedding gifts. No matter how they spin it, a growing body of scientific evidence points to the obvious: Homosexuality is not a choice.

In the Swedish study, the portion of the brain that helps regulate sexuality - the hypothalamus - reacted the exact same way in straight women and gay men when exposed to male pheromones, which are chemicals designed to provoke a behavior, such as sexual arousal. The same area of the brain only became stimulated in heterosexual men when introduced to female pheromones.

This research appears to partially validate a 1991 study by Dr. Simon LeVay that found the hypothalamus is twice as large in heterosexual men as it is in women or gay men. At that time, the right wing dismissed the study by saying that LeVay used cadavers who died of AIDS. They claimed that the disease potentially could have caused brain wasting which may have accounted for the smaller gland.

Fair enough.

This time, however, the test subjects were alive and while the studies were markedly different, the results were strikingly similar. The portion of the brain that governs sexuality behaves differently in gay men than in straight men. There is no morality involved. The brain leads, and the body follows.

Sadly, right wing ideologues are already trying to spin this study. Dr. Warren Throckmorton, a leading proponent of ex-gay therapy, wrote that, "smell is highly responsive to learning". He suggests that gay men are really heterosexuals who are mysteriously taught to respond sexually to male pheromones.

This "learning" canard is patently absurd, considering those on the right who teach us homosexuality is wrong keep producing gay kids. Did Dick Cheney teach his daughter to be a lesbian? Did the Eagle Forum's Phyllis Schlafly enroll her son John in Homosexuality 101 courses? Did the Godfather of "ex-gay" therapy Charles Socarides train his son Richard to be President Bill Clinton's gay liaison? Did Operation Rescue founder Randall Terry tutor his son Jamiel?

The other myths circulated by the lucrative anti-gay industry, such as gay men have distant fathers, are easily disproved. Sure, a lot of fathers create distance when their young sons gravitate to ballet over baseball. But this simplistic cause and effect is eviscerated by the existence of countless relationships where fathers and gay sons share strong bonds.

The fable that women are lesbians because men sexually abused them also collapses under the weight of common sense. Most lesbians grew up in perfectly normal homes and had relatively uneventful childhoods. Meanwhile, there are many women who were sexually abused as children - and they turn out heterosexual. Clearly, this propaganda is not rooted in science, but crass stereotyping designed to foment prejudice, persecution and often votes for opportunistic politicians.

It is only a matter of time before science incontrovertibly establishes the biological origins of sexuality. While people do not choose their sexual orientation, America can choose to end discrimination against people who are living the life in which nature obviously intended. Here is a good place to start:

** Stop presenting sexual orientation as a moral issue. It has as much to do with morality as eating or breathing. Homosexuality is a natural phenomenon and just one more beautiful difference in the diversity of humankind.

** Stop encouraging gay people to "marry" heterosexuals in order to cure them. Pressuring someone to marry a person that he or she does not love or find sexually appealing is cruel, immoral and unfair to both people involved. It is a divorce waiting to happen that becomes more tragic when children are brought into such a mess.

** Support same-sex marriage. Prohibiting gay people from tying the knot does not change their reaction to pheromones. It only promotes the gay single life that conservatives claim to loathe.

Now that it appears sexual orientation is biological and connected to smell, it is time that opponents of equality acknowledge that their oppressive behavior stinks. And to those who try to change gays to straight: Give it up and stop wasting your time. You can't pray away a God-given brain. But, you can start using it.

18 Comments:

Very interesting article, but where is the hypothalamus in your picture? And did Lesbians react the same way as heterosexual men when exposed to women pheremones?
posted by Anonymous, at 1:51 PM

Don't worry, Wayne. I'm sure bigots will be able to find the proper spin to allow them to continue to spread their hatred. (sigh). When their minds are made up they are not about to be confused by a few facts.
posted by Bill Fuller, at 7:10 PM

Thank you for posting this! As a Gay man I do appreciate this reporting of scientific facts, unfortunately the "religious right" for the most part will not except anything that is factual preferring to believe only that which they have been taught from the "bible".Their motto" don't bother me with the facts!"
posted by Anonymous, at 10:38 PM

This is most interesting! This may explain why there is such a vicious reaction from some of those who are so opposed to Gays. They may be feeling an attraction that they can't explain and it frightens them into inappropriate behavior( gay bashing). They are literally "fighting the feeling". Those persons who display such over emotional feelings toward gay people should be tested to see if they are in fact attracted to the male hormone. This would confim what I have always felt to be the case( "it takes one to know one")But I should live so long.
posted by Anonymous, at 11:50 PM

It is no suprize to hear these facts finally come out, what would be a real suprize is to have the Radical Religious Right finally sit up and take notice of a scientific find. Remember these are the same nut cases that noted scientists as "heritics" when they pronounced that the world was indead round and not flat as they had all thought. It took nundreds of years to convience the zelots of the facts....and I supose it will take that long again to prove to them that the world is round and Gays were made that way by the very Being that made straights...God! How He must be laughing at his "followers" now!
Kevin Gettmann- Palm Springs
posted by Kevin G., at 10:01 AM

Anyone taking Research 101 could come up with a variety of reasons for the outcomes on this experiment. I look forward to reading more about it, and perhaps it has more to say that would be impressive, but we would be foolish to think that it answers any questions about our sexuality. It's certainly a lot more complicated than a simple science...whether gay or straight, we are alienating folks from both camps when we simlify our identities in that way. There is certainly much research, by gays and lesbians alike, that also leads us to understand our sexuality IS impacked by our home environment and the issues we have experienced as children. Don't throw us out with the bath water! My goodness we are not a bunch of clones!
posted by Anonymous, at 10:30 AM

I'm afraid I've already seen people using these findings to support the idea of "curing" homosexuality. Ah, the glorious evolution of the bigot...
posted by Anonymous, at 4:52 PM

This post has been removed by the author.
posted by Light, at 11:58 PM

Excellent article, and a very interesting study.

I can no more choose to what turns me on than the next person.

It's rather non-negotiable, I'm afraid.

I'm straight for the record with 2 beautiful kids, and of course would like grandchildren, but if say my daughter realized that she's attracted to other women when she's an adult, I'll love her just the same and add guts to her list of attributes, as it takes some to come out in this crass, bigoted society of ours.

Kenneth
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posted by Anonymous, at 11:22 PM

The study was done on adults who`ve spent many years thinking and feeling in line with thier so-called "orientation".Naturally parts of thier brain will react in a certain manner.
A long term study on infants might(?) prove the point of this study.
I suppose the sound of a cracking whip would would produce a similar reaction in the brain of a sado-masochist.
Darren H
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