Homosexuality

= Definition =

Homosexuality is defined by sexual and/or romantic attraction amongst members of the same sex.

Usage of the noun “homosexual”, defined as a person who is sexually attracted to the same sex, is advised against by the Gay &amp; Lesbian Alliance Against Defamation (GLAAD), who cite it as an “outdated clinical term considered derogatory and offensive by many gay and lesbian people.” Instead, GLAAD recommends that homosexual men and/or women be referred to as “gay” and/or “lesbian.” The alternative adjective “queer” is still considered offensive by some, although it has been reappropriated by the gay community to refer to someone whose gender identity doesn’t conform to heteronormative standards. When an individual exhibits both homosexual and heterosexual preferences, they are referred to as “bisexual.”

= Scientific background =

Most of the scientific discourse on homosexuality seeks to answer the basic questions, “Is homosexuality genetic?” and “Is homosexuality adaptive, and if so, what for?” both of these questions are very loaded and present in many contentious political debates. Given the potential political and social implications of any answer to these questions, they are hotly debated and no definitive answer has been established. The theories that seek to explain the ultimate cause[s] of homosexuality remain speculative and controversial.

From religious conservatives who seek to prove that it is unnatural and/or unhealthy, to gay activists who seek to show that homosexuality is natural and healthy, the political and personal motivations of those doing this research and of those interpreting the findings for a mass audience should not be overlooked, for these biases can greatly affect the validity of the science and its pertinence to political and social issues. Due in part to the weighty political and social significance of any findings, a plethora of research has recently been undertaken to answer these questions.

There are two dominant theories that seek to provide an evolutionary explanation for the existence of homosexuality. The first is the "kin selection hypothesis", which states that homosexual men who help rear their nieces and nephews enhance the chances that their family genes, which include some of their own, are perpetuated, and thus they benefit indirectly. The second most popular evolutionary explanation described homosexuality as simply a byproduct of evolution with no adaptive function.

In her book Evolution's Rainbow, Joan Roughgarden speculates as to how scientists equipped with the same tools for conducting research could come up with such contradictory findings. She provides the examples of recent research on homosexuality in the natural world by two different scholars whose findings are entirely incompatible with each other – a young gay scholar, Bruce Bagemih, whose 1999 book provided a comprehensive account of occurrences of homosexuality in the natural world and a very well established scholar (unnamed by Roughgarden) who in 2000 completely ignored these findings, saying that homosexuality is rare and only occurs when animals don’t have access to the opposite sex, or with the rare exception of some primate species. She argues that scientists’ silence on occurrences of homosexuality in the natural world “amounts to a cover-up, whether deliberate or not.”

Considering why scientists might “cover-up” homosexuality, she provides a variety of explanations: homophobia, fear of being perceived or “discovered” as gay and being forced to come out as a gay scientist and as a consequence possibly lose credibility, the blinding belief that homosexuality is incompatible with the dominant theory of evolution and thus doubt any findings that would challenge it, and failure to recognize that homosexuality is theoretically important. Roughgarden argues that scientific research that shows that homosexuality is common throughout nature is indeed extremely theoretically important because it undermines the basic premise of Darwin’s sexual selection theory.

Homosexuality in Animals
Many accounts of homosexual behavior in the animal world exist, ranging from gut worms to primates. In Biological Exuberance: Animal Homosexuality and Natural Diversity (1999), Bruce Bagemihl provides a comprehensive account of this diversity with examples from 1500 species in which homosexual behavior has been observed, of which 500 are "very well documented." Roughgarden also provides a multitude of examples of homosexuality in the natural world. She says that the prevalence of homosexuality throughout a species varies dramatically – in some species, it’s ubiquitous; in others, it’s rare. Furthermore, in some species, males do most of the same-sex mating (e.g., American bison, blackbucks, giraffes, and both African and Asiatic elephants) while in others, females dominate (e.g., kobs, red deer). Included among the list of animals cited as exhibiting homosexual behavior are the bottlenose dolphin, elephant seal, Australian sea lion, walrus, Olympic marmot, gray-headed-flying fox, Livingstone’s fruit bat, and various species of kangaroos.

Primates
The examples of homosexuality in the animal world that are most significant to Roughgarden’s claims, however, are primates, humans' closest ancestors. Roughgarden pays particular attention to the example of Japanese macaques, which are old world primates (and therefore closer to humans than most primates). Macaque society has an intricate dominance hierarchy dominated by females. To maintain social networks, macaques practice extensive same-sex behavior, which helps form bonds amongst females and strengthen society. Female macaques defend their female mating partners from unwanted advanced from horny male macaques.

Amongst primates, the more evolved a primate species is, the more likely it is to engage in frequent same-sex copulation. From this research, Roughgarden concludes that the more complex a society is, the more common homosexuality is. The more "evolved" an animal is, the more likely it is to possess an extended sexuality that serves purposes beyond reproduction. She posits that this is because animals that belong to complex societies have to amicably interact with members of both their sex and the opposite sex, and require communal bonding in order to survive, and that same-sex relationships serve this need.

= History =

Historiography of Homosexuality
The history of homosexuality has often been omitted from traditional accounts due to its controversial status in many, and thus reconstructing the history of homosexuality is complex. Historians of homosexuality criticize the way in which traditional historians, working within a heteronormative framework, have misinterpreted and/or skewed the history of homosexuality in various ways. They argue that a historian’s implicit and explicit assumptions on homosexuality (often informed by society’s views) have a significant effect on the validity of existing literature on the history of homosexuality.

History of the Science of Homosexuality
With the publication of the first DSM in 1952, homosexuality was included as mental disorder. Due to a failure to produce any significant empirical evidence that proved homosexuality was a disorder, and after a long serious of contentious debates amongst medical professionals, in 1973, the American Psychiatric Association (APA) removed homosexuality from the DSM. After an extensive review of the scientific and clinical literature, the APA concluded that “same-sex sexual and romantic attractions, feelings, and behaviors are normal and positive variations of human sexuality, regardless of sexual orientation identity”, and have since implemented the American Psychological Association Task Force on Appropriate Therapeutic Responses to Sexual Orientation to combat any residual misunderstandings and to establish the fact that homosexuality is entirely natural and should be regarded and treated as such.

= Debates =

Does a ‘gay gene’ exist? Responding to whether or not a gay gene exists, Roughgarden stated that "[h]omosexuality in animals is obviously inherited in some way, but no single gay gene exists."

Does homosexuality contradict evolution? Roughgarden denies that homosexuality is at odds with the fundamental theory of evolution, and explains that this belief stems from the confusion of same-sex sexuality with nonbreeding, which is an evolutionary problem, while same-sex couplings are not because most homosexual animals reproduce, and therefore exhibit fitness equal to that of reproducing heterosexual animals.

'Nature or nurture? If natural, is it genetic? If genetic, is it adaptive or non-adaptive (a byproduct)? If adaptive, what for? If unnatural, should we implement “conversion therapies” to treat the “disorder” and restore homosexuals to their natural heterosexual orientation?'

= References =

= Sources =

APA. Report of the American Psychological Association Task Force on Appropriate Therapeutic Responses to Sexual Orientation.

Bagemihl, Bruce. Biological Exuberance: Animal Homosexuality and Natural Diversity (1999).

Evolution and homosexuality : Pharyngula. (n.d.). . Retrieved May 5, 2010, from http://scienceblogs.com/pharyngula/2006/06/evolution_and_homosexuality.php

GLAAD. GLAAD Media Reference Guide.

Homosexuality: Nature or Nurture in AllPsych Journal. (n.d.). . Retrieved May 3, 2010, from http://allpsych.com/journal/homosexuality.html

"Kin selection hypothesis" may explain homosexuality from an evolutionary point of view. (n.d.). . Retrieved May 5, 2010, from http://www.news-medical.net/news/20100205/Kin-selection-hypothesis-may-explain-homosexuality-from-an-evolutionary-point-of-view.aspx

McCaughey, M. (2008). The caveman mystique : pop-Darwinism and the debates over sex, violence, and science. New York: Routledge.

Mooallem, J. (2010, March 29). Can Animals Be Gay? The New York Times. Retrieved from http://www.nytimes.com/2010/04/04/magazine/04animals-t.html?pagewanted=all

Thompson, L. (1995, June 12). Search For a Gay Gene. Time Magazine. Retrieved from http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,983027,00.html

Roughgarden, J. (2004). Evolution's rainbow : diversity, gender, and sexuality in nature and people. Berkeley [u.a.]: Univ. of California Press.

= Author =

B. Talbot