'Gay gene'? No Scientific Evidence for it
Two distinguished scholars at Johns Hopkins University have released a lengthy, three-part report concluding that there's not sufficient evidence to prove homosexuals and transgenders are born in that condition – in other words, there is no "gay gene."
"The hypothesis that gender identity is an innate, fixed property of human beings that is independent of biological sex – that a person might be 'a man trapped in a woman's body' or 'a woman trapped in a man's body' – is not supported by scientific evidence," states the executive summary.
Peter LaBarbera of Americans for Truth About Homosexuality offers his comments on the report:
"Homosexual activists have been desperate to try to say they're 'born that way' because they believe this absolves them of their moral responsibility for their sexual behavior," he shares. "And they know that if the public believes that people are – quote – 'born gay,' then the public is much more accepting of homosexual activism. And that's exactly what we've seen in the culture."
Heritage Foundation expert Melonie Wood points out the report is based on science, not politics, hence the scholars don't have a political point of view.
"They're just coming at it to try to find the real science on these issues," she observes, "and try to find the truth on these issues."
The report itself doesn't offer any suggestions or solutions but Woods says its findings touch on current events. For example, the Obama administration announced earlier this year that public schools must allow students who identify as transgender to use opposite-sex restrooms and showers.
The report indirectly addresses that issue, says Wood, since it states that only a minority of children who identify as cross gender will continue to do so into adolescence and adulthood. Based on that, she says, the Obama administration should at least reconsider its policy if not drop it.
LaBarbera argues that the culture is getting false information from liberal academics and liberal media that present the "gay gene" theory as truth when study after study confirms there's no such thing.
The 143-page report recognizes a corollary between same-gender attraction and sexual abuse as a child. The Johns Hopkins experts also emphasize that behavior is fluid – which means homosexuals can change; and many have, mostly through Christ.
This study corroborates the genetic research of Dr. John J. Ratey M.D., an associate clinical professor of psychiatry at Harvard Medical School. Said Ratey:
“The point to remember is that the issue is not nature versus nurture. It is the balance between nature and nurture. Genes do not make a man gay, or violent, or fat, or a leader. Genes merely make proteins" (A User's Guide to the Brain, page 34).
"And such were some of you. But you were washed, but you were sanctified, but you were justified in the name of the Lord Jesus and by the Spirit of our God" (1 Cor. 6:11).