Is Homosexuality Genetic?

From many homosexual people, I have heard the same excuses for their behavior: This is
who I am, its in my genes. What I want to know if there really is a biologically reason why
people are homosexual or it is just a decision they make for their lives.
So the question here is if homosexuality genetic or not?

The biology that takes place here starts with the gene, which is a unit of heredity that is made
up of DNA. Humans inherit half of their genes from each parent, getting 23 chromosomes from
dad and 23 chromosomes from mom. The genetic content of an individual in the form of DNA is
called genotype. This is our only inheritance, and the only way we can bear a resemblance to a
parent. Genes can interact with other genes to produce emergent interactions that form
development. During each period of human development, the phenotype or expression of the
genotype that includes physical and behavioral characteristics, changes in response to the
surrounding cells or other genes (McGuire, 2005).

From the studies that have been done, they have found evidence that sexual orientation is
closely related to childhood behavior, being called kids who act like girls and girls who act like
boys. Being that even when genetic factors might be present, environmental factors take an
important place in whether the children turn out to be homosexual or not. It was suggested that
this non-conformity of children towards their sex that makes them act like girls (in boys) and
boys (in girls) is influenced by biological aspects (Bailey et al, 2000). In a recent experiment of
more of 100 sets of twins, what they conclude from this was that genetics had a great influence
on behavior, from religiosity to other reactions; genetics seem to play an important role here.
From studies done with fraternal twins and non-twins, the rate of homosexuality among fraternal
is two times that for non-twin siblings, leading to a speculation that there is a genetic
involvement in homosexuality (Gabard, 1999).

The first claim about the existence of a gay gene was in 1991, when LeVay found that the
hypothalamus was normally larger in heterosexual men than in homosexual men, a reason why
he suggested that sexual orientation was influenced by biologic factors, but later it was found
that these 19 homosexual men that were analyzed died of complications that were associated
with AIDS, and that could have been a reason why their hypothalamus was smaller than from the
heterosexual man (Knight, 2005). In October of 2003, it was published in a journal a study of the
University of California, Los Angeles, where they concluded that sexual orientation was genetic,
but the study didnt mention anything about homosexuality, later Jeffrey Satinover, Princeton
professor explained that the findings were to confirm that the hormonal setting causing a
difference between females and males is determined by genes (Knight, 2005).

Recent trials suggested that variation in sexual orientation as homosexuality was influenced
by a fixed position on the X chromosome, or genetic locus. The evidence they got for the
claimed linkage came from a DNA analysis of chosen sequence of families. In a experiment that
included the heterosexual brothers of the gay siblings was done in order to see what was the
participation of the Xq28 marker, the probability of having a heterosexual brother sharing his
Xq28 marker with the marker of his two gay brothers was 0.22, which turned out to be less than
the P-value, leading them to reject the null hypothesis to conclude that the fixed position of Xq28
provided independent support for a linkage between sexual orientation and Xq28 (Hu et al,
2005).
Twin samples is more used in order to see whether behaviors are due to genetics or
environment, after analyzing monozygotic twins and dizygotic twins, they concluded that the
case were both twins were homosexuals among monozygotic twins was usually above that
dizygotic pairs. After many experiments done to different families, the researchers concluded
that homosexuality was acquired after conception, but this conclusion didnt follow from their
information (McGuire, 1995).

In conclusion, what I think after writing this paper is that genetic factors affects
homosexuality, and it is genetic, but not only genetics take place here, but also environmental
factors, this in the end makes the subject who they are.

Sources

1. Bailey, J.M., Dunne, M.P., & Martin, N.G. (2000). Genetic and environmental influences
on sexual orientation and its correlates in an australian twin sample. Journal of
Personality and Social Psychology. 78, 524-536.
2. McGuire, T.R. (1995).Is homosexuality genetic? A critical review and suggestions.
Journal of Homosexuality. 28, 115-145.
3. Knight, R.H. (2005,12,21). Born or bred? Science does not support the claim that
homosexuality is genetic. Retrieved January 19, 2009, from Concerned Women of
America Web site: http://www.cwfa.org/articledisplay.asp?
id=5458&department=CFI&categoryid=papers
4. Hu, S., Pattatucci, A.M.L., Patterson, C., Li, L., Fulker, D., Cherny, S.S., Kruglyak, L. &
Hamer, D.H. (1995). Linkage between sexual orientation and chromosome Xq28 in
males but not in females. Nature Genetics , 11, Retrieved January 19, 2009,from
http://www.nature.com/ng/journal/v11/n3/pdf/ng1195-248.pdf
5. Gabard, D. (1999).Homosexuality and the human genome project. Journal of
Homosexuality. 37, 25-51.