The Science of Homosexuality

In the past few weeks, gay people have become targets again. But, not in the way you might figure. Gays and lesbians are not becoming targets of violence, although that is still a huge problem within some societies (Jamaica, you're on notice). In the past weeks, people of the same-sex persuasion have been targeted by science to solve the eternal question of nature versus nuture.

If you are from a tolerant community, you may be asking yourself what this whole argument is actually about. The basis of this argument is, essentially, a left vs. right argument with gays stuck in the middle. The left, for years, has argued that homosexuality is something that you are born with; that it is a genetic trait which was assigned to the person at a young age. The right argues that homosexuality is unnatural; that it is a life choice made by people. So, to solve this argument, both sides have turned to the irrefutable form that is scientific research.

New York ran an article detailing many of the details that they have found to correlate to preferring the same sex. This article points out small details such as 50+% of gay people tend to be left handed and gay men have more feminine hands, which means that their index finger is the same length or longer than their ring finger. These might be coincidental, but they could also be facts. No one is really sure yet.

In addition, CNN has run an article about research done by a graduate student at Northwestern University about the gait of gays versus straights (If you go to the article, you can take the visual test and see how good your gaydar is. Mine's pretty strong, but I did mix up the straight woman and the gay man). All of this research is being done to see if there is the presence of something in our genetic make-up that determines whether or not someone can be born gay.

While I do appreciate and understand the work, I have to make a simple statement: so what? I know that the scientists are doing the natural thing by exploring the unknown, but I don't understand how this will solve the problem of gay people being killed by people who are intolerant of them. Gays and lesbians should be fully accepted in our society regardless of whether they chose to be gay or were born gay. Gays make fruitful contributions to our society. They serve in the highest bodies of legislation. They are at the forefront of arts and culture. They add to the business culture of the world as well. Essentially, they are just fine whether it is genetic or cultural. There is no need for them to be poked and prodded to shut up a group who refuses to let them exist in peace.