Forget the whole nature versus nurture debate, that is so twentieth century! The reports are coming in nearly daily from scientists, biologists and zoologists around the globe whether in humans or within the animal kingdom it is becoming more and more evident that nature nurtures homosexuality.
Homosexual behavior is a nearly universal phenomenon in the animal kingdom, according to a new study. It is also not only widespread but part of a necessary biological adaptation for the survival of the species.How do our opponents respond to the science, psychology and facts on the ground, in the air and in the sea? Well, they say "we shouldn't act like animals." While there is no homophobia in the animal kingdom, conservatives continue to oppose hate crimes legislation, granting equal rights to same-sex partners, and won't pass legislation ensuring LGBT youth don't face taunting in schools. Maybe it's time they embrace their message of love, and adherence to the "natural" order of things.
They found that on the Hawaiian island of Oahu, almost a third of the Laysan albatross population is raised by pairs of two females because of the shortage of males. Through these 'lesbian' unions, Laysan albatross are flourishing. Their existence had been dwindling before the adaptation was noticed.
"Same-sex behaviors – courtship, mounting or parenting – are traits that may have been shaped by natural selection, a basic mechanism of evolution that occurs over successive generations," he said.
"But our review of studies also suggests that these same-sex behaviors might act as selective forces in and of themselves" (Telegraph).
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9 comments:
I have always thought there was more to being homosexual than someone just choosing to be gay. I know I certainly did not choose to be gay. I fought it for years. But when it came down to being who God made me to be, I was still gay.
I know that the conservatives will jump all over this and stupidity will run wild in the next few hours. There will be insults and hatred spewed all over these pages. To me, these scientists have not discovered anything new.
I have known that God had a plan for me for many years now. I just wish the majority of the world could understand it.
I fail to understand the point of the entire choice vs. nature arguement. Let's assume for a second that is was a choice : Since when is everything chosen automatically bad ?
We choose many things every day. In order to deem homosexuality a sin one would have to demonstrate its inherent detrimental effect - something I have yet to see anyone do.
I applaud the way the author brought it around to the truth of things today.
You know, I've always felt the same way (about the comments about nature being more relevent than nurture (or more correctly, one's social upbringing environment). I know the gay community feels that it's easier for the heterosexual community to accept homosexuality if it's natural. But the person above said what I've always thought - so what if I was able to (also?) choose my sexuality and that sexuality was the same. We shouldn't have to apologize for that choice. In the end, being gay is just a particular sexuality, as being straight is. It's only looked negatively upon because of groups of people who don't like it, and those groups have felt that way for a long time. As with slavery, the fact that something is done for a long time and by a lot of people doesn't mean it's right. Thank goodness for democracy and social growth.
"Baby you and me ain't nothin' but mammals..."
Thanks for posting something positive. I just wish that people did not have to justify their very existence to anyone.
Interesting points. In the case of religion, which (except in the ambiguous case of Judaism) IS a choice, we are not allowed to discriminate. But these very same religious people who are saying they cannot be discriminated against because of their choices are saying we should be because of something they say we chose.
I tend to think the nature vs. nurture debate is misguided to a large extent. ("Nurture" is based on learning and experience, but the way experience conditions us is based largely in inborn learning mechanisms.)
Still, I have my suspicions that certian parts of the population will want information about same-sex sexuality in the natural world supressed. But those tend to be the same part of the population in strong opposition to a lot of other well-established biological knowledge.
If anybody's interested in this topic and wants to find out more, go check out the great book "Evolution's Rainbow" by Joan Roughgarden :)
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