NOW can we agree that it's not a "lifestyle choice"?

[rfunk]

This appeared a couple days ago, but I haven't seen any other mention of it since.....

Gay Men Respond Differently to PheromonesWASHINGTON (AP) - The sexual area of a gay man's brain works a lot like that of a woman when exposed to a particular stimulus, researchers say.

There's even a possible biological explanation for "gaydar" in there.

Comments

[braider]

We've been discussing it in trektone's journal. Well, ok, not so much discussion as silly stuff. However:

http://www.livejournal.com/users/trektone/200926.html

[rfunk]

Hmm, with a limited sample of two LJ entries, looks like so far I'm the only straight guy to comment on this. :-)

[jonobie]

It is the case, though, that the researchers weren't willing to say whether the scent difference was a cause or effect of being gay:

"The different pattern of activity that Dr. Savic sees in the brains of gay men could be either a cause of their sexual orientation or an effect of it. If sexual orientation has a genetic cause, or is influenced by hormones in the womb or at puberty, then the neurons in the hypothalamus could wire themselves up in a way that permanently shapes which sex a person is attracted to."

(From the New York Times coverage of the same study.)

So while I think it's interesting and possibly another indicator that being gay is something you're born with, I would hesitate to say that this study says specifically that, given that the researchers who conducted it are unwilling to conclude as much.

Cheers,
Jonobie

[rfunk]

Whether cause or effect, this still seems to indicate that it's biological, rather than the choice that so many people seem to think it is.

Of course, standard disclaimers about scientific repeatability apply.

[jonobie]

Well, I read the researcher as allowing that a person might make a choice, and then the biological change might follow.

I know of at least one other straight guy to comment on this -- see
http://www.livejournal.com/users/mdf356/10146.html

So you're not totally alone. :)

Cheers,
Jonobie

cause & effect

[rfunk]

OK, I didn't get the biology-follows-choice thing from the paragraph you quoted, but now that I've had a chance to read the NYT story I see the following paragraph:Alternatively, Dr. Savic's finding could be just a consequence of straight and gay men's using their brain in different ways.