A recent article argued that sexuality is down to choice,not genetics. But the scientific evidence says otherwise, and points to a strong biological originIn a recent Guardian article, or Simon Copland argued that it is very unlikely people are born gay (or presumably any other sexual orientation). Scientific evidence says otherwise. It points strongly to a biological origin for our sexualities. Finding evidence for a biological basis should not scare us or undermine gay,lesbian and bisexual (LGB) rights (the studies I refer to do not include transgendered individuals, so I’ll confine my comments to lesbian, and gay and bisexual people). I would argue that understanding our fundamental biological nature should make us more vigorous in promoting LGB rights.
Let’s glean some facts and perspective on the issue. Evidence from independent research groups who studied twins shows that genetic factors interpret approximately 25-30% of the differences between people in sexual orientation (heterosexual,gay, lesbian, or bisexual). Twin studies are a first peer into the genetics of a trait and declare us that there are such things as “genes for sexual orientation” (I hate the phrase “gay gene”). Three gene finding studies showed that gay brothers share genetic markers on the X chromosome; the most recent study also found shared markers on chromosome 8. This latest research overcomes the problems of three prior studies which did not find the same results.
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Source: theguardian.com