Got an older brother? He may be the reason you're gay.

[+ José Soplanucas]

No sir, I respectfully disagree. You are trying to justify yourself.

[+ friendofsheila]

2 older brothers who are twins. Does that make me "extra gay"?

[mike carey]

I am always annoyed at all these studies searching for an explanation for homosexuality. You need an explanation only for the abnormal. Why do they not look for a cause for heterosexuality?

I'm not annoyed in the slightest. I can see a reason to be annoyed if the aim of such research were to establish blame, but I don't see it that way. To some extent whether it's true or not is immaterial. We exist whether that can be explained or not. Even if a correlation could be found, we will never know if it's a random effect or something that has an evolutionary purpose. You could theorise that in a pack species like ours, having later offspring, especially males, uninterested in sex with females provides more individuals to contribute to the livelihood of the pack, but that's something that could never be proven. In any case, the sample in this thread demonstrates that the correlation is weak, much less any causal relationship.

Edited December 13, 2017 by mike carey

[gallahadesquire]

Let's ask @BasketBaller ... he might have some insight.

[+ FreshFluff]

No sir, I respectfully disagree. You are trying to justify yourself.

 

Scientists look for explanations for any trait that occurs in a minority of the population. If they found that sibling order affected eye color, that would be published too.

 

I can see what you're sayig though. People equate "I was born this way" with "There's nothing wrong with being gay." The second statement doesn't require the first one to be true.

[+ poolboy48220]

I have a book I bought when I first came out, titled "So What If It's a Choice?"

[Kenny]

I am always annoyed at all these studies searching for an explanation for homosexuality. You need an explanation only for the abnormal. Why do they not look for a cause for heterosexuality?

The queer is typically more interesting than the norm.

 

(And the norm — something that is usual, typical, or standard — is not the same as normal, which is conformist. Being queer is neither normal nor abnormal, since it’s about being, not about choosing.)

[+ quoththeraven]

I am always annoyed at all these studies searching for an explanation for homosexuality. You need an explanation only for the abnormal. Why do they not look for a cause for heterosexuality?

Because it's assumed that the cause of heterosexuality, without which the species wouldn't continue to exist, is obvious. I think more traits are attributed to evolution than is justified, but the idea that heterosexuality is evolutionarily preferred seems like one of the better-justified ones.