DiscussMormonism.com

The Dude wrote:I'm pretty sure we've discussed this before, Rambo.

A gene could exist that makes an individual more attracted to male partners. In men, this would tend to cause homosexuality. But in females, the same gene would increase reproductive sex and passage of the gene. Thus, the gene would be more or less stable in the population. Remember that GENES are selected by natural selection, not "gay" or "straight" PEOPLE.

I think this thread would be more to the point in some respects if people paid careful attention to The Dude's post, which is written by someone with professional knowledge of the field of genetics.

It would not matter at all from the point of view of the hypothetical 'gay man gene' if, to take an extreme case, no man with the gene ever had any children, so long as the gain in reproductive success (and hence success in passing on the gene) by their gene-carrying sisters was large enough to counterbalance the failure of their brothers to have children.

In reality the situation would not be so extreme: men carrying the 'gay man gene' described by The Dude would lose something by way of reproductive success, and their sisters would gain something. Whether or not the gene continued in the population would depend on the balance between the two.

bcspace wrote:
Then they can't possibly be gay.

Presumably someone has consented to have sex with you at some point. That doesn't mean they find you attractive.

The answer to the OP is that gay people, obviously, survive evolution.

The short answer has already been stated, which is the idea that a male can contribute to a hunter-gatherer society without competing for reproductive rites. Additionally, we have been selecting in favor of the first born son for so long, that our species has created the perfect situation to select homosexuality for younger brothers. The more older brothers you have, the more likely you are to be gay.

On some level, homosexuality is strictly biological. You can often see the difference between a gay man's brain and a straight man's. This is not so true of women. The evidence suggest that there is a lot of epigenetic factors, but these biological contributions to homosexuality are certainly not the whole story.

Men on extended sea voyages, prisoners, and Ancient Greece aren't really explained by biological factors. It seems clear there is a cultural component, as well.

It seems strange to me that Mormons care so much about whether gay people get married in a government institution. They already have the ability to deny them temple weddings, that should be enough. It isn't like they are getting sealed for time & eternity at the local courthouse. Til death do us part, is all that the government can sanction between two people.

Either way, it comes down to attraction between two people, which is based a lot more on unconscious processes than most people would like to admit. The real difference between a gay man and a straight man is which pheromones they find attractive.