Anything but Straight: Unmasking the Scandals and Lies Behind the Ex-Gay Myth by Wayne Besen

Author:Wayne Besen [Besen, Wayne]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Tags: Religion, LGBTQ+ Studies, Gay Studies, Social Science, Political Science, General
ISBN: 9781136326394
Google: G3eR8xR_IeMC
Publisher: Routledge
Published: 2012-07-26T06:25:02+00:00

This is just a snapshot of some of the genetic and biological research that has shaped the debate on sexual orientation. Clearly there is more that we do not know than we do understand at this time. Still, this burgeoning scientific field has changed attitudes, shaped public perceptions about gays, and had a dramatic impact on public opinion.

This shift in attitudes was illustrated in a June 4, 2001 Gallup Poll that showed for the first time in American history, a majority of people, 56 percent, believed that homosexuality is something that “a person is born with.” This was a significantly higher percentage than when the question was first asked in a 1977 poll, which reported that only 13 percent of Americans thought a person was born homosexual.

Those on the side of the religious right can also read the polls and realize that they will increasingly become marginalized unless they can reverse the present trend and convince America that homosexuality is not genetic. NARTH has been their pit bull in these efforts, flooding the country with a deluge of misinformation on the so-called causes of homosexuality. For example, in a “fact” sheet titled “Is There a ‘Gay Gene’?” NARTH dismissed the recent scientific advances by making them appear to be nothing more than fabrications created by the supposedly liberal media: “In reality, there is no evidence that shows that homosexuality is simply ‘genetic.’ And none of the research claims there is. Only the press and certain researchers do, when speaking in sound bites to the public.”

This phrase illustrates how slippery NARTH really is. The statement is technically true because the research cannot show, at this point, that homosexuality is simply genetic, but NARTH’s statement conveniently omits the incontrovertible fact that a growing body of research points to a possible biological component to sexual orientation. If NARTH were truly interested in education, rather than obfuscation, their statement would read more like this: “While there is no definitive proof that homosexuality is genetic, recent scientific advances show that there may be a biological component. More research needs to be done, but based on the science, the possible role genes may play in sexual orientation, including homosexuality, cannot be dismissed.”

NARTH also misuses the incomplete scientific data to show that upbringing must play a part in homosexuality, but the inconclusive nature of the genetic science does not necessarily bolster NARTH’s argument for nurture. It shows only that we don’t have enough information to make an absolute determination of the root causes of sexual orientation. In fact, based on the limited amount of evidence, a better case can be made for nature than nurture. Although several studies show a potential genetic component to homosexuality, no credible studies exist that show sexual orientation is linked to a poor relationship with a same-sex parent, as NARTH postulates. And if such a study were to exist, I suspect the results would show that a child did not become gay because of a distant same-sex parent, but that the same-sex parent created distance because he or she could tell the child was born gay.

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