LGBT

Jesus Malverde

(10,274 posts) Mon Feb 17, 2014, 09:00 PM Feb 2014

The evolutionary puzzle of homosexuality

In the last two decades, dozens of scientific papers have been published on the biological origins of homosexuality - another announcement was made last week. It's becoming scientific orthodoxy. But how does it fit with Darwin's theory of evolution?

Macklemore and Ryan Lewis's hit song Same Love, which has become an unofficial anthem of the pro-gay marriage campaign in the US, reflects how many gay people feel about their sexuality.

It mocks those who "think it's a decision, and you can be cured with some treatment and religion - man-made rewiring of a predisposition". A minority of gay people disagree, maintaining that sexuality is a social construct, and they have made a conscious, proud choice to take same-sex partners.

But scientific opinion is with Macklemore. Since the early 1990s, researchers have shown that homosexuality is more common in brothers and relatives on the same maternal line, and a genetic factor is taken to be the cause. Also relevant - although in no way proof - is research identifying physical differences in the brains of adult straight and gay people, and a dizzying array of homosexual behaviour in animals.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/magazine-26089486

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The evolutionary puzzle of homosexuality (Original Post) Jesus Malverde Feb 2014 OP

And women in a maternal line who were more attracted to husbands, as demonstrated applegrove Feb 2014 #1

Very interesting. I'd read something about that before, and it makes a lot of sense. nomorenomore08 Feb 2014 #3

If survival of the gene is paramount... uriel1972 Feb 2014 #2

applegrove

(118,677 posts)

1. And women in a maternal line who were more attracted to husbands, as demonstrated

Reply to Jesus Malverde (Original post)

Mon Feb 17, 2014, 09:38 PM

Feb 2014

Last edited Mon Feb 17, 2014, 10:22 PM - Edit history (1)

in the high number of children they had with their husbands, had men in their families who were gay. So men who are very attracted to men came from the same families as women who were very attracted to men. And they went to Samoan culture somewhere to look culturally at the role these 'gay' men, a third sex in Samoan culture, played. They made money like men and helped out their female relatives with school fees for the women's children and such. So they had a financial and caregiving role in the lives of their sister's kids. Why it would have been evolutionary fit for gay men to exist. Their sisters kids would have been extra cared for. Saw a documentary on this on the CBC called "Survival of the Fabulous".

http://www.cbc.ca/player/Shows/Shows/The+Nature+of+Things/ID/2421158636/

nomorenomore08

(13,324 posts)

3. Very interesting. I'd read something about that before, and it makes a lot of sense.

Reply to applegrove (Reply #1)

Thu Feb 20, 2014, 04:23 AM

Feb 2014

People who insist that homosexuality has no place in evolution are rather myopic in their views, to say the least.

uriel1972

(4,261 posts)

2. If survival of the gene is paramount...

Reply to Jesus Malverde (Original post)

Thu Feb 20, 2014, 12:36 AM

Feb 2014

And being social creatures then helping the genes pass along in siblings is a plus.

Also, don't forget the 'overkill' nature of evolution whereby behaviours are exaggerated to ensure gene survival. An example is the adoption of children in response to parental drives. Then there is the random nature of gene changes.

Don't forget it is survival of the fortunate as well as survival of the fittest. Evolution is complex and the forces driving it are blind and uncaring.

That said don't forget the role environment plays, especially the whole 'shake and bake' process of gestation. The entire process is bound to produce a few people that don't fit the "mold".

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