U.S. Study Says Gay People Are Not ‘Born that Way’, Sexual Orientation Not Fixed

The study revealed that the notion that gender identity is fixed and determined by biological factors is also not backed up by data.

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Sexual orientation

The issue of sexual orientation has been a very controversial issue since nations in the West began to recognize Gays, Lesbians, Bisexuals and Transgender (LGBT) rights.

An important part of the current LGBT debate is the belief that sexual orientation is predetermined by biology. Therefore, if a person has no choice over whether to be gay or not, society cannot demand that he or she becomes ‘straight’. This is a sound and reasonable argument.  Indeed, society cannot force people to change from something they have no control over.

Sexual orientation

On the other hand, the ‘born that way’ argument has been disputed by some people. A latest cross-discipline study published in the journal New Atlantis has challenged the belief that human sexuality and gender identity are determined by biology and remains fixed. The New Atlantis journal focuses on political, societal and ethical ramifications of technological advances.

The study, carried out by two researchers from Johns Hopkins University in Baltimore, revealed that there is no scientific proof of sexual orientation being fixed. The researchers said the objective of their study is to draw the attention of the public to mental health problems of the LGBT community. The study cautioned against drastic medical treatment for transgender children.

According to the study, regardless of its political worth, the “born this way” notion by the LGBT community is not backed up by sufficient scientific data. But the study did not conclude or state that being gay is a choice. It merely said stating the opposite may be wrong.

Sexual orientation

The study, a 144-page paper, was written by Dr. Lawrence S. Mayer, an epidemiologist and biostatistician also trained in psychiatry, who is currently a scholar in residence at the Department of Psychiatry at Johns Hopkins School of Medicine. Dr. Paul R. McHugh, who also co-wrote the paper is a renowned psychiatrist, researcher, and educator and former chief of psychiatry at Johns Hopkins Hospital.

Dr. Mayer said many people who contributed to the study asked not to be identified. The anonymity they requested is to protect them from a potential backlash from those who would disagree with the study. He admitted the study may stir controversy among both pro and anti-LGBT people.

“Some feared an angry response from the more militant elements of the LGBT community; others feared an angry response from the more strident elements of religiously conservative communities. Most bothersome, however, is that some feared reprisals from their own universities for engaging such controversial topics, regardless of the report’s content—a sad statement about academic freedom,” Dr. Mayer said.

Sexual orientation

The paper’s three sections focus on sexual orientation, links between sexuality and mental health, and gender identity.  Drawing on studies in fields varying from neurobiology to social sciences, the researchers wrote: “The understanding of sexual orientation as an innate, biologically fixed property of human beings – the idea that people are ‘born that way’ – is not supported by scientific evidence.”

The study stated that even the term ‘sexual orientation’ itself is ambiguous. The term, according to the study, is used to describe attraction, behavior or identity by different researchers. Sometimes, the same term refers to things such as belonging to a certain community or having certain fantasies.

The study said: “It is important, then, that researchers are clear about which of these domains are being studied, and that we keep in mind the researchers’ specified definitions when we interpret their findings.”

Sexual orientation

The researchers acknowledged in the study that there are biological factors associated with sexual behavior, but pointed out that there are no compelling causal biological explanations for human sexual orientation. For example, some studies have showed that there are differences in the brain structures of gay and straight people. But the study said the differences are not necessarily innate, and may be the result of environmental or psychological factors.

“The strongest statement that science offers to explain sexual orientation is that some biological factors appear, to an unknown extent, to predispose some individuals to a non-heterosexual orientation,” the study said.

Explaining further, the researchers revealed LGBT individuals are statistically at greater risk of having mental health problems than the general population. The researchers said in the United States for example, the rate of lifetime suicide attempts across all ages of transgender individuals is estimated at 41%, compared to under 5% in the overall population of the country.  The usually accepted explanation for this is social stress from discrimination and stigma, but the study said that those factors may not solely explain the disparity and that more scientific research on the issue is necessary.

The paper added that the notion that gender identity is fixed and determined by biological factors is also not backed up by data. More scientific data is also needed to back this claim, according to the researchers.

“In reviewing the scientific literature, we find that almost nothing is well understood when we seek biological explanations for what causes some individuals to state that their gender does not match their biological sex,” the authors said.

Concluding the study, the researchers warned against resorting to drastic medical treatment such as sex-reassignment surgery for people identified or identifying as transgender. The researchers said their warning is especially true in children, whose sexuality is mutable and for whom such treatments may do more harm than good.

Sexual orientation

“There is little scientific evidence for the therapeutic value of interventions that delay puberty or modify the secondary sex characteristics of adolescents, although some children may have improved psychological well-being if they are encouraged and supported in their cross-gender identification. There is no evidence that all children who express gender-atypical thoughts or behavior should be encouraged to become transgender,” the researchers said.

The researchers finally noted that their study touches upon controversial issues, insisting that first and foremost, it is about science and the need for additional evidence in the field. They encouraged western societies to accept the study from a scientific point of view, and not by emotions and personal beliefs.


This article (New U.S. Study says Gay People are not ‘Born that Way’, Sexual Orientation not Fixed) is a free and open source. You have permission to republish this article under a Creative Commons license with attribution to the author and AnonHQ.com.


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95 COMMENTS

  1. I would love to explain to these people that the reason the rate of suicide in trans people is so high is because we are shunned, exiled from our communities, denied what we so desperately need or we are simply so unhappy with how we were made and we don’t understand why. Before coming out I attempted suicide a dozen times at least, guess what? Since I came out and I was supported and now things are happening medically I don’t feel as depressed, I don’t feel the need to try and hurt myself. I can cope because I know it’s changing. The people that ran this study are idiots that have clearly never experience the torture of not seeing yourself in the mirror every day and being hated and shunned when you see what you need to see in yourself to be happy

    • I second that. Having been where you are. Although I consider myself luckier than you, having *only* attempted 4 or 5 times, you poor thing. Note of encouragement. From my own experience, although far from easy, once you’ve gone through all the surgeries, life can be astonishingly great.

      • I’ve heard this statement once before, but have no idea where it originated from. I’m honestly asking, is there a source that you can direct me to to verify this claim?

        • The problem is people are so liberal it is not even funny y would god even let someone be born like that when he destroyed sodam and gomora for it he has never changed his mind about it is still sin

    • My brother in-law was gay and one of the 1st known victims of AIDS in the 80’s. As a young man I worked in the vending industry in Houston Tx. The company I worked for had all the pool tables cigarette machines and pinball games in all the gay bars in Houston. So I got to know several guys who were gay. Later my best friends next door neighbors were gay and would play poker with us 4 or 5 times a year Our gay friends spouse died and the years following he would go to the pistol range with us as well. I’m saying that to establish I am not a gay hater.. Nor am I gay. The one common denominator I have found in gay men I know is that they suffered horrible abuse in their lives either from parents or others that had power over them in their lives as children. We are now teaching kids in our public schools that being gay is OK and may be a preferable life style. I cannot come to any reasonable conclusion that that is OK in my mind. What consenting Adults do in their own bed room isn’t my business but societal indoctrination is…. A few of the gay people I know agree with me… What say You..

    • Black people were shunned, beaten, not accepted, killed, and every other form of oppression for hundreds of years but our rate of suicide has never been as high. That’s not the reason.

    • You have a faith problem not a gender identity disorder. Focus on God and you ave no problems. The reason you are thinking suicide is that you are confused. Confusing a very simple thing such as what sex organs you have. In that you can’t handle the simple, obvious solution to life I can see why you might take your life. Get the first principles right and life will come easier to you. I am disturbed that I have to help pay for this nonsensical actions!

      • Please leave religion out of this. Religion is spiritual non tangible concepts. Not to be confused with science structure and conclusion

        • thats the reason why you are gay. you dont have religion..Being gay is a choice not a natural state of being you are born with..You can choose to be in a way you are born with but man choose the other way simply because of LUST!

          • When did you choose to be straight? And by your statement, you also can choose to be gay. How simple.

        • Christianity in its true form is not a religion; it’s a relationship. Religion is what man does to reach G-d. Christianity is about what G-d did to reach man.

      • Except that it has been proven over and over again that religious conversion treatment does not change a person. Get over it religous nut job. Your “god” is a myth that you believe in.

    • One thing that not many people are even willing to consider is that, since we as a society have drifted and now largely arrogantly reject, when we acknowledged God’s revelation of absolute truth, in the Bible, life in our society was so much simpler and healthier. I know that we have been handed a lot of garbage over the years that many of us, including myself, have just swallowed and have not really considered going to the source, the designer and creator who knows how life works as it is supposed to. Fortunately, any one who’s willing to know the truth even though it’s hard to face that you’ve been wrong, and no matter how far off track you’ve gone, Jesus will totally and thoroughly help you, like He did me!

      • Adam & Eve had 2 sons. I believe in God, but if taking the Bible literally, Cain & Able procreated with their mother. That’s “natural”?!?

        • The bible said Adam and Eve were the first beings to be created. After God created them, He created other people. So forget about that argument. Accept Jesus today and your life will change

          • Forget about that argument? Only when there is a decent answer. If he created other people, that would be very important but it’s not mentioned. They’re not mentioned. Please point to the passage where he created other people. Where exactly does he do this again? “And the LORD God formed man of the dust of the ground, and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life; and man became a living soul.”

        • It only mentions the story of Cain and Able. That doesn’t mean that Adam & Eve did not have 10 other children and that they had not already had children by the time they had Cain and Able.

          • The bible clearly states that Cain was the first born of Adam and Eve. There were NO children before Cain and Abel. Also, procreation, whether with Eve or brothers and sisters because there were no others, must have been natural at the time. As ugly as it sounds, there must have been incest way back when, perhaps before the flooding of the world. That is, if you believe in the bible.

        • Gen 5:3,4 tells you that Adam and Eve had more than three children.

          Cain was indeed the firstborn but the Bible does not tell us how many children Eve bore before Abel came along. Adam was 130 years old by the time he begat Seth (the “third” son mentioned), so he more than likely had quite a few children by then.

          Females are not mentioned in the genealogies of the Bible except for Ruth, Rahab and Mary. Only the men and women important to the unfolding of history are mentioned.

          And yes, “incest” was common in those early days of humanity. Sin had not tainted the blood line of the human race as it does now. Ever noticed the age differences between those who lived before the flood and those who lived after? A drastic drop from over 900 years to barely 150!

          Ready and study the Bible for yourselves and you would know these things. 🙂

    • The researchers who ran this study were researchers, not bullies or anti gay. It’s not about personal strife, when the entire study is about whether or not “born this way” is true.

    • Don’t try blaming your suicides on the normal people. You commit suicide because of your own personal guilt and shame, not to mention all of your deadly STDs you pass amongst each other.

      Homosexuality is a learned mental illness, and suicide is part of the rotten fruit it bares. Suck it up little fella, we tried to warn you but you wouldn’t listen. Instead you’re trying to blame us. How childish!

    • Research and facts state the truth. Like they said: ‘people need to stop letting their emotions get the better of them so they can improve the greater society.’ ‘No one is born that way’ and if young kids are influenced by these sex changes then suicidal actions and presumptions will increase regardless of your explanation. These good scientists have studied all their life to exhibit this useful data to us, don’t insult their hard works and findings. A fact is simply a fact, just accept it and let’s move on together to make the world a better place.

    • Yet creating a lie in order to justify a condition of living is not the answer! Imagine that! The first Born gay study I read had dismissed identical twins because they are rarely both gay. Said so right in their study. And I Have been making this point since 2009 when the lies started being used by the democrats. Imagine that!!! Identical Twins are genetically identical and yet are rarely found to share an alternative sexual preference!

  2. I would suggest these men do some research. I am no scholar, but did attend college. While there i was able to view in a medical journal, scans of the brain of a straight man and a gay man, same scans of 2 women 1 gay and 1 straight. It was obvious that the brain area dealing with sexuality was much different in the 2 in the scans. Yes, the gay man and gay woman have differences in their brain. I can’t reference the journal or the study as I read it over 20 years ago. So, when these guys try to disprove this by interviewing people, they are simply displaying their bias against gay people. I also have to mention a man in England who tried to get himself castrated because he didn’t want to be gay. So, it it’s something that can be changed, that man in England would have tried anything, I’m sure.

    • * I am no scholar, but did attend college
      *1 gay and 1 straight
      *sexuality was much different in 2 in the scans

      2 brain scans of 2 different people relives two different brains. Damn, you just made me change my mind about this subject.

      • Imagine that! The first Born gay study I read had dismissed identical twins because they are rarely both gay. Said so right in their study. And I Have been making this point since 2009 when the lies started being used by the democrats. Imagine that!!! “Identical Twins are genetically identical and rarely found to share an alternative sexual preference.”

    • @BrianBrewer This article stated there are differences between the brains of someone who is gay and someone who is straight. Why are you bringing it up like no one is accounting for that?

    • Apparently you did not read the whole article. They said there IS difference in the brain, due to what happens to them growing up environmental factors etc. Not being born with it.

    • “I suggest these men do some research” . . . Um, they did! That’s what this article is! It’s a report on their findings from the research they did. Just because you don’t like what conclusions they have come to from doing research does not mean it wasn’t research.

      Congratulations to all those giving credence to those who conducted in the study in their fear of negative backlash.

  3. Perhaps you might want to educate your readers on the difference between original research and a literature review. Then perhaps you’d might want to be honest and upfront about the nature of this piece from the New Atlantis is a literature review. Then you might want to educate your readers on the nature of peer review and acknowledge that this piece from the New Atlantis was not peer reviewed. Needless to say that without peer review, one cannot trust that this literature review has honestly or accurately reflects the science let alone the conflicts of interest of the authors.

    • Dr Mc Hugh has had injunctions against him for whipping up hatred against Abortion Clinic doctors, one of whom was later murdered. He argued that a 10 year old child who had been raped by a family member should have to carry the child to term and he has also supported Catholic Priests on Paedophile charges. Totally discredited.

  4. The New Atlantis Journal is not a pear reviewed journal and is not a recognized source of accurate and valid data. If this study had any merits, they would be willing to put their research up for proper review and publish in a reputable journal.

  5. We talked about that in psychology classes, and our teacher told us that most psychologist says that no one is born gay but they become gay. she told us that it’s event that are happening in their life that will determine if they will become gay or not, and that the oedipal stage is mainly what will make someone gay or not… I’m not really convinced by that either to be honest

  6. I hope people realize that there is a difference between BEING gay and ACTING/LIVING a gay lifestyle. I personally know a handful of gay men whom you’d never be able to tell were gay unless they told you. In fact, they typically act straighter than most straight men I know. But our society has perpetuated the culture that if you’re gay, you must do abc gay things and act in an xyz gay way. The more extravagant and outrageous, the better. Which leads to stereotyping and other negative things.

  7. I’d be wary of accepting this. I think this has a political agenda behind it. The next big push is for a rejection of gender outright. It is a purposeful plan to keep people so preoccupied with titillating topics (and mire us down with self-doubt and confusion) that we do not focus on our rights being systematically eroded. The fact is that the majority of human beings are heterosexual. While I certainly don’t have scientific study to back up my claim, in my personal experience, those who I have known to be gay were born that way. Some were encouraged to be themselves and others tried to hide their orientation or even deny it to themselves, but it wasn’t something that they consciously chose. Of course, we are talking anecdotal evidence and a small sample at that — but I just don’t buy that our sexuality is that malleable. It is a basic biological drive that is vital to the continuation of the species. I don’t think nature is inclined to give a great deal of choice on the matter. As for gender, the majority of people fit very comfortably in the male/female gender roles. So, for those people, the status quo works and changing it drastically with the notion that gender identity is fluid or a choice would be harmful rather than helpful.
    Now, this is not to say that society does not need to allow for individuals who fall outside the “norm”. In fact, I believe we do. We should recognize that while biology in humans works a certain way most of the time, there are exceptions and those exceptions should be accepted as merely as a variance in the natural process. A person’s orientation or gender identity has no bearing on whether or not they can be productive members of society. They may be different, but that difference does not imply an inequality or a deficiency. It is merely different. My point is that we don’t need to radically shift society so that it becomes a choice — that anyone may choose — as to whether or not to be gay or transgender. In fact, in pushing this idea, it will cause confusion and pain to those who identify with the “biological norm” who will increasingly feel pressure to expand their own sexual preferences or change their own view of their gender in order not to be “close minded” or “prejudice” towards the LGBQT community. Instead of simply working to make life better for that community by advocating acceptance of their biology, we risk expanding the pain and conflict of confusion over orientation or gender identity to the whole population. Instead of making it acceptable to be gay or transgender, we’ll just make everyone question their sexuality and gender identity and add that burden to even more young people (instead of taking it away from the LGBQT community) and open the door to more arguments about the “morality” of a “lifestyle choice”. This is a step in the wrong direction.

  8. Dr. Lawrence S. Mayer, Dr. Paul R. McHugh when i saw these two names and The New Atlantis Journal i knew from reading other reports that these two pick and chose what they like. this so called study is a sham

  9. People here are clamoring for “peer-reviewed studies”, but where were you when the APA quietly took homosexuality off of their list of deviant behaviors in 1973?

    Sure, there were several articles written that tried to normalize homosexuality but there were NONE that cited any “peer-reviewed” study to back up their claim. It just became accepted.

    I’d say most of YOU have an agenda and should be discredited.

  10. This journal is not reputable. It is extremely conservative and focuses on religious purposes. There are many other journals that refute these findings.

    • Those “journals” may not be peer reviewed, and it’s not very convincing since you didn’t list any of them. Not to mention that religion wasn’t mentioned once in the entire article, nor was anything anti gay stated. In fact much effort was taken not to step on any extremist toes, with comments such as “But the study did not conclude or state that being gay is a choice.”

  11. Why does this matter at all. Let them be. We are all able to pursue happiness. Someone else’s life does not concern you. SMH

    • The problem with your comment is that LGBTQ does not let others be. They are pushing an agenda on society and are driven by sources that have ulterior motives. There are, of course, some who choose to do their own thing and leave others alone but look at the people being harassed for their personal convictions for not catering to this segment of society!

      • It’s actually the other way around–heterosexuals won’t stop pushing their agenda on gay people. All gay people want to do is to be treated like everyone else–hold hands in public, buy a cake from whatever bakery we want, etc. But straight people just can’t keep their mouths shut…if you’d just allow us the same treatment if everyone else then there wouldn’t be an issue.

        • So…you think it was okay for the LBwhatever community to sue a woman because she wouldn’t make a cake for a gay wedding? Not only did she lose her business but I think she lost her house also.

          Why can’t folks like you take your own advice and, oh, I don’t know…go to another bakery that will cater to your every need? If someone refused me service, I would simply take my money elsewhere, not put them into debt!

          And what about those who deliberately go to Christian owned businesses just to make a fuss and demand to be waited on? You see it in the news all the time. Like the gays who demand True Christian pastors to marry them even though there are plenty of churches elsewhere that would happily do it.

          You also don’t get fired from work for making public comments in favor of homosexuality, but you sure do if you speak out against it!

  12. Smh…that lifestyle is not good in my personal opinion and experience. People ought to seek treatment and change their toxic diets from the hormone altering chemicals in the food, then meditate with the Creator on all things in righteous and restore divine order in there lives. My brother, just like the man above stated had serious abuse growing up. His father verbally and physically abusive, and parents divorced when he was a toddler. We lived in NYC in the height of drugs, and sexual promiscuity, back in the late 70’s and early 80’s. Aids and Teenage pregnancy was on the rise. Less parents in the home together, and more poverty amongst blacks increased due jail sentencing for drugs. We were told later my brother was molested several times by a male family member (pedophile). I knew this person because he tired to touch me as well. My brother believed he was GAY at that point, and then became transgender the deeper he got into the LGBTQ lifestyle. By the time he was 30 he contracted HIV/AIDS and died at 31 from his 3rd complication with pneumonia. We all accepted him, being New Yorkers and very liberal, but my brother struggled til his death with his sexuality, drugs and abusive relationships with other males. He isolated himself out of pain and confusion, instead of seeking truth and healing. Even when he found temporary peace among others of his kind, there was a broken sadness in his spirit, under the makeup, dresses, and fiery attitude something wasn’t healed. He apologize to my mom on his death bed and told her not worry herself, because that what Moms do…worry where they went wrong in protecting their children. He told her he made his choices and had to live with them. If one is not born that way… I don’t think we ought to just cancel out ALL scientific research and treatment especially at and early age, because the older LGBTQ crowd and extreme liberals don’t want to see and alternative option for addressing underlying issues that may mentally alter ones sexual state of being based on environment.

  13. This article is not about a recent scientific “study” as the headline claims. They collected no data. The article is about a report – a biased survey of selected studies and surveys – written by a statistician and a retired, old-school shrink with an axe to grind. Fake news.

    • Sure, every scientist in favor of gays must be a genius, and all scientists who are against must be stupid.

      The “old school shrink”:
      “Paul R. McHugh, M.D. is University Distinguished Service Professor of Psychiatry and a professor of psychiatry and behavioral sciences at the Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine. He was for twenty-five years the psychiatrist-in-chief at the Johns Hopkins Hospital.” He got his MD at Harvard.

      I think I prefer this “old school shrink” to any of the “new school” brainwashed slaves of a destructive ideology.

  14. It just takes common sense. If being gay was normal, they should be able to reproduce naturally without the aid of science. The more the world tolerates this, the more they’ll think it’s normal to be gay.

  15. Except that… identical twins also don’t have the same fingerprints… or the same number or placement of hairs on their heads… both things that conservative groups believe God carefully selects.
    Unless everything physical about identical twins is identical, this study has no control.

  16. I cannot believe how many uneducated, truly unenlightened, naive, fundamentalist Christian brainwashed and unkind the comments are. I came out to my family and friends in 1972 at the age of 16. I knew then (as I know now) that there was nothing intrinsically wrong about being gay. Homosexuality is a natural occurance in nature, nothing more. We just want to live our lives and be treated equally. We have the same dreams, dilemmas, love, hate, compassion, disillusion, cowardice, bravery, ambition, laziness and fondness for a good piece of pie as any other human on this planet. Some of us make great parents while others do not. Some of us drink too much while millions of us stay sober. We are Democrats as well as Republicans. We sleep, eat, watch Netflix and have bad sex. Some of us are good looking while many of us are homely. The only difference is that we are attracted to our own sex and we sometimes fall in love with a person of our own sex. This will never go away. We have always been around and our presence hurts no one. We live our lives, die and others will come along in our absence. One day, the narrow and fearful minds of the world will realize this and understand what an incredible amount of time was wasted on deriding a group of people who were simply different, regardless of their nature or nurture. No one will gain anything from making us feel less than or sick. It’s never going to work. It’s futile and it’s exhausting and so unnessessary for all involved.

  17. The study was sensitive and careful. The reaction is emotional and irrational. The credentials of the researchers are fantastic. The nonsensical, straw man comments about religion here by those who refute the study are laughable. The impact of leftist social engineering on our society has been devastating on many levels. We used to talk about nature and nurture with this topic. Now we don’t at all. As if every person with gender identity aberrations from the standard reproduction that has sustained the race were exactly the same and nurture never had any impact. That’s illogical. Science has shown that the vast majority of lesbians chose that lifestyle due to abuse of one kind or another. You can’t explain that away. If this study’s conclusion is that we should be careful about radical medical treatment for children with gender identity questions, how can any reasonable person argue with that? Answer. Fear that their belief system will be challenged.

  18. The LGBT community should own up to the fact that their agenda and their success with defining their rights for marriage and bathroom access has nothing to do with science and everything to do with emotions and politics, and judicial activism based on emotion, and a political party willing to pander for their votes. The Hillary hacked emails seemed to prove that to most. So when they try to claim the scientific high ground they just sound lost.

    When there is a study showing how many gay couples are raising children and contributing to that part of our society equally with heterosexuals, then they will have a claim in equality of contribution and not just equality of rights. But instead it seems they have exempted themselves from the responsibility of raising the next generation of tax payers who will pay for LGBT social retirement for which the LGBT community has not equally contributed by living a lifestyle largely exempt from child rearing. Which costs parents a large amount of money by the way. Statistical evicence that they contribute equally there – not anecdotes of a few – will be required. We won’t ever see that though because the world where gay couples choose to contribute there equally doesn’t exist.

  19. Is it just me or does it seem weird that when faced with a scientific fact that twins with different gender identity seem to prove there’s no genetic explanation LGBT supporters would resort to a non-scientific “soul” argument? Can they hear themselves?

    • The problem is that you are assuming this is scientific fact. First, no legitimate scientist would ever write a hypothesis that concludes that it proves that their is no connection between sexual behavior and genetics. A true study examines two opposing hypotheses about a population: the null hypothesis and the alternative hypothesis. This article is not a study, it’s a conclusion of material published in other resources. The article cherry picks resources and uses resources that are not of scientific origin. So, this is like pulling all the blue M&M’s out of packages, throwing the others away and saying all M&M’s are blue. The reason the article appears in The New Atlantic is because The New Atlantic is not a scientific journal, though it claims to be. It is a blog site, that takes donations, and is the equivalent of self-publishing. It’s a vanity site.

      And by the way, demanding statistical evidence that points to a certain conclusion, when you provide no evidence that supports your claim is a bit hypocritical.

  20. That said, LGBT skeptics/ opponents should stick to reasonable arguments and not anything embarrassing or divisive. It doesn’t help your argument. It just makes skeptics as a group look silly.

    Or course, the Left always has people post fake comments intended to make their opponents look bad too. Is that a suggestion on the OFA website?

  21. Looks to me like basically they found a complicated way to say nothing. They hemmed and hawed and really drew no conclusions. Why did they bother to waster their time and ours?

  22. Sorry to disagree with the article, but WE WERE BORN THAT WAY. I don’t care what any study says. They don’t live it, they don’t know it. I am a twin, one gay one straight. Same environment, too.

    It’s not a religious thing, so don’t even show your ignorance and go that route……….the same ignorance of those who still gays are pedophiles.

    Only those who fear what they don’t know about will disagree and tell people otherwise.

    • You were not born that way, lol. And your statement actually helps give credit to the article. There are several sets of twins in my family. One set, (male and female), are openly gay. But the female wasn’t always gay. She’s even been married to a man before. She CHOSE to start acting like her brother, who has AIDS by the way. She stated so herself in her own words of course. People give in to their sexual desires all the time and some happen to like that lifestyle. It is a choice. And in regards to your comment about gays and pedophiles. Tell me, what does it mean if only 2% of the population is homosexual yet they account for 40% of child molestation cases? And the majority of children who are molested are males being abused by other males?
      And if you were born that way, then why hasn’t nature caught up with you? Why are STD’s, AIDS, cancer, syphilis and other diseases and conditions (bowel perforations, anal fissures, etc.) on the rise? How long will it take evolution to redesign your anus for penetration? Forget religion, even nature says it’s unnatural!
      P.S. I don’t fear you or your lifestyle 🙂

  23. I’m gay and so is my identical twin brother. Our big brother is straight. We weren’t taught to be gay. Lol we just always were. If it was our upbringing, wouldn’t our big brother be gay too

    • Actually your share condition with your identical twin is a rare occurrence. It is rarely found to be the case. Therefore, Scientifically your instance of shared alternative sexual orientation would be an anomaly that proves nothing except that your shared experiences and perceptions of those experiences created a similar result.

  24. So this ‘study’ actually says nothing. There is no proof you are born gay, but there is also no proof you weren’t born gay, but they choose to use the former as the study’s heading. The ultimate conclusion is that more scientific research needs to be done. It’s clear to me that no scientific reseach has been done because there is no way it can be. Studies like this only pander to haters and religious nutjobs. I’m straight, by the way.

  25. Too bad that they recently came out with a study that ties genetic factors, and epigenetics, to sexual orientation. Ergo, people are born gay, bi, trans. This doesn’t say that there isn’t other possibilities, but it does discount this article’s claims.

    • The first “Born gay” study I read had dismissed identical twins because they are rarely both gay. Said so right in their study. And I Have been making this point since 2009 when the lies started being used by the democrats. Imagine that!!! Identical Twins are genetically identical and rarely found to share an alternative sexual preference. Your claims are bogus because they have never found any actual genetic factrs. No Gay only genes, no gay exclusive genetic combinations. So you are willing to perpetuate a lie for self validation.

  26. In the past 15 years there have been six, peer-reviewed, studies using proper probability sampling methods that have been published in legitimate scientific journals that show a conclusive link between sexual preference and genetics. This study cites only one of those, and it just so happens to be the one with the lowest estimate of genetic influence of the entire set. Here’s what most people don’t know about the source that the “study” is published in. The New Atlantic is a conservative blog site, not a scientific journal. It’s not peer-reviewed, which makes it a vanity site. You publish here when your data is so weak no one else will take it. Visit The New Atlantic website and the first thing you notice in the upper right hand corner is a link for donations. Scientific journals aren’t run by donations.

  27. The researchers should study the role of chemicals and GMOs in making humans (and fish) to be ‘born that way’. We invent at least 10,000 new chemicals every year, many of which find their way into our lakes and drinks. Were the dissimilar sexed twins raised in the same home, subject to the same chemicals?

  28. I actually searched Google and found this original article published on the new Atlantis website, and found this dislosure relating to the entire article, written at the end of the introduction. I will copy and paste…..

    “We readily acknowledge that this report is neither an exhaustive analysis of the subjects it addresses nor the last word on them. Science is by no means the only avenue for understanding these astoundingly complex, multifaceted topics; there are other sources of wisdom and knowledge — including art, religion, philosophy, and lived human experience. And much of our scientific knowledge in this area remains unsettled”

    MUCH OF THE SCIENTIFIC KNOWLEDGE IN THIS AREA REMAINS UNSETTLED!

    What was the intent of this article? It makes me wonder! Why write this report and make such claims, yet state that the “scientific knowledge is unsettled”? This statement alone implies, we still don’t know what might be found through ongoing scientific research.

    God bless.

  29. Imagine that! The first Born gay study”Stattford, England” I read had dismissed identical twins because they are rarely both gay. Said so right in their study. And I Have been making this point since 2009 when the lies started being used by the democrats. Imagine that!!! Identical Twins are genetically identical and are rarely found to share an alternative sexual preference!

  30. What I see in many of these comments is self validation. What I would ask is, “Is a born gay lie the validation you deserve.
    The first Born gay study I read had dismissed identical twins because they are rarely both gay. Said so right in their study. And I Have been making this point since 2009 when the lies started being used by the democrats. Imagine that!!! Identical Twins are genetically identical and are rarely found to share an alternative sexual preference!

  31. The reason persons with alternative sexual orientations need validation is because the behavior is not natural. You don’t see people of other natural traits so concerned with self validation.Although it does randomly happen most people just accept themselves for who they are. Even if they are negatively regarded or stigmatized. This desire for external validation regardless of truth is as unnatural as the behavior itself!

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