We’re not the only ones

The ongoing debate on whether homosexuality is a choice or strictly biological will never cease. All that is known is that being attracted to the same sex and discriminating against those who are attracted to the same sex is nothing new. However, science is always new. It is always changing as new discoveries are found.

For example, within the last few decades researchers have discovered over 450 species that sometimes mate with the same sex.

Penguins
According to the Yale Scientific, Humboldt, King, Gentoo and Adelie penguins of the same sex engage in “mating rituals like entwining their necks and vocalizing to one another.”

 

Giraffes

In addition, male giraffes have also been known to participate in homosexual behavior by rubbing their necks together and sometimes engaging in anal penetration.

Other species that have been known to mate with the same sex include bottle nose dolphins, praying mantises, lizards, vultures, Mallard ducks, black swans, Bonobo apes, and dragonflies to name a few.

Of course this poses a brand new question for scientists: does same-sex behavior have evolutionary consequences? We all know Darwin’s theory of evolution. The strongest, smartest and fastest are more likely to survive long enough to reproduce. However, if animals are mating with the same sex, how can their species survive? Current research also shows that same-sex pairing can result in superior care for offspring and other evolutionary advantages like lack of competition and an increase in social bonding that can alleviate stress.

I think its safe to say that the human race has got a pretty good chance of surviving with or without same-sex relationships. After all, we’ve been around for about 6 million years, homosexuality is ancient and we’re still kicking.- J.G.

 

 

Born This Way

The biology of sexuality is is still an on going experiment. While many people believe being gay is a choice, science shows otherwise. This may be the closest we’ve come to figuring out if people are born gay.

There has been many theories since the 60’s on what makes a person gay. It was thought to be hereditary, but that doesn’t make sense considering that heterosexual parents can have a gay baby  and vise versa. So scientist dug a little deeper…

It all happens in the womb while the baby is still a fetus. If the fetus is a boy, a certian level of testosterone is released to make the brain and body more masculine.The testosterone effects the hypothalamus which controls the sexual attraction. If it doesn’t get enough testosterone then there is a higher chance of the child being gay.

Sex epi-marks help this process by making sure women don’t get exposed to too much testosterone and vice versa. Epi-marks, however, are not supposed to be passed down to the nest generation, they should erase themselves.

When they don’t erase, they are passed down to the next generation. If it it passed from father to daughter, mother to son, there is a higher chance of the child being gay. When passed from father to daughter the the epi-marks are allowing more testosterone to pass through  which may cause a female fetus to grow having an attraction to the same sex. While a mother’s epi-marks passing down to her son causes him to be more feminine. The lack of testosterone causes him to be attracted to men.

This is only some of the science behind the biology of sexuality and only some of what our film will discuss. Hopefully this will help people better understand the biology behind sexuality. – T.L

 

Biology & Sexuality

One major argument against the LGBTQ community is that sexuality is a choice; that somehow, who you find yourself attracted to is determined by your morality. Whether it be who you are attracted to or how open you are sexually, according to anti-LGBTQ activists, you should be able to turn it off.

Although science has been tackling this quest for the “Gay Gene” for years now, there has been conclusive data to suggest that a person’s hereditary genes have anything to do with their sexual orientation.

But this does not mean that sexuality is a choice, seeing as there are many aspects of the human body that are hereditary genes but just how the person was put together during prenatal care.

This means that if a gay man has children, religious zealots can rest assured that his “gayness” will not be “passed down” to his children.

Although there is no conclusive research suggesting that a person’s chromosomes will affect their sexuality, there is research that hints towards this. In 2014 a study was published that suggested that gay men share a similar patterns in their genomes on the x chromosome and on the chromosome 8. This study ONLY discusses the origin of sexuality in males, something to note.

The biological study of homosexuality brings together multiple scientific communities and a wide knowledge of science in general, neuroscience, psychology and prenatal development is important when looking at the origins of sexuality.

For our documentary this is good and bad news. This means that we must, yet again, shrink down our umbrella and focus our content even smaller. On the other hand, this gives us options when searching for appropriate voices to speak on the biology of sexuality.

On campus, there are several professors who’s research interests include that of childhood development, social-psychological influences on romantic relationships, etc. who will contain at least basic knowledge or know theories surrounding sexuality. If these sources do not work for us, they will hopefully have connections in the psychology community that will be able to help us find out more about sexuality and where it comes from.- K.L.

Homosexuality: the difference between then and now

What many religious churches deny is that homosexuality was not just tolerated in ancient societies, but sometimes celebrated. Many tribal ancestors of Native Americans, for example, saw it as a gift. From modern research, we now know that homosexuality exist in all cultures. From modern observation, we also know that hatred exist in all cultures. So, when did hatred ruin an ancient practice?

The term “Two-Spirit” has long been replaced by “gay, homosexual” and “fag” and none of the latter are ever accompanied with the word “sacred.”

There is a direct relationship between the degree of open mindedness and the evolving of the human race. We’ve made leaps and bounds in every direction including homosexuality, but we still crash and fall in every direction as well. Homosexuality is a path in which some are most lost, but I am fully convinced that if people just let history present itself, most would understand it is not such a terrible path at all.- J.G.

 

 

Come out the closet or stay in?

While researching about bisexuality, I came across an article that talked about why bisexuals choose to stay in the closet. Several tweets from bisexuals in the LGBT community were attached. They tweeted the reasons they refused to come out. Many of them had to do with the stereotypes that were created about bisexuals.

Here is the link to the article:

 

 

Biphobia is real

Being a part of the LGBT community myself, I have a little insight on things others may not have. I have my own personal experiences that I look back on and can’t believe they’re actually real.

I’ll start with Biphobia. I don’t see the need to define it…it’s pretty straight forward. I never knew this existed until I officially came out of the closet. I identified as a bisexual. I liked guys and I liked girls. I didn’t see an issue with that, but everyone else did.

See, it seems like you either have to be gay or straight in the world. There is no in between. I see bisexuality as loving everyone. You have no limit to who you fall for. You just fall for someone…man or woman. Some people don’t believe in this. Many lesbian woman refuse to date bisexuals because they think they are confused. They can’t have both, just one. Straight men feel the exact same way.

It seems like bisexuals actually may go through more discrimination from someone who is gay or straight. They are looked down upon from both gays and straights. I want to dig deeper in to this and find out why. Why is is someone is hated for loving more than one sex? -T.L

Biology and sexual orientation

Where do we even begin to cover this topic? Well, first lets narrow down the theories that are the most popular, or most researched or accepted by psychologists and scientists.

One of these that is most interesting is the idea that a person’s brain development will determine their sexuality.

This came to be when it was discovered that there are certain parts of the brain that are different in men and women. Scientists that were researching sexuality saw this and decided it was worth looking at it in terms of someone’s orientation.

It has been discovered that the part of the brain that controls our circadian rhythm, the suprachiasmatic nucleus, varies in size in heterosexual and homosexual males. What this means, I do not know yet.

There is also a difference in size in the anterior commissure, which affects sexual activity and instinct.

The most interesting find is this quote:

“A 2010 study, Garcia-Falgueras and Swaab asserted that “the fetal brain develops during the intrauterine period in the male direction through a direct action of testosterone on the developing nerve cells, or in the female direction through the absence of this hormone surge. In this way, our gender identity (the conviction of belonging to the male or female gender) and sexual orientation are programmed or organized into our brain structures when we are still in the womb. There is no indication that social environment after birth has an effect on gender identity or sexual orientation.”

It has also been found that several parts of the brain that differ between men and women, are actually different based off of sexual orientation. For instance, a gay man and a straight woman have similarly proportioned brain hemispheres, and lesbians and straight men have slightly larger right hemispheres. This trend continues for other parts of the brain as well.

The amount of evidence that points towards the theory of sexuality being decided in the womb is astounding and can not be ignored, even by those that disagree with the concept of homosexuality as a whole. – K.L.

Being just a “little gay”

The Kinsey Scale, introduced in the late 1940’s by Alfred Kinsey, places sexuality on a scale. Everyone is placed on a scale of homosexual/heterosexual tendencies from 0-6,  respectively. If you’re not following, here is a handy diagram for you (science).

This amazing scale was always something I thought to be true, before I knew there was an actual name for it, I always placed myself on the scale by saying that I am “a little gay”. Basically, I am bisexual with a strong leaning towards men. I have dated just as many women as I have men and I know I am not the only person who classifies themselves this way.

Then, one day, I watched a Tedx Talk video where a woman described this scale and this huge project she was doing because of this theory.

Many other strides in the psychology surrounding sexual orientation has come  to light since the introduction of the Kinsey Scale. There is the Epstein Sexual Orientation Inventory (ESOI) test, in which an individual answers a set of questions that will help them to better understand and label their sexual identity.

There are several critics of the Kinsey Scale, saying that it is dangerous and keeps people from being held accountable for their behavior. There is also the fact that people just don’t get it. The human brain is wired to put people and things into categories, and the Kinsey Scale takes away a set of those categories and some find it hard to just let people go with the flow, they are find it hard to get used to not having a solid stance on a subject.

Can the general public begin to understand that sexuality is in fact fluid? Or will we, as a society, always look at sexuality in black and white, or rainbow? – K.L.

What is all the fuss about?

Ancient Greece, the Amazonian jungles, Early Africa, Medieval England…

Homosexuality is not a novelty. It has actually been around for at least a millennium, perhaps even before the birth of Christ. Homophobia, however, compared to homosexuality’s lifeline is rather new and more importantly, a westernized concept.

According to many religious individuals, Alexander the Great, Michelangelo, Walt Whitman, Leonardo Da Vinci, Shakespeare and Eleanor Roosevelt are in Hell as we speak. Is that offensive? To say that such influential and world-changing people are drinking Mimosas with the devil?

What probably offends people more is that each of these individuals fell in love with someone of their own sex. The nerve of them! How dare they be attracted to individuals of the same gender? How dare they exercise their basic human right to love and be loved in return? How dare they choose to be happy and destroy the sanctity of marriage?

Why can’t they just marry someone for their looks, or money, or be with someone who makes them miserable, or maybe cheats on them? People like that don’t sanctify the meaning of marriage at all.

Do you see where I’m going with this? – J.G.