cougarguard.com — unofficial BYU Cougars / LDS sports, football, basketball forum and message board - View Single Post

Jeff Lebowski · 03-13-2006, 06:33 PM

Anybody catch 60 Minutes last night? They had a segment on the latest research into "causes" of same sex attraction/homosexuality. Some fascinating stuff. Here are some highlights:

1) Gay men are in fact more promiscuous than straight men in general. One researcher believes it is because while gay men are feminine in some ways, their views/appetites regarding casual sex mirror that of straight men. The difference lies in the fact that straight men are hitting on women (typically more conservative about sex) and gay men are hitting on other men. Imagine for example how much sex you would have if your wife/partner were as horny as you all the time. Interesting point.

2) Someone filmed interviews with gay and straight folks. They reduced this video to black and white where you could mainly see just the outlines of the interviewees. They then had folks view the video and guess whether the people were gay or straight. They could guess with surprising accuracy. This confirms my theory on "gaydar". I tell my wife that I can always pick them out of a crowd (she can't).

3) They did a related study looking at home video for gays. In most cases, they showed clear indicators of being gay from the time they were toddlers (feminine or masculine tendencies).

4) The old theory about "a domineering mother and wimpy father" leading to SSA has been thoroughly debunked. No surprise there.

5) Research shows that homosexuality runs in families to some degree, thus pointing to a genetic cause. Not that all members of a family are gay (obviously), but a clear statistical linkage between liklihood and family lines.

6) There are instances of identical twins where one twin is straight and another gay. This would seem to run counter to the previous point, but this will be explained later. Keep reading.

7) While causes are not completely understood, the current theory is that hormonal conditions in the womb play a strong role. They interviewed a researcher who could consistently make lab rats gay by injecting a hormone just after birth (birth for a rat corresponds to third trimester in humans). "What the hell is a gay rat?" you are probably wondering. The male gay rats would raise up the rump and lift the head (just like a female) when put in a cage with another male rat, thus indicating readiness for that "disgusting act" (that's a shout-out to Archea, who I am sure will respond to this thread). "Lesbian rats" (my term) showed no interest in sex with male rats. Straight rats went right to breeding within seconds after being put in the cage (horny little buggers).

8) A male with older brothers is more likely to be gay. With each older brother, the liklihood goes up by 1/3!!! (from a starting point of 2%). One theory is that hormonal conditions in the womb are altered by each succeeding pregnancy with a male child. Now, going back to the genetic cause issue, it appears that the genetic linkage may be manifested through the mother, resulting in a tendency for certain hormonal conditions in the womb.

9) The "older brothers make you more likely to be gay" thing only applies if you are right-handed. No such statistical linkage if you are left-handed. They have no idea why this is so. Bizarre, eh?

Anyway, I thought it was pretty interesting.

03-13-2006, 06:33 PM	#1
Jeff Lebowski Charon Join Date: Jan 2006 Location: In the heart of darkness (Provo) Posts: 9,564	Interesting bit on 60 Minutes last night Anybody catch 60 Minutes last night? They had a segment on the latest research into "causes" of same sex attraction/homosexuality. Some fascinating stuff. Here are some highlights: 1) Gay men are in fact more promiscuous than straight men in general. One researcher believes it is because while gay men are feminine in some ways, their views/appetites regarding casual sex mirror that of straight men. The difference lies in the fact that straight men are hitting on women (typically more conservative about sex) and gay men are hitting on other men. Imagine for example how much sex you would have if your wife/partner were as horny as you all the time. Interesting point. 2) Someone filmed interviews with gay and straight folks. They reduced this video to black and white where you could mainly see just the outlines of the interviewees. They then had folks view the video and guess whether the people were gay or straight. They could guess with surprising accuracy. This confirms my theory on "gaydar". I tell my wife that I can always pick them out of a crowd (she can't). 3) They did a related study looking at home video for gays. In most cases, they showed clear indicators of being gay from the time they were toddlers (feminine or masculine tendencies). 4) The old theory about "a domineering mother and wimpy father" leading to SSA has been thoroughly debunked. No surprise there. 5) Research shows that homosexuality runs in families to some degree, thus pointing to a genetic cause. Not that all members of a family are gay (obviously), but a clear statistical linkage between liklihood and family lines. 6) There are instances of identical twins where one twin is straight and another gay. This would seem to run counter to the previous point, but this will be explained later. Keep reading. 7) While causes are not completely understood, the current theory is that hormonal conditions in the womb play a strong role. They interviewed a researcher who could consistently make lab rats gay by injecting a hormone just after birth (birth for a rat corresponds to third trimester in humans). "What the hell is a gay rat?" you are probably wondering. The male gay rats would raise up the rump and lift the head (just like a female) when put in a cage with another male rat, thus indicating readiness for that "disgusting act" (that's a shout-out to Archea, who I am sure will respond to this thread). "Lesbian rats" (my term) showed no interest in sex with male rats. Straight rats went right to breeding within seconds after being put in the cage (horny little buggers). 8) A male with older brothers is more likely to be gay. With each older brother, the liklihood goes up by 1/3!!! (from a starting point of 2%). One theory is that hormonal conditions in the womb are altered by each succeeding pregnancy with a male child. Now, going back to the genetic cause issue, it appears that the genetic linkage may be manifested through the mother, resulting in a tendency for certain hormonal conditions in the womb. 9) The "older brothers make you more likely to be gay" thing only applies if you are right-handed. No such statistical linkage if you are left-handed. They have no idea why this is so. Bizarre, eh? Anyway, I thought it was pretty interesting.