Category: Warren Throckmorton

The Toronto Star features an article about genetics and gayness. I thought the contrasts between Canada and the US were interesting and the explanations about behavioral genetics enlightening for a lay audience. Discussing Hamer’s early Xq28 research, the article notes the media fascination with the topic:

Because of the social, political, and cultural implications, his results – inevitably headlined “Gay gene found” – were hailed globally as a major breakthrough. Wrongly so, said the genetics community. The coverage was inflated, simplistic and misleading. No “gay gene” had been found, nor ever would be. Why? Because behavioural genetics is much more complex than “Mendelian” genetics. In other words, traits such as eye colour are 100 per cent inheritable but the genetic contribution to various behaviours, aggression, shyness, extroversion and so on, is considerably less, below 50 per cent.

Ruth Hubbard, Harvard emeritus professor of biology and biochemistry and author of Exploding the Gene Myth, has said that searching for a gay gene “is not even a worthwhile pursuit.

“I don’t think there is any single gene that governs any complex human behaviour. There are genetic components in everything we do, and it is foolish to say genes are not involved, but I don’t think they are decisive.”

Behavioral genetics research is going to continue to explode. The fun is going to be in examining pathways for the expression of various traits under various conditions.

Here is a recent article quoting Michael Bailey and Lisa Diamond among others regarding sexual orientation research.

Open forum…

A recent commenter accused International Lesbian and Gay Association (ILGA) of secretly keeping NAMBLA (a pedophilia supporting group) on its membership rolls. I was curious about this so I wrote ILGA and asked if NAMBLA was still on a secret list. Here is the first reply from Stephen Barris, at ILGA:

Dear Warren,

There is no such thing as a secret list of ILGA members and our lists are available to the public. We do have though members which wish to remain confidential for the simple reason same sex is criminalised in their country. NAMBLA was expelled in 94 and a series of amendments where voted by ILGA members to ensure groups condoning paedophilia would not be able to become members of the federation. Our federation has not had any such group since 94. You can find a public statement on that matter under the section “About ILGA” on ilga.org.

On the home page, you will also find a report on State sponsored homophobia in the world. As you will notice, 85 UN members states still have discriminatory laws against LGBT people. Those are the same states who sit at the United Nations. The NAMBLA case is but an excuse not to recognise LGBT groups as representatives of the civil society at the UN. After 13 years though and thanks to our ECOSOC campaign, things are slowly changing and three groups, including the European Region of ILGA obtained observer status last year. You can read the full report on this campaign on ILGA’s home page.

I then wrote and asked if there was a published list of organizations which belong to ILGA and Mr. Barris sent this list. He said some member groups from countries where laws prohibit homosexuality are not listed.

By including this information, I am not supporting the work of ILGA. I know very little about it or the political issues involved. I simply provide this information in the service of fairness.

The organizers of the Ex-gay Survivors Conference have invited Exodus conference participants to a dinner on June 29, 2007 in Irvine, CA. The invitation does not say who is coming or who will speak. I would want to know this in advance if it were me. The invitation provides an email address for RSVP which I suppose could be used to ask questions. It seems to me just sitting down together would be an accomplishment, without the speeches. Having both sides offer comments might be something worth considering as opposed to one side having the program.

I won’t be in Irvine but I will post an open forum next week for those who are there to offer observations.

Jim Brown of OneNewNow reports an interview with Alan Chambers regarding the LA Times article on Monday and Stephen Bennett’s critical reaction.

Chambers tells OneNewsNow he has never met someone who had a “sudden or complete change when it came to homosexuality.” He says he believes that God gives people the ability to overcome on a daily basis, rather than “a complete transformation in an instant.”