RENAISSANCE FEBRUARY 2021

37 Monthly Renaissance February 2021 Reflections Genetic Compulsion and Homosexuality Dr Naima Siddiqui The following discussion is only about biologically and mentally healthy individuals. Sexual orientation is considered “complex behavior”. It is influenced and shaped by many factors including but not limited to genes and environment. According to APA (American Psychological Association): Sexual orientation is defined as an often enduring pattern of emotional, romantic and/or sexual attractions of men to women or women to men (heterosexual), of women to women or men to men (homosexual), or by men or women to both sexes (bisexual). Sexual orientation ie., who someone is attracted to may not be a choice but does it mean that the person loses control over whom he should have sexual relation with? The main source of confusion among the public arises when the genetic expression of phenotype e.g., eye color, height, skin tone etc. is mixed with influence of genes on behaviors and choices a person makes. A very popular answer to the question whether a “gay relationship” is a choice or not is that there are “gay genes” which predispose people to become homosexual with the presumption that predisposition equates to compulsion. The “gay gene” notion was mainly the result of the following study: In 1993, Dean Hamerand colleagues published findings from a linkage analysis of a sample of 76 gay brothers and their families. [27] Hamer et al. found that the gay men had