From AOL News: :But also in his testimony was an inkling of the robust research Schumm has just completed. His study on sexual orientation, out next month, says that gay and lesbian parents are far more likely to have children who become gay. "I'm trying to prove that it's not 100 percent genetic," Schumm tells AOL News.His study is a meta-analysis of existing work. First, Schumm extrapolated data from 10 books on gay parenting; Cameron, for what it's worth, had only looked at three, and offered no statistical analysis in his paper. Schumm skewed his data so that only self-identified gay and lesbian children would be labeled as such.This is important because sometimes Schumm would come across a passage of children of gay parents who said they were "adamant about not declaring their sexual orientation at all." These people would be labeled straight, even though the passage's implication was that they were gay. Schumm concluded that children of lesbian parents identified themselves as gay 31 percent of the time; children of gay men had gay children 19 percent of the time, and children of a lesbian mother and gay father had at least one gay child 25 percent of the time."
http://www.aolnews.com/science/article/study-gay-parents-more-likely-to-have-gay-kids/19668089?icid=main%7Chp-desktop%7Cdl1%7Csec1_lnk1%7C178321
For me, it makes sense that if a child has gay parents, it is more likely that the child may be gay.
For one, if the parents are lesbian and they give birth, if you believe that genetics have something to do with being gay, you will have more gay kids. Same with a man who has gay genes- if they father a child, then there is a higher chance that their child may become gay.
Second, if you believe that kids imitate their parents, then kids may imitate their parents sexual preference behavior. Kids imitate their parents all the time, from their values, to what they want to do with their lives, to how they behave. These behaviors are imitated, not genetic. The author mentions that many lesbians have a severe hatred of men.: "In Schumm's study, he quotes from the extant literature the stories of young women, describing how being gay was never frowned upon in their household, and so that "option" was available to them. That said, Schumm also finds evidence of gay mothers pushing their daughters, upset over a relationship with a man, to "try out women."
But couldn't gay men also tell their sons this? Yes, but Schumm tells AOL News that most gay men have at some point been with a woman, so they understand why their sons might date them. Whereas the literature shows some lesbians "have a hatred of men that's intense," Schumm says.
I am sure there will be many in the gay community who will condemn this paper and the author. But if they do, they need to provide evidence, not just anecdotal evidence, to prove their case. I don't find this article to be anti or pro gay, just informative.
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Some may, but I would think that if they are saying sexual preference is a genetic issue, this would further validate their statement that it is not a choice.
ReplyDeleteIf it is not a choice, that would give them grounds to eliminate the prejudicial and anti-Constitutional anti-gay marriage laws.
That's possible, capper. I just think it is a combination of the two.
ReplyDeleteI can only speak for myself with any authority, but every single gay person I know had straight parents. I myself have a gay cousin, but no other known gay family members. I have one full sibling and three half-siblings, and I'm the only gay one. I can tell you that nobody taught me to be gay, and that I was not indoctrinated, and can't imagine how that would even work.
ReplyDeleteI'll concede that it DOES make sense that if homosexuality is genetic, that gay parents would statistically produce more of them. But you've got to add in something else. If you were raised by gay parents, you'd probably be cool with sexuality in general. If you felt that you were gay, you wouldn't be as hesitant about it as other kids.
Trust me when I tell you--and you know me, and know I don't make shit up--that there are a lot of people out there that don't fit into neat categories. There's gay and there's straight, and there's a big gray area in between. A kid raised in a gay household wouldn't feel a taboo against exploring their own sexuality. A lot of people might find that to be a bad thing, but I don't.
Kids are gonna do what they're gonna do. It was funny back in the 80s when I was in school when they were talking about giving out condoms. Some "concerned" parents said, "that would be giving them PERMISSION to have sex!!!" Reality alert: kids don't ask for permission. If a kid is in the middle of the Kinsey scale, not being ashamed of figuring out who he/she is would be SO much easier than having to supress their real selves.
Don't worry, straight people. If your kid is straight, he's gonna stay that way. Gay people don't recruit. That's a big myth. But if your kid is gay or bi, any pressure to conform by you is going to cause them turmoil. Kids with gay parents probably don't have to go through that.
And that was a long rambling way to say, thanks for the article, Dan. I wasn't offended, in big disagreement, or anything. Cool.
Thanks James, and I do know you and that you would not give me any B.S.
ReplyDeleteI do agree with what you say for the most part.
And to be honest, I have come along way since I was younger and more in tune with what gays are going through, genetic or not. Some of it comes from experience and even some from you.
Thanks, James.