Psychology

All issues related to sex and sexuality usually causes a stir in America. While the country claims to be one that separates church and stated, the religious overtones are quite apparent when issues of homosexuality and rights of homosexuals surface. The Judeo-Christian bible states that homosexually behavior is a sin and is therefore condemned. From this perspective, religiously influenced legislators have been successful, to a degree, with imposing laws that limit the rights of these American citizens, most notably the right to marriage. Their primary justification for the condemnation is the Bible, and when new evidence, scientific evidence, points to the fact that sexual orientation is biologically determined, those who believe that it is a choice do everything that they can to invalidate the research, including attempt to disprove the validity of science, in and of itself. Evidence of this practice to invalidate scientific facts can be seen when evaluating the post-modern philosophical perspective, which states that there is no objective truth, but that truth changes depending on the lens from which it is viewed. While this may be true in an abstract sense, when issues of science and biology are being examined, nothing can be further from the truth. Since human beings are animals, they are governed by the rules of biology and the rules of biology are facts about processes in the 3rd dimension on planet earth. The Article The Neurodevelopment of Human Sexual Orientation examines the scientific evidence that human sexual orientation is a biological factor and describes why this is so. A review of genetic, twin, birth order, neural circuit, and learning theory substantiate the claim.

A study done on males and females in population-level group samples demonstrated that a bi-model (or bisexual) orientation among men was less common than in women. This finding lead researchers to speculate that there are two routes for human sexuality  typical (heterosexuality) and A-typical (homosexuality). They sought to understand what causes sexual orientation to take either the typical or atypical route in humans, further speculating that the divergence towards either path occurs in the brain before birth. Twin studies were explored, as there are many studies that show evidence of a genetic component to human sexuality, with homosexuality being passed down the maternal line, suggesting that sexual orientation may be linked to the X chromosome. The exact gene on the chromosome that may be responsible has yet to be determined. Fraternal birth order also comes into play when determining sexual orientation, as studies show that homosexual men have nearly a 33 increase in the chance of being homosexual with each older sibling. The same is not true for females, which suggests that there are more ways in which a male can develop a homosexual orientation than females. Another theory suggests that during pregnancy, the male fetus antigens are perceived by the mothers immune system as foreign objects and mistakenly attacks them, thereby reducing their number and increasing the likelihood of a homosexual orientation. The wiring of neural circuits during fetal development also comes into play, as research has shown that the wiring of typical and atypical sexual orientation differ in males and females. PET (positron emission tomography) scans have demonstrated that when homosexual men are shown sexual imagery of males, they have a higher level of activity-response in the hypothalamus. The evidence is further backed up with data from research studies of animals, specifically, mammals and how the functioning of the hypothalamus relates to testosterone and androgen levels and functioning.

Due to the validity of the facts of biology that can be argued against, but easily dis-proven through observation and scientific experimentation, the role of learning as it relates to sexual orientation is a more controversial issue. If sexual orientation can be learned, then it strengthens religious arguments that homosexuality is a choice and can therefore be modified, as opposed to a permanent state, and should thereby continue to be condemned as a practice and homosexual marriage should also be banned. The research does point out, however, that there are studies that have proven that sexual behavior can be learned in animals. Specifically, conditioning can effect arousal, approach behavior, and performance strength. However, other studies on adolescents that engage in homosexual behavior, for cultural reasons in some cases, demonstrate that regardless of the experiences, the subjects have a heterosexual orientation in adulthood.

Conclusion
While there is still debate about the cause(s) of homosexual orientation, one issue seems clear there is a biological bases for some cases of homosexual orientation. This is true above and beyond the research studies, and is due to human variation. There are humans born every day with ambiguous gentile as hermaphrodites, and accordingly, some possess bisexual orientations, while others are either hetero or homosexual. Ultimately, the source of homosexual behavior, and whether it is biological should not be of any concern in a secular society. The fact that this issue causes as much controversy as it does is not an indicator that more biological research needs to be done, but that more political, social and philosophical research needs to be done. In a secular society, citizens should be afforded equal rights, regardless of the origins of their lifestyle preferences and sexual behavior, as long as it doesnt harm anyone and all parties consent to the practices.