Johns Hopkins University released a ground-breaking report on Monday, August 22, 2016. The report claims there is not enough evidence to support the claim that homosexuality or transgenderism are inborn rather than the result of environmental factors. However, that is not to say that certain biological traits don’t offer an indication that a person might choose homosexuality later in life.
The report considered several twin studies, finding, “There is virtually no evidence that anyone, gay or straight, is ‘born that way’ if that means their sexual orientation was genetically determined. But there is some evidence from the twin studies that certain genetic profiles probably increase the likelihood the person later identifies as gay or engages in same-sex sexual behavior.”
The report also analyzed studies done on the brains of people who identify as transgender. Their conclusion is that there is a lack of scientific evidence that transgendered people are biologically disposed to that lifestyle. The report described the results of the consulted studies as “conflicting and confusing.”
The report states, “Neurological differences in transgender adults might be the consequence of biological factors such as genes or prenatal hormone exposure, or of psychological and environmental factors such as childhood abuse, or they could result from some combination of the two.”
The researchers behind the report, Lawrence Mayer and Paul McHugh, say conditioning children to believe they need a sex reassignment to avoid mental health issues may not be helpful. Furthermore, they mention that people who have undergone sex-reassignment surgery are at much higher risk for mental health problems, with a suicide rate 19 times higher than the general population.
Mayer spoke to Christian Post about the report and acknowledges people on both sides of the LGBT debate are going to find fault with something or other in the report. But Mayer assures readers the report was not written to support any one particular bias, “There is no bias either way. The bias is just towards science.”
The report was published in The New Atlantis. The video below introduces the authors of the report and gives a brief summary of the findings.
