‘Born this Way’ Is Shaky Science

Here is John Stonestreet writing at Breakpoint:

The Truth Comes Out of the Closet

“The science is settled!” we often hear on any questions surrounding the LGBT issues. But two experts replied last week, “Not so fast.”

If you blinked sometime around 2010, you probably didn’t recognize the country when you opened your eyes. Once President Obama “evolved” on marriage, and the Supreme Court redefined that institution, the remaining cultural dominoes are falling, and fast.

This year alone, laws were proposed that would force Christian colleges to deny their beliefs, and a federal directive demanded that schools nationwide accommodate transgender students in both restrooms and athletics. And this march is accompanied by the persistent media drumbeat that “the science is settled” on these issues.

But the rhetoric is way ahead of the research. A sweeping new report in the The New Atlantis surveys decades of published data on sexual orientation, gender dysphoria, and the psychology behind them. The results are turning heads. Not only is the science behind LGBT claims far from settled, but these findings call into question foundational assumptions of the new sexual orthodoxy.

Dr. Paul McHugh and Lawrence Mayer, psychiatric experts, argue that “there is a large gap between the certainty with which beliefs about [sexual orientation and gender identity] are held…and what a sober assessment of the science reveals.”

Their report identifies major areas where scientific findings don’t support the triumphal rhetoric of activists. First, the idea that “gay” people are “born that way,” genetically pre-programmed to be attracted to their own sex, lacks evidence.

“Genes,” write the authors, “constitute only one of the many key influences on behavior in addition to environmental influences, personal choices, and interpersonal experiences.” So-called “sexual orientation” is “fluid,” not “fixed” and often changes throughout a person’s life. In fact, some studies found that eighty percent of males who reported homosexual or bisexual feelings as children later identified exclusively as heterosexual.

Read more: Breakpoint

Image credit: www.breakpoint.org.