I found a similar article about a study done in Oregon, published back in Nov 2002.
This sheep business doesn't seem to be "new news" in Oregon.
Posted on 06/19/2005 8:47:14 PM PDT by Crackingham
As the culture wars rage over gay rights, a flock of sheep at Oregon State University may help answer a key question behind the controversy: Is homosexuality a matter of choice or biology? The Corvallis herd includes a group of rams that scientists delicately refer to as "male-oriented." These animals consistently ignore females and bestow all their amorous attentions on members of their own sex.
Researcher Charles Roselli says a decade of study suggests sexual orientation is largely hard-wired into the sheep's brains before birth. Now, he's trying to figure out how that happens, zeroing in on genes and hormones. In a bold test of his ideas, he hopes to engineer the birth of gay rams by altering conditions in the womb.
Sheep aren't people, but the Oregon work adds to a growing body of research that bolsters biological explanations for sexual orientation across species — including humans. Despite those scientific findings, some religious groups say homosexuality is a lifestyle that can be treated, if not prevented. One such group, the conservative Christian organization Focus on the Family, is sponsoring a one-day conference in Bothell Saturday. The social and political implications of the research are impossible to ignore, leading to unease on both sides of the gay-rights debate. If science proves homosexuality is innate, is there any basis to deny gays equal treatment — including the right to marry? But if scientists unravel the roots of sexual orientation, will it some day be possible to "fix" people who don't fit the norms or abort fetuses likely to be born gay?
Much of the cutting-edge research is being conducted in other countries, because the political pressure cooker in the United States makes it difficult for scientists to get money, said Brian Mustanski, who juggles studies of the genetics of homosexuality with his main work on HIV prevention at the University of Illinois, Chicago. But controversy can't obscure the facts, he said.
"It's pretty definitive that biological factors play a role in determining a person's sexual orientation."
Austrian scientists reported this month that switching a single gene was enough to make female fruit flies rebuff males and attempt to mate with other females. Swedish researchers recently found the sexual center of gay men's brains lit up when they sniffed a pheromone-like chemical from men's sweat, but didn't respond to a chemical from women.
And last fall, Italian scientists offered a possible explanation for the persistence of gay genes — even though evolution tends to weed out traits that discourage reproduction. The team from the University of Padua found that mothers and aunts of gay men had more offspring than female relatives of heterosexuals, suggesting genes that influence homosexuality in men may increase fertility in females.
That the evidence comes from such disparate directions leads scientists to suspect several different biological pathways may lead to homosexuality. Both genes and hormones appear to be important. Nor do researchers discount the possibility that social factors may play a role.
"I tend not to be a nature-versus-nurture kind of dichotomist," said Roselli, of the Oregon Health & Science University School of Medicine in Portland. "I think there's probably a very complex interaction that's going on between both biology and the environment that is involved in determining these types of behaviors."
Don't forget that in POLYGAMOUS societies (like Greece) the amount of women in the village is limited, as those with wealth or stature typically all but monopolized the better portion of the female population.
Ah, but can you turn off the gene that makes the cat lick his own butt? Would it make them more or less hygienic? These are the questions that science must answer! ;-)
If single parent households create gay men, how come most black men are not gay because a very large percentage of blacks are raised in single parent households. This fact alone made me realize that not having a male father figure could not be the main reason gays develop.
Animals exhibit "gay" behavior
Sunday, June 19, 2005
From whales to buffalo to Caspian terns, a profusion of animals exhibit behavior that in humans would be called gay.
In his book "Biological Exuberance: Animal Homosexuality and Natural Diversity," Seattle biologist Bruce Bagemihl estimates 450 species display some form of homosexuality, which can include same-sex courtship, displays of affection, sexual activity, long-term pairings and parenting.
...reminds me of an old joke:
First Bachelor: Look at the way your dog is licking himself. I wish I could do that.
Second Bachelor: I'm sure he'd be happy to let you have a turn when he's finished.
Homophobia is acquired through observation and good statistics..
And I was born lazy and pooped in my diaper. So should I continue to poop in my diaper and be lazy? After all I was born that way!
"If single parent households create gay men, how come most black men are not gay"
I didn't say most people who grow up in single parent households turn out gay. Read the statement again.
Actually, there are a lot of homosexual blacks in prison.
Consider that quietly. Government sponsored dating service.
I'm picturing it. It's pretty funny. :-)
But people can be sheep... Isn't it funny how that works?
You know, you just can't help it. You are an alcoholic...you were born that way. You certainly wouldn't ask to be born that way; it's beyond your call. So let me buy you a scotch! Hey, you just can't be expected to be strong against the temptation your body and mind demands. It would be cruel if I expected you to avoid doing something you enjoy, even if I privately thought it was bad for you. And I would be considered an alcoholiphobe if I for a moment to condemn the actions of another to be wrong. Everybody in the nation who is prone to drink too much should be celebrated! Drunk Pride! True, your voluntary choice to over drink for your own pleasure might place horrific demands on our medical system, and the dollars spent on it might be better spent elsewhere, but who am I to say? Drink up!"
The other day, an arrogant liberal youth looked down her nose at me from my TV and insisted that when other people smoke in a restaurant she walks into, she just coughs loudly until they put it out or go away. After all, who the heck are they to do something she finds offensive? It is her moral duty to "Sound Off" or some such Hollywood slogan, until people get the message that Smoking is WRONG!
The sad truth is that all Liberals would agree if I stood up in public and proclaimed the following...
"Smoking is bad for those who do it. They are inconsiderate of others to do something out in public that many of the rest of us find immoral and wrong. I have to stand up and loudly protest these actions because impressionable teenagers might see this behavior and imitate it, ruining their lives. It is bad for the body, and the practice is proven to spread disease. And the money that is spent to fight those voluntary diseases should better be spent on maladies that anyone can get, rather than ones that come mostly to the very people who choose to put themselves in harms way by living this horrible lifestyle. It is my duty as an American to "Sound Off" until people get the message that smoking is WRONG!"
If I said this, I would be branded a "high minded, forward thinking Progressive who is unafraid to stand his ground protecting his cherished ideals, and empowered to let the backward-thinking, old-style fools out there know that they need to come up to speed with today's new world."
Now, same soapbox, different day. I stand up and say...
"Homosexuality is bad for those who do it. They are inconsiderate of others to do something out in public that many of the rest of us find immoral and wrong. I have to stand up and loudly protest these actions because impressionable teenagers might see this behavior and imitate it, ruining their lives. It is bad for the body, and the practice is proven to spread disease. And the money that is spent to fight those voluntary diseases should better be spent on maladies that anyone can get, rather than ones that come mostly to the very people who choose to put themselves in harms way by living this horrible lifestyle. It is my duty as an American to "Sound Off" until people get the message that homosexuality is WRONG!"
If I said this, I would be branded a "small-minded, backward thinking Christian bigot, who is arrogantly pushing his out-moded, phallocentric, ancient God-based hate speech to cruelly scare others into his dogma-based rantings, speaking up in the public square where no one wants to hear what he is saying. And it's probably a hate-crime according to the ACLU, who wants him stopped right now before he infects more kids with his vile hate."
If science proves that people are born "gay", I predict 1-2% of the population will quickly become pro-life converts.
The "we-were-born-that-way" claim could work against the gay lobbyists who've been making it. That's what I always thought, and with studies like these, that may be what happens.
Many different genes for all sorts of illnesses etc. have been discovered. "Homosexuality" could end up being considered another illness.
Again, I will point out the obvious--that if we find a "gay gene," it will be at the very top of the hit list along with Down's Syndrome and Spina Bifida once we start even the most basic genetic engineering.
Farmer: Doc, I have to tell you, I love my horse.
Doc: That's normal, Ed, lots of guys love their animals.
Farmer: No, I really love my horse.
Doc: I appreciate your passion for your beloved companion.
Farmer: Doc, you don't understand. I have SEX with my horse.
Doc: Hmmmm . . . is the horse male or female?
Farmer: Female, of course! Do you think I'm some kind of pervert?!
I found a similar article about a study done in Oregon, published back in Nov 2002.
This sheep business doesn't seem to be "new news" in Oregon.
Because it can...
With my apologies to you AND Matt Munro...
Born gay, so gay that we suppose,
As Siegfried’s man Roy knows,
Your ass is the way to your heart.
Live gay and let AIDS surround you,
While some girly-men pound you,
You make no noise when you fart.
Stay gay, and have disease emit,
From a spot that’s not sunlit,
Please, cordon off your backside.
Born gay, your anus is stinging,
But it’s only stinging,
'cause you're born gay.
(Stay gay, and have disease emit,)
Where God made your legs split.
Damn, man! Where is your pride?
Die gay, Your family is grieving,
But none are believing,
That you were born gay.
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