Under the Button
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Please, mister, don’t hurt me  |
As we get nearer and nearer to finding a biological basis for
homosexuality, I get more and more nervous. Why research something with no possible positive outcomes?
Currently, a researcher in Idaho is conducting experiments on some rams not only to determine the source of their homosexual behavior but also the best way to “fix” it. While this research is supposed to improve fertility rates in sheep breeding, it has still caused controversy in the gay
community.
As we say in Oklahoma, “If it ain’t broke, don’t fix it.”
There’s no reason to do this research. I’m sure,
at the rate we’re currently moving, it will be done eventually.
Someone will probably find some physical, maybe genetic, correlations to explain the urge to have sex with someone with similar genitalia. But now doesn’t seem like the time in our society or in our science.
In terms of our society, it’s a lose-lose situation. While a
biological basis would support the gay liberation claim of being “born that way,” this small gain for the movement would immediately be overwhelmed by conservative cries of “disease!”
We already have enough crazies out there trying to “rehabilitate” gays;
why give them any more ways to harass people? While acceptance of the homosexual lifestyle has become more and more mainstream, there’s still enough resistance to the idea that I see no reason to add another variable to the whole equation.
While I in no way support the restriction of scientific research, I do think that the state of modern science presents a good reason not to try to solve this puzzle. Yeah, we’ve gotten pretty far, but why is anyone trying to do somewhat-useless research when we still have huge problems to solve? What about curing cancer? What about AIDS? For that matter, what about our little obesity epidemic?
Maybe I’m just a naive idealist, but I say that all the time, money,
and intelligence being directed into finding the “gay gene” should be thrown at something that can actually save lives.
It’s like your general requirements - sure, you’d rather take that
random, useless, fascinating course you stumbled upon in the
course register, but first you have to take math. Get the useful crap
out of the way, figure out how stuff works, and then you can study
something fun.
Apply the same thing to science and maybe we’d have better treatments for various fatal diseases instead of a
cure for impotence and a pointless search for an important but
irrelevant gene.
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September 28th, 2007 at 1:00 pm
Your argument in this article is ridiculous. A few researchers looking into a specific genetic trait in no way decrease the effort that is being made to cure more life-threatening ailments. Do you really thing that the best and the brightest in the scientific community will be drawn away from potential Nobel prize-winning research into a cure for cancer in order to en masse study goat sex? And NO scientific knowledge is “useless”–isolating a particular gene could lead to breakthroughs in other related realms. Humans do not seek knowledge merely if it is immediately applicable–it is a gradual building up of understanding. As for society, a provable genetic cause for homosexuality would be unlikely to cause the backlash that you foresee. Those who vehemently denounce gays as immoral from fundamental religious grounds are not going to change–they have proven themselves quite impervious to the onslaught of scientific fact in the world. As for the more reasonable objectors who sincerely believe that being gay is a matter of personal choice, an isolated genetic cause would have the potential to swing those who are open enough to consider facts. But either way, it doesn’t really matter. The only time to oppose a particular direction of research is if its application would have no other use than toward the detriment of humanity. While it’s nice that you’re trying to branch out from the usual banalities of a “sex column,” you should avoid vague, unsubstantiated claims about other topics as well.
October 1st, 2007 at 8:44 pm
The little blue pill (I apparently can’t post the brand name) became a cure for impotence because when it was tested as a treatment for hypertension, hardness was a common side effect. Research into a fatal disease actually led to a cure for impotence.