# Ex-Gay Sheep! Is There Hope For Hal? **URL:** \ **Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\ **Created:** [January 14, 2007, 9:43am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ex-gay-sheep-is-there-hope-for-hal/387922 "2007-01-14T09:43:29Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 11\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Tuckerfan](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/eada6e/32.png) [@Tuckerfan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tuckerfan)\ **Post date:** [January 14, 2007, 9:43am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ex-gay-sheep-is-there-hope-for-hal/387922/1 "2007-01-14T09:43:29Z")
Okay, now that the obligatory **Hal** joke is out of the way, [it looks like we’ll soon be hearing cries of “We’re here! We’re sheared! We’re queer, not peeps! We’re sheep!”](http://www.edgeboston.com/index.php?ci=108&ch=news&sc=glbt&sc2=news&sc3=&id=17393) > [@](#): > > The Times UK reports that the technique being developed by researchers at Oregon State University in the city of Corvallis and at the Oregon Health and Science University in Portland adjusts the hormonal balance in the brains of homosexual rams so that they are more inclined to mate with ewes. > > It raises the prospect that pregnant women could one day be offered a treatment to reduce or eliminate the chance that their offspring will be homosexual. Experts say that, in theory, the “straightening” procedure on humans could be as simple as a hormone supplement for mothers-to-be, worn on the skin like an anti-smoking nicotine patch. > > According to the Times, the research has caused an outcry. Lesbian tennis icon Martina Navratilova, who won Wimbledon nine times, along with scientists and gay rights campaigners in Britain have called for the project to be abandoned. > > Navratilova defended the “right” of sheep to be gay. I’ve got a baaaaaaaad feeling about this. ---
**Author:** ![Ice\_Wolf](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/dfb087/32.png) [@Ice\_Wolf](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ice_Wolf)\ **Post date:** [January 14, 2007, 9:49am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ex-gay-sheep-is-there-hope-for-hal/387922/2 "2007-01-14T09:49:09Z")
Kind of covered as part of [this earlier thread.](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?t=402729) ---
**Author:** ![Sage\_Rat](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/sage_rat/32/399_2.png) [@Sage\_Rat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sage_Rat)\ **Post date:** [January 14, 2007, 9:58am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ex-gay-sheep-is-there-hope-for-hal/387922/3 "2007-01-14T09:58:24Z")
I suspect that members of my family who refuse to believe that there is any genetic part to homosexuality will dramatically change that stance when a “cure” comes out. Le sigh. ---
**Author:** ![Tuckerfan](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/eada6e/32.png) [@Tuckerfan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tuckerfan)\ **Post date:** [January 14, 2007, 9:59am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ex-gay-sheep-is-there-hope-for-hal/387922/4 "2007-01-14T09:59:43Z")
[QUOTE=Ice Wolf] Kind of covered as part of [this earlier thread.](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?t=402729) [/QUOTE] Well, that’s about gay animals in general and doesn’t have the same catchy thread title as mine. 😃 ---
**Author:** ![Ice\_Wolf](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/dfb087/32.png) [@Ice\_Wolf](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ice_Wolf)\ **Post date:** [January 14, 2007, 10:02am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ex-gay-sheep-is-there-hope-for-hal/387922/5 "2007-01-14T10:02:28Z")
True. Wonder when they’ll let it drop, though? ---
**Author:** ![Kalhoun](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/3bc359/32.png) [@Kalhoun](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kalhoun)\ **Post date:** [January 14, 2007, 11:58am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ex-gay-sheep-is-there-hope-for-hal/387922/6 "2007-01-14T11:58:44Z")
[QUOTE=Tuckerfan] I’ve got a baaaaaaaad feeling about this. [/QUOTE] (…he said sheepishly.) ---
**Author:** ![Rick](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/9f8e36/32.png) [@Rick](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rick)\ **Post date:** [January 14, 2007, 3:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ex-gay-sheep-is-there-hope-for-hal/387922/7 "2007-01-14T15:24:37Z")
I think you guys are missing what will really happen. The “Christian” right conspiracy wingnuts will be up in arms claiming that the researchers are trying to create a patch that will cause homosexual babies. :smack: As far as Peter Tatchell goes, and his claim that this research mirrors the Nazi program of eugenics, he does realize what sheep are raised for, right? Maybe he at Martina would like to come over and discuss it over a nice leg of Lamb dinner. :dubious: ---
**Author:** ![Tuckerfan](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/eada6e/32.png) [@Tuckerfan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tuckerfan)\ **Post date:** [January 16, 2007, 9:48am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ex-gay-sheep-is-there-hope-for-hal/387922/8 "2007-01-16T09:48:11Z")
I heard a brief interview on Penn Jillette’s podcast with a rep from the university. According to him, the information comes _not_ a press release issued by the uni (they did that **five** years ago), but from a PETA press release, so I think that we can safely throw out anything the article says. They’re supposed to put a link to the complete study on the uni’s webpage, but it doesn’t seem to be up yet. ---
**Author:** ![Mangetout](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mangetout/32/19_2.png) [@Mangetout](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mangetout)\ **Post date:** [January 16, 2007, 9:54am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ex-gay-sheep-is-there-hope-for-hal/387922/9 "2007-01-16T09:54:06Z")
What is not mentioned in the article is that a short time after the experiment, several of the rams in question were photographed cruising the gay bars in the neighbourhood, although they apparently claimed they only went in there to use the lavatory. ---
**Author:** ![kambuckta](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/53a042/32.png) [@kambuckta](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kambuckta)\ **Post date:** [January 16, 2007, 9:57am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ex-gay-sheep-is-there-hope-for-hal/387922/10 "2007-01-16T09:57:21Z")
[QUOTE=Mangetout] What is not mentioned in the article is that a short time after the experiment, several of the rams in question were photographed cruising the gay bars in the neighbourhood, although they apparently claimed they only went in there to use the lavatory. [/QUOTE] Their cover was subsequently blown, for it is a well known fact that only gays would use the word ‘lavatory’. 😃 ---
**Author:** ![Malacandra](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/45deac/32.png) [@Malacandra](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Malacandra)\ **Post date:** [January 16, 2007, 10:21am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ex-gay-sheep-is-there-hope-for-hal/387922/11 "2007-01-16T10:21:50Z")
[QUOTE=Sage Rat] I suspect that members of my family who refuse to believe that there is any genetic part to homosexuality will dramatically change that stance when a “cure” comes out. Le sigh. [/QUOTE] Almost certainly, and in similar proportion to gays who claim that they cannot help what they are. (The question of whether they _ought_ to help it is another matter entirely.)