# Oregon Health & Science University finds biological originations of homosexuality **URL:** \ **Category:** Great Debates\ **Created:** [March 8, 2004, 8:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/oregon-health-science-university-finds-biological-originations-of-homosexuality/233174 "2004-03-08T20:33:40Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 5\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![dorkusmalorkusmafia](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dorkusmalorkusmafia/32/7266_2.png) [@dorkusmalorkusmafia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dorkusmalorkusmafia)\ **Post date:** [March 8, 2004, 8:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/oregon-health-science-university-finds-biological-originations-of-homosexuality/233174/1 "2004-03-08T20:33:40Z")
[Researches find link between homosexuality in rams to originate biologically.](http://www.eurekalert.org/pub_releases/2004-03/ohs-bbh030804.php) This sounds huge as a gay man. However, I don’t know of the source above has an agenda. I am only posting it in great debates because I figured it would end up here eventually. I haven’t done the precursory search because I was too excited after reading the initial find. From the link above. > [@](#): > > PORTLAND, Ore. – Researchers in the Oregon Health & Science University School of Medicine have confirmed that a male sheep’s preference for same-sex partners has biological underpinnings. > > A study published in the February issue of the journal Endocrinology demonstrates that not only are certain groups of cells different between genders in a part of the sheep brain controlling sexual behavior, but brain anatomy and hormone production may determine whether adult rams prefer other rams over ewes. Sharon Larkin PHD OHSU: > [@](#): > > “There’s a difference in the brain that is correlated with partner preference rather than gender of the animal you’re looking at,” she said. > [@](#): > > OHSU researchers discovered an irregularly shaped, densely packed cluster of nerve cells in the hypothalamus of the sheep brain, which they named the ovine sexually dimorphic nucleus or oSDN because it is a different size in rams than in ewes. The hypothalamus is the part of the brain that controls metabolic activities and reproductive functions. > > The oSDN in rams that preferred females was “significantly” larger and contained more neurons than in male-oriented rams and ewes. In addition, the oSDN of the female-oriented rams expressed higher levels of aromatase, a substance that converts testosterone to estradiol so the androgen hormone can facilitate typical male sexual behaviors. Aromatase expression was no different between male-oriented rams and ewes. ---
**Author:** ![dorkusmalorkusmafia](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dorkusmalorkusmafia/32/7266_2.png) [@dorkusmalorkusmafia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dorkusmalorkusmafia)\ **Post date:** [March 8, 2004, 8:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/oregon-health-science-university-finds-biological-originations-of-homosexuality/233174/2 "2004-03-08T20:35:53Z")
Damn mispelling of Oregon. It would be appreciated if a kindly mod has the free time to fix it. I won’t report it since I know you guys don’t necessarily have time. ---
**Author:** ![Dogface](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/9d8465/32.png) [@Dogface](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dogface)\ **Post date:** [March 8, 2004, 10:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/oregon-health-science-university-finds-biological-originations-of-homosexuality/233174/3 "2004-03-08T22:06:00Z")
Well, I actually read the scientific paper and not just the press release. Once again, the press release is overblown and hyperbolic. No demonstration as to the “cause” of homosexuality has been published in this case. Instead, a correlation of CURRENT hormonal condition to CURRENT behavior has been published. Correlation does not establish causation. Until such time as homosexual behavior is induced in mammals without resorting to any sort of behavioral conditioning or environmental stressors aside from the direct biochemical alteration in question here, there is still no proof of cause. It’s a better biochemical case than made previously, but it’s still just correlative. We need some experimental neuroscience to be applied–create some transgenic sheep and see if that induces the behavior. ---
**Author:** ![Kimstu](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/ecd19e/32.png) [@Kimstu](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kimstu)\ **Post date:** [March 9, 2004, 7:47am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/oregon-health-science-university-finds-biological-originations-of-homosexuality/233174/4 "2004-03-09T07:47:43Z")
**dmm:** \*This sounds huge as a gay man. \* Blatant stereotyping. Gay men are not necessarily any more huge than anybody else. 😃 ---
**Author:** ![MrVisible](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/46a35a/32.png) [@MrVisible](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MrVisible)\ **Post date:** [March 9, 2004, 7:56am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/oregon-health-science-university-finds-biological-originations-of-homosexuality/233174/5 "2004-03-09T07:56:43Z")
This won’t make any difference. No matter what evidence we can show that we never chose to be homosexual, the opposition has too much invested in the idea that we’re doing this to piss them off to be able to give us the benefit of the doubt. No matter that by telling us we chose our orientation they’re calling us liars. No matter that they never chose their orientation, and couldn’t choose to change. Their beliefs cannot be changed through facts, otherwise they’d already have changed. Hell, a whole big chunk of the people who believe gays choose their orientation also believe that the world was created in six days and survived a global, mountaintop-high flood, despite all the evidence to the contrary. Anyway, even if we had chosen to love others of the same gender (as surprising an idea as that would have been to my eleven-year-old self) that’s still not a valid reason to deny us our status as equals in our own country. The debate as to whether it’s a choice or not is simply a sidetrack to the overall debate as to whether it’s right to discriminate against a class of people for no good reason at all.