Sniffing Out the Gay Gene

From today's NTY (free subscription required) - Sniffing Out the Gay Gene. A fascinating article by Steven Pinker - discussing the biological and evolutionary puzzle that is homosexuality (an argument against evolution?), morality vs disgust (a possible explanation for the impulse to condemn homosexuality), and the fact that homosexuality isn't a "biological error" at all - and those that condemn it as such are wrong.

"Just as puzzling is the existence of homophobia. Why didn't evolution shape straight men to react to their gay fellows by thinking: "Great! More women for me!" Probably the answer lies in a cross-wiring between our senses of morality and disgust. People often confuse their own revulsion with objective sinfulness, as when they dehumanize people living in squalor or, in the other direction, engage in religious rituals of cleanliness and purification. An impulse to avoid homosexual contact may blur into an impulse to condemn homosexuality.

Cultural conservatives like the talk-show host Dr. Laura Schlesinger ostensibly condemn homosexuality for another reason - that it is a "biological error." Actually, it is she who has made the biological error. What is evolutionarily adaptive and what is morally justifiable have little to do with each other. Many laudable activities - being faithful to one's spouse, turning the other cheek, treating every child as precious, loving thy neighbor as thyself - are "biological errors" and are rare or unknown in the natural world."

Hats off to Mr Pinker for this article - we need more of its kind.