NOT BORN THAT WAY

From a Review by A. Dean Byrd, Ph.D., MBA, MPH of The Man Who Would Be Queen, by J. Michael Bailey, Ph. D.

. . .

“Regarding the nature/nurture controversy with which Bailey is concerned, the evidence is in. The admissions by self-identified gay researchers themselves (LeVay and Hamer), in addition to the reviews by Friedman and Downey, as well as Byne and Parsons, concluded that homosexuality is not a purely biological phenomenon. All of these researchers arrive at the same conclusion: an interactionist model (not the "born that way" theory) reflects the current data to explain the development of homosexuality.”

. . .

"Boys who were sexually abused were, in fact, seven times more likely to label themselves bisexual or homosexual. What might this suggest about a pathway that could lead to adult homosexuality? Bailey does not speculate. He does note that "Gay men are more likely than straight men to have had homosexual experiences in childhood and early adolescence." (p. 112), but surprisingly, he does not suggest that such experiences might influence sexual identity development."

. . .

The evidence for a biological theory of homosexuality has been essentially discarded and discredited. The research attempts by the gay activist researchers to show that homosexuality is biologically determined have failed. What is clear is that a bio-psychosocial model best fits the data for non-heterosexual attractions and behavior.

All behavior, of course, ultimately has a biological substrate. The best theories and research available indicate that homosexuality, transgenderism, and all of its variants are likely polygenic and multifactorial in origin. Moreover, what is even clearer is that sexual attractions are fluid; and though individuals do not consciously choose their attractions, how they respond to those attractions does involve a choice. It's called "patient self-determination," and it is the cornerstone of the helping professions.

. . .

Greater risk for certain forms of mental illness

Recent research published in the Archives of General Psychiatry reported that people engaging in homosexual behaviors were at greater risk for certain forms of mental illness. And Bailey correctly noted that this was not likely due to society's treatment of homosexuals (so-called "homophobia") because a similar, more robust study was conducted in The Netherlands -- probably the most gay-affirming country in the world--yet it had similar results.

. . .

Gay Promiscuity is Just Normal, Male Behavior

Bailey accurately quotes the CDC statistics of 1981: "AIDS patients with an average age of 35 years reported an average of 60 sex partners per year, or approximately 1000 lifetime partners" and he notes the gasps from his students at Northwestern University when gay panelists confess that they have had hundreds of sexual partners (p. 86).

. . .

Longterm Relationships Are Non-Monogamous

Thus Bailey is not surprised by the research from McWhirter and Mattison, which concluded the following about homosexual men: "Most [couples] became nonexclusive within a year, and all were non-monogamous within five years. This pattern occurs even as partners become increasingly committed to each other in other ways-emotionally and financially, for example" (p. 90).