Homosexual brain resembles that of opposite sex: study

does this mean that homosexuals are actually straight? and that only true homosexuals are straight people who choose to be homosexual? or rather does this science make some silly observations based on semantics and nebulous schemes of classifaction rather than science?

This would be in line with common sense -- which doesn't make the research any less valuable. As an aside, when using audio processing software, it has always interested me that lowering the playback rate of a distinctly female voice results in a voice which is like an exaggeration of what is identifiable as a homosexual male. I'd be curious as to how that is the case.

Huh? Zevkirsh, you appear to have completely reversed the meaning of this study. Flowcharting might help.

Translate: Certain genetic brain parts of gay men resemble those of straight WOMEN. Read: gay male part = straight FEMALE part.

Or, put differently, GAY male brains do not equal STRAIGHT male brains.

Thus, your comment makes no sense.

I think you missed zevkirsh' point, Jenk.

Zevkirsh is suggesting that gay men and lesbian women are "straight" because they have the brains of their counterparts, and really /should/ be attracted to the same sex (since their brains are those of the opposite.)

"True" gay people, would then be folks who have the brain of their sex but are still attracted to the same sex.

Regardless, it's interesting but not surprising. And whether one's sexual actions are biological or a personal preference, what's the difference? Let consenting adults be who they want to be and do what they want to do.

Well, okay, I think I see what Zevkirsh was meaning to say. It still doesn't make sense to me, though, because no one is suggesting that a gay man has a straight woman's brain, or that he is the same as "his counterpart", only that a tiny piece of his nervous system somewhat resembles hers by degrees. Be that as it may, he still is a man in quite a few rather obvious respects, which makes him unique and worthy of classification. (Likewise, a lesbian.)

(It should be noted here that the word "brain", as used in this article, is not a single organ which can be either female or male. Here it means some part of the upper nervous system, e.g., the diencephalon (thalamus, hypothalamus, etc.), cerebellum, cerebrum, mesencephalon (midbrain), and so on. As far as I know, the rest of a gay man's brain remains fully male, at least until proven otherwise.)

As for choice (i.e., normative issues), that's really the whole point of the story, isn't it? The researches believe, rightly or wrongly, that these specific areas of the brain are most likely shaped by genetics or other biological conditions. If they're correct, that's troubling for those who accept only a normative basis for this very persistent and curious expression of human sexuality.

There is less here than meets the eye... The article clearly suggests the "fight or flight" response could be localized in this area of the brain. The "warrior" or "hunter" would be evolutionarily advantaged by greater develop of this area of the brain. The structural differences may simply be reflecting the evolutionary history of the subjects, the men typically being out hunting/fighting and the women typically being home caring for the kids.

And note: this difference in behavior is not dictated by "archaic" social habits but by the very biological reality of the mammalian glans.

Certainly some women have experienced more stressful lives than some men, meaning that some women evolve more "man-like" brains. Likewise, some men have lived more laid-back lives over generations and have evolve more "woman-like" brains. This does not mean that the structural differences EXPLAIN or CAUSE homosexuality.

Certainly, the muscular strength inherited by the children of laborers, nor the "intelligence" inherited by the children of intellectuals, dictate the life-choices of those children.

We are faced here with another case of correlation (probably) without causation: the brain differences do not cause the homosexual behavior, but rather are (likely) caused by the same social (i.e. evolutionary) pressures that led to the sexual identity issues at the root of the homosexuality.

I take it for granted that our actions are a direct result of the workings of our brain. Of course a person who doesn't make identical decisions as another person has something different going on in their head -- and if you know how to look, you will see it in the brain. The brain's working are how our actions and decisions happen.

" the brain differences do not cause the homosexual behavior"

Well.. Yes it does, just as other brains cause heterosexual behavior. If not, then what does? It doesn't preclude any theories about how an individual's brain became a certain way, but it stands on its own.

"does this mean that homosexuals are actually straight? and that only true homosexuals are straight people who choose to be homosexual? "

No, because some people who haves penises are more attracted to people who have penises. And we already knew something different (however subtle or mundane) is going on in the brain to reach a different result. So where is the insight here?

Phew! At first I thought they discovered how to give gay men X-ray vision, like in the picture.

This would appear to mirror research done some considerable time ago by Geschwind and Galaburda.

It seems less straightforward when one also considers bisexual people and transsexual people, for whom sexuality does not correspond in any predictable way with gender identity.