It amazes me how many apparently intelligent people regard homosexuality a choice. Given the treatment gays endure, who would choose being gay? Why would anyone choose being gay then spend years in the closet? I never chose being straight. Did you? Nobody chooses whether or not to be sexually aroused by the sight of someone entering the room. Either we are aroused or we’re not. Sexual arousal is a reflex, not a choice.
I assumed homosexuality was a genetic mix-up – some combination of genes that occurs occasionally. I figured scientists would sort it out someday fairly soon and once-and-for-all debunk the queer notion that being gay is a choice. But something exciting has changed my thinking.
I recently heard that homosexuality is caused by a mix-up, not in the genes, but rather regarding testosterone received by the fetus. Three drops of testosterone pass through the placenta during fetal development. When the amount or timing of those three drops varies, it effects the sexual orientation of the fetus.
Apparently the first clue was several studies showing younger siblings more likely to be gay. The mother’s age wasn’t a factor, so it pointed to a variation in the womb, one growing more likely to occur with each pregnancy. Research has revealed those three drops of testosterone to be the answer.
If we know this to any degree of certainty, why hasn’t it made the headlines? Shout it from the rooftops! Haven’t gays suffered long enough at the hands of those insisting that their sexual orientation is of their own choosing? Here, finally, is proof that it is not. That’s the good news. The bad news is that this knowledge is the key to a Pandora’s box.
Knowing the cause, how long till we learn the solution? A year? Five years? Perhaps you test the fluid in the placenta on the 53rd day and add a drop of testosterone if necessary. Do the same on days 66 and 71 and your child is guaranteed to be as straight as an arrow. It’s likely not quite that simple, but we can most certainly figure it out and make the necessary changes. But do we want to?
Isn’t this the point at which we say no? Even those religious folks who decry homosexuality so strong and loudly must say no, that it’s God’s design and we must not alter it. He does not make mistakes.
Anyone needing nonsectarian reasons to say no, must only imagine a world of very masculine men and very feminine women. Such a homogeneous society seems more appalling than appealing.
We are all varying mixes of masculinity and femininity. Most importantly we need the greatest variety of individuals we can get to be the strongest society we can be. Who knows what the makeup of our next brilliant planet-saving scientist will be? What if we add a single drop of testosterone to his/her fetus on the 53rd day, so he/she becomes a professional wrestler or happy homemaker, not a scientist? Thus does our homophobia cause this planet to parish.
Clearly just learning about the biological cause of homosexuality should hasten the eradication of the homophobia malady. However by continuing to pursue this line of research we may find the key to a much more serious puzzle – pedophilia. Might it be possible that by adjusting when a drop of testosterone is introduced to the fetus we could prevent pedophilia? It seems so to me.
Of course homosexuality and pedophilia are quite different. I know that gays bristle at any comparisons, and rightly so. They are however, both variations in one’s sexual orientation, so it truly seems likely that their root causes might be closely related.
I can't see us having any compunction about preventing pedophilia if and when that becomes possible. But what if we become able to identify -- but not cure -- pedophiles when they are in the fetal stage? Should we allow, encourage or even require parents to abort them?
It's difficult to imagine a much thornier issue than this, but the time is nearing when science will make some very tough decisions necessary.

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