The Mystique of the Phantom "Gay Gene"
By Philip L. Bereano,
Seattle Times
| 02. 26. 1996
"If homosexuality is inherited, shouldn't it have died
out by now?"- two women talking in a New Yorker cartoon.
Last October 10th the US Supreme Court heard arguments in the
case of Romer v Evans, concerning Amendment 2 to the Colorado
Constitution, adopted by referendum, which would bar all state
and local laws protecting homosexuals from discrimination. The
courts in Colorado had thrown out the Amendment by claiming
that it infringed on the "fundamental right to participate
equally in the political process" by "fencing out
an independently identifiable class of persons" without
showing that the amendment "support(ed) a compelling state
interest" and was "narrowly tailored to meet that
interest."
In the proceedings in the lower Colorado courts, one of the
witnesses was a Federal scientist, Dean Hamer, who testified
that homosexuality was a genetically caused, rather than a cultural
or chosen, behavior. He was put on the stand by gay rights activists
trying to utilize language of an earlier Supreme Court case
which suggested that government's ability to protect a group
of people from discrimination might somehow be linked to...
Related Articles
By Annika Inampudi, Science | 08.01.2025
In June, Sara* received a message asking whether she wanted to continue to participate in a massive, multicenter research project led by scientists at Aarhus University in Denmark. The iPsych study, the message said, had sequenced her genetic data from...
The Center for Genetics and Society is delighted to recommend the current edition of GMWatch Review – Number 589. UK-based GMWatch, a long-standing ally, was founded in 1998 by Jonathan Matthews as an independent organization seeking to counter the enormous corporate political power and propaganda of the GMO industry and its supporters. Matthews and Claire Robinson are its directors and managing editors.
CGS works to ensure that social justice, equity, human rights, and democratic governance are front...
By Katherine Drabiak, Journal of Medical Ethics Forum | 08.07.2025
Adapted from Mitochondrial DNA at
National Human Genome Research Institute
Recently, media outlets around the world have been reporting on children born from pronuclear genome transfer (sometimes called “3-parent IVF,” “mitochondrial donation” or “mitochondrial replacement therapy”) at Newcastle Fertility Center...
By Annika Inampudi, Science | 07.10.2025
Before a baby in the United States reaches a few days old, doctors will run biochemical tests on a few drops of their blood to catch certain genetic diseases that need immediate care to prevent brain damage or other serious...