What biology can teach us about same-sex sexual behavior
If I had a nickel for every time a homophobic individual has stated to me “there is no scientific evidence for ...” -- while being blatantly incorrect -- I’d be a fairly wealthy man. That's why I built a visual infographic describing some of the latest research on the scientific basis behind queer identities, as an educational resource to inform about what is actually known about queer biology.
This infographic will cover a few different topics, but will primarily focus on a recent publication – Ganna et al. 2019 – a large-scale genome-wide association study (GWAS) on genetic and environmental factors that correlate with individuals who engage in same-sex sexual behavior. The findings are an enlightening foray into LGBTQ+ identities.
Discussing these has never been more important.
As a Jewish Queer individual, I can’t help but see parallelism between the current political scapegoating of LGBTQ+ individuals, especially those that identify as transgender, and the way Jews and other minorities were targeted leading up to WWII.
Providing clear accurate information about the LGBTQ+ community is the first step in showing the world that there is nothing to fear from the behavioral differences of strangers, and I hope to contribute to that.
As a Queer person pursuing a Ph.D. in biology from a top-tier institution, I am in a position to comprehensively explain all the pertinent scientific information, while still being considerate of the queer community. The concluding portion of the infographic will cover the difficulties of performing this type of research in the first place (socially, politically, and scientifically) as commentary on how there is both real research on these queer identities, but also many practical problems preventing comprehensive study.
