LGBT Science
Simon LeVay is a British-born neuroscientist who has served on the faculties of Harvard Medical School and the Salk Institute for Biological Studies. He has written ten previous books, including the textbook Human Sexuality, the New York Times best-seller, When Science Goes Wrong, and Gay, Straight, and the Reason Why: The Science of Sexual Orientation. He made international headlines with his 1991 study showing that INAH3 region of the hypothalamus was different in gay and straight men. LeVay graduated from Harvard Medical School in 1974.
Dr. Milton Diamond
Dr. Milton Diamond is an expert on human sexuality and a researcher with the University of Hawaii. He is the Director of the Pacific Center for Sex and Society. He is widely known for the John/Joan case, where he followed up on David Reimer, a boy raised as a girl after he lost his penis in a failed circumcision. He tracked down the adult Reimer and found that efforts to turn him into a girl had not worked as was falsely reported in the scientific literature. This case has become one of the most cited in all if psychiatry. Dr. Diamond graduated from University of Kansas in 1962 with a Ph.D. in anatomy and psychology.
Dr. Eric Vilain, M.D. is a Professor of Human Genetics, Pediatrics and Urology at UCLA, and the Director of the Institute for Society and Genetics. He is also Chief of Medical Genetics, and an attending physician in the Department of Pediatrics. His laboratory explores the genetics of sexual development and sex differences, focusing on the molecular mechanisms of gonad development, as well as on the genetic determinants of brain sexual differentiation. An internationally renowned expert in the field of gender-based biology, he has identified a large number of mutations in sex-determining genes, developed animal models with atypical sexual development, and identified novel mechanisms of sex differences in the brain. Dr. Vilain received his Ph.D. from the Pasteur Institute and his MD from Faculté de Médecine Necker – Enfants Malades
Researchers have turned to biological ideas about sexual orientation because other theories have failed to provide persuasive explanations. In addition, however, biological research has advanced to the point where it can offer ideas about the development of traits that used to fall squarely within the province of psychology.Dr. Simon LeVay
Dr. Lisa Diamond is a Professor of Psychology and Gender Studies at University of Utah. She is an expert on human sexuality. In 2008, she published a groundbreaking study, Sexual Fluidity: Understanding Women’s Love and Desire. Diamond received her Ph.D., in 1999 from Cornell University.
Ken Zucker is the lead psychologist at Toronto’s Centre for Addiction and Mental Health. He received his Ph.D. from University of Toronto in 1982.
he transgender population is an integral part of the LGBT community. From the beginning, they have played an outsized role in our fight for equality, and were key participants in Stonewall, the 1969 Greenwich Village rebellion that ushered in the modern LGBT movement.
According to the Williams Institute, the transgender community is 0.3 percent of the population, or 700,000 Americans. There are currently seventeen states and the District of Columbia that prohibit job discrimination based on gender identity. A ruling by the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission is also worth noting. According to the Human Rights Campaign, the nation’s largest LGBT organization:
According to the Williams Institute, the transgender community is 0.3 percent of the population, or 700,000 Americans. There are currently seventeen states and the District of Columbia that prohibit job discrimination based on gender identity. A ruling by the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission is also worth noting. According to the Human Rights Campaign, the nation’s largest LGBT organization:
In April 2012 the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) issued a landmark ruling in Macy v. Holder. In that case a transgender woman disclosed that she was in the process of transitioning from male to female, and as a result was denied employment at a federal agency. The EEOC held that discrimination based on a person’s gender non-conformity, transgender status, or plan to transition constitutes unlawful sex discrimination under Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964. This ruling built on a string of cases throughout the country in which courts held that discrimination against transgender employees constitutes sex discrimination under Title VII.
Macy established the EEOC’s official position on discrimination against transgender individuals under Title VII and is binding on federal agencies. However, Macy is not directly binding on courts ruling on discrimination in the private sector.
Ray Blanchard is a researcher at the University of Toronto’s School of Psychiatry. He is known for conducting studies that proved the more older brothers a boy has, the more likely he will be gay. Blanchard received his Ph.D. from the University of Illinois in 1973.
Allen Rosenthal is a senior researcher at Northwestern University in Evanston. He led a major 2011 study on bisexuality.
Bisexuals are one of the most misunderstood groups in America.
One factor that plays into this are gay people who claim to be bisexual in hopes of mitigating the sting of coming out. By asserting not to be exclusively gay, it leaves the door open to heterosexuality and can help friends and family members ease into the idea that a loved one isn’t straight. However, when these gay people eventually do come out as 100-percent gay, it makes it appear as if bisexuality doesn’t really exist or it is simply a transitory phase.
One factor that plays into this are gay people who claim to be bisexual in hopes of mitigating the sting of coming out. By asserting not to be exclusively gay, it leaves the door open to heterosexuality and can help friends and family members ease into the idea that a loved one isn’t straight. However, when these gay people eventually do come out as 100-percent gay, it makes it appear as if bisexuality doesn’t really exist or it is simply a transitory phase.
Dr. Alice Dreger is a professor of clinical medical humanities and bioethics at Northwestern University’s Feinberg School of Medicine. She is a historian and author who has written for The New York Times, The Wall Street Journal, and The Washington Post. A fellowship recipient of the John Simon Guggenheim Memorial Foundation, Dreger is internationally recognized as an expert on sex anomalies, conjoined twinning, and contemporary scientific controversies.
Dr. Marc Breedlove is the Rosenberg Professor of Neuroscience at Michigan State University in East Lansing, MI. He is recognized as one of the world’s leading experts on human sexuality. He received his B.A. in psychology from Yale University in 1976 and his Ph.D. in physiological psychology from UCLA in 1982.
J. Michael Bailey is a Professor in the Department of Psychology at Northwestern University in Evanston. He is a behavioral geneticist known for conducting key twin studies that show a genetic basis for sexual orientation.
Dr. Dean Hamer was an independent researcher at the National Institutes of Health for 35 years, where he directed the Gene Structure and Regulation Section at the U.S. National Cancer Institute. In 1993, he published a landmark paper showing that the Xq28 marker on the X chromosome was linked to homosexuality. Dr. Hamer received his Ph.D. from Harvard Medical School.
Dr. Alan Sanders is a Clinical Associate Professor of Psychiatry at Northwestern University at Evanston. He is conducting a large-scale study with gay brothers. His research confirms an earlier finding by Dr. Dean Hamer, which linked the Xq28 genetic marker for homosexuality to the X chromosome.
Dr. Charles Roselli is a scientist at Oregon Health & Science University in the Department of Physiology and Pharmacology. He is known for his groundbreaking research showing a homosexual orientation in rams. Roselli received his Ph.D. from Hahnemann University in 1981.
Leading scientists who research human sexuality strongly believe that genes play a key role in the development of sexual orientation.
“There is plenty of evidence that genes play a role in the development of sexual orientation,” said Dr. Marc Breedlove, a Rosenberg Professor of Neuroscience at Michigan State University. “I don’t know of any reputable scientists who are working on this who don’t agree on that. There is not even any controversy on this among scientists. Of course, genes influence sexual orientation.”
Erick Janssen is Senior Scientist & Director of Education & Research Training at The Kinsey Institute, which is based at Indiana University in Bloomington. Dr. Janssen’s research interests include the determinants of sexual desire and arousal, the effects of emotions on sexual response and behavior, and sexuality and relationships. In 2011, he conducted a major study, “Patterns of sexual arousal in homosexual, bisexual, and heterosexual men.” Janssen received his Ph.D., at Universiteit van Amsterdam (The Netherlands), 1995.
Biological Factors
I don’t know of published scientists who come out and say that there is no evidence for any biological influence on sexual orientation. I have not met any. So, I think we’re in the realm here of there is a lot of evidence for biological influence. And still a lot to do in understanding how it works.Dr. Eric Vilain, UCLA, Professor of Human Genetics
Dr. Carolyn Wolf-Gould, MD is a family doctor practicing in Oneonta, NY. One of her specialties is working with transgender individuals. Dr. Wolf-Gould graduated from Yale University School of Medicine.
The American Psychiatric Association in its position statement on Psychiatric Treatment and Sexual Orientation states: “The potential risks of ‘reparative therapy’ are great, including depression, anxiety and self destructive behavior, since therapist alignment with societal prejudices against homosexuality may reinforce self hatred already experienced by the patient. Many patients who have undergone ‘reparative therapy’ relate that they were inaccurately told that homosexuals are lonely, unhappy individuals who never achieve acceptance or satisfaction. The possibility that the person might achieve happiness and satisfying interpersonal relationships as a gay man or lesbian is not presented, nor are alternative approaches to dealing with the effects of societal stigmatization discussed.”
Dogs aren’t born mooing, and people aren’t born gay.Focus on the Family
Dr. Dennis McFadden was a faculty member at University of Texas at Austin’s Department of Psychology from 1967 until his retirement as Professor Emeritus in early 2011. He has published over 100 research papers and two books on various topics on hearing. His groundbreaking research discovered subtle variations in the inner ears of lesbians and bisexual women, demonstrating that they may have been masculinized by prenatal exposure to male sex hormones. Dr. McFadden graduated from Indiana University in 1967.