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Friday, June 24, 2005
LONDON — In a newly published book, scientists
in Britain say being gay is just the way some people are born, the U.K. Guardian
reported. “Born Gay: The Psychobiology of Sexual Orientation” looks
at 15 years of research as to why people are gay, according to the Guardian. The
authors, Qazi Rahman, a psychobiologist at the University of East London, and
Glenn Wilson, a personality specialist at the University of London, conclude that
sexuality is biologically defined, according to the newspaper. Rahman said the
book is the first to put together a number of studies that show physical differences
in the brain between gay and straight men, the newspaper reported. “There’s
the classical gay man with a smothering mother and distant father idea —
which comes from Freud’s oedipal complex theories,” Rahman told EducationGuardian.co.uk.
“For most of us scientific psychologists, Freud’s theory is like astrology
to a physicist. In other words, it’s rubbish. Gay and straight men don’t
differ in their relationships with their parents. Where they do it might be put
down to the fact that if you’re a biologically gay boy, you are more likely
to be feminine. You might well expect that fathers are not too happy. And mothers
seek to protect.”
CORVALLIS, Ore. — A group of sheep at Oregon
State University may help give scientists more insight into the origins of sexual
orientation, the Seattle Times reported. Among the herd is a group of rams that
researchers call “male-oriented,” who ignore females and become
amorous to members of their own sex, according to the Times. Researcher Charles
Roselli of the Oregon Health and Science University School of Medicine in Portland
told the newspaper that a decade of study has shown that sexual orientation
is set in the sheep’s brains before birth. At this point, Roselli is trying
to discover how that happens, focusing on genes and hormones and hoping to engineer
the birth of gay rams by altering conditions in the womb, the Times reported.
The Oregon research is part of a growing body of scientific evidence that shows
that sexual orientation is biologically determined, the newspaper noted.
DUBLIN — Although figures published last
week show that new HIV infections in Ireland dropped by 11 percent last year,
government officials are being warned to continue aggressive efforts to prevent
the spread of the virus that causes AIDS, according to news reports. Professor
William Powderly of UCD, a specialist on HIV, speaking at a major conference
in Dublin, said the drop in new cases shows a stabilization in the spread of
HIV rather than a significant drop in cases, news outlets reported. “We’re
seeing new cases in every group, we’re seeing new cases in gay men, we’re
seeing new cases in heterosexual transmission in Ireland and we’re seeing
new cases in immigrants from countries where HIV is very prevalent,” Powderly
told reporters.
SAN FRANCISCO (AP) — Researchers here want
to talk about sex, and not just the naughty bits. Academics, social scientists
and policy makers from around the world are gathering this week at San Francisco
State University for a conference on human sexuality and the “moral panics”
caused by such charged topics as homosexuality, abortion and sex education.
And while there’s plenty of talk about Hollywood, masturbation and all
topics titillating, the premise is that ignorance and intolerance about sex
have disastrous consequences — whether it’s an inadequate response
to AIDS, the stigma suffered by rape survivors or teenagers having unsafe sex.
“Better sexuality education will raise public knowledge and lead to positive
public policy,” said Gilbert Herdt, director of the National Sexuality
Resource Center based at San Francisco State.
CLEVELAND (AP) — It was tradition in Russell
Rich’s family that every Friday night his dad would take the kids to McDonald’s.
Rich recalls gazing through the window of the old-style McDonald’s —
the kind with the big golden arches and no indoor seating — and dreaming
of flipping burgers like the workers inside. He started working the cash register
at age 13 and put in 21 years with the hamburger giant, eventually becoming
a corporate manager. Then, he contends, he was pressured to resign in 1997 because
he has AIDS. Left without health insurance, Rich said he nearly died from the
illness. Rich, 41, of Akron, won a $5 million verdict in his discrimination
case against the burger chain in 2001.
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