Oprah: Multiple Gay Siblings

[lokibrand]

I remember reading about this and something stuck out that none of you guys mentioned. Apparently, the correlation only holds for Right Handed younger brothers, there was no correlation with left-handed subjects. Isn't that wacky? Anyway, i was just wondering if any of you guys who are challenging the theory through personal experience had left-handed siblings. Though i would like to reiterate madame zora's point that one counter example doesn't disprove an entire theory

The study also said that the correlation held just as strong for brothers that weren't raised in the same household. So, im thinkin there could be something to it. Just my opinion, for what it's worth

 

[cocktailweenie]

I read somewhere that showed that if one pair of identical twins is gay then there is a 50% chance that the other will be also. This is a much higher correlation than for ordinary twins.

 

[earllogjam]

I believe she only has (had, actually, as he is deceased) one gay sibling.

Do you mean Oprah? Isn't her beau, Steadman gay?

 

[rob_just_rob]

Do you mean Oprah? Isn't her beau, Steadman gay?

I just checked wikipedia for siblings.

 

[Skootavi]

I have a good friend who is a lesbian. She has 8 siblings and only 1 sibling is hetero. I've gone to family functions with her and have noticed that there are several gay family members (cousins, uncles, aunts, nieces, nephews).
Could be genetic.

She also has a gay sister that was impregnated by a gay man and the son is totally straight.

things to make you say hmmmm!

 

[Wrey]

I think this another example of the fact that we, as humans, want for these answers to be as easy as either Choice A or Choice B. Research into genetics is constantly showing us that those things we once thought were simple, single alelle traits, are in fact multi-alellic and subject to many factors other than just the genetic code.

BTW, I come from a family with just two children, both us are gay. My family tree is just riddled with lavender leaves. Does knowing what makes our family so gay heighten or lessen our gayness? Not really.

 

[Principessa]

Yesterday I was watching Oprah, whose episode focused on siblings. She had one family on that had 4 gay brothers out of 8 siblings (5 brothers, 3 sisters).

Does this support the fact that homosexuality is genetic (not a choice) or what. I just thought it was interesting.

I haven't read the scientific data but I have always believed that homosexuality was genetic and that people were born gay and not made gay. The concept of being made gay is just silly to me, it makes no sense.

Heredity? I am inclined to believe it to be so, however, it has yet to be revealed if it is a dominant or recessive gene.

I dread the day some research scientist figures out whether it is a recessive or dominant gene! Why? When scientists look for the cause of something it is usually so that they can change or eradicate it. I love my gay friends dearly, I don't want someone to figure out why they are the way they are so that we have no gay people in the future.

Well, there is a huge theory out there now about homosexuality being caused my a certain gene that the father carries, and that as he gets older and as he has more male children, the gene weakens and that's what causes men to be gay. So if the one straight boy was also the straight boy, it could help to prove that theory if nothing else. My uncle is gay, he has 3 older brothers. My brother is gay, he has 2 older brothers. My great uncle was also gay, and he had one older brother. So who knows Interesting theory, but that's just your family. I would find it quite bizarre if that were true worldwide.

I think there are several men out there who do it for more emotional reasons, not because they are actually that way. I remember that in my high school, it was the latest trend to be bisexual... Speaking as someone over 40, I remember hearing & reading about that trend because it was nationwide and thinking WHAT THE FUCK IS WRONG WITH YOU KIDS?!?!? :smile: Sorry, I just had a Bye, Bye Birdie flashback. since then, almost all of the bisexual people that I went to school with and still talk to consider themselves straight. They said it was just a "phase". So there are a lot of other factors to consider.

Do you mean Oprah? Isn't her beau, Steadman gay?

I don't think Stedman is gay, he's just a wuss. Al Reynolds on the other hand is a big Mary.

 

[madame_zora]

I was the last I checked.

What confuses so many are those two humorless marriages I went through. Now, it could be argued that Tweedle Shriek and Tweedle Scream were beneficial in the long run as it did bring about 3 children. However--I'm a queer. Deep down I always knew it, I just didn't know what homosexuality was--oddly we never discussed that sort of possibility at home, so marriage it was. I do not consider myself bisexual either, since sex with the women always involved mental images in my brain of men.

Onslow, you are most certainly not alone. There would be no way to get actual statistics on this, but as a point of curiousity, I honestly do wonder how many men who should really never have married women (because of lack of attraction) have done so anyway, stayed married because they never came to grips with who they were, and died, no one the wiser.

I think it will take a few generations AFTER we get past the social stigma before any kind of data gathering will really mean much, because (I believe) many who consider themselves straight at this time, do so because they are forcing themselves into a role that doesn't really fit all that well, but they are unwilling to take on the social stigma of being a queer. Who could blame them? Our society is pretty cruel to those who don't comfortably fit the norms.