Tankestörningar

Uganda använder felaktiga tolkningar av vetenskap som ursäkt för att förfälja HBTQ-personer.

Niklas Långström

OUR RESEARCH AT THE KAROLINSKA INSTITUTE MISUSED AND MISINTERPRETED BY UGANDAN PRESIDENT TO DEFEND DISGRACEFUL ANTI-HOMOSEXUALITY LAW.

According to Ugandan newspaper Daily Monitor’s digital version, President Museveni said in his Monday 24th speech: “…studies (…) on identical twins in Sweden showed that 34% – 39% were homosexual on account of nature and 66% were homosexual on account of nurture. (…) Therefore, even in those studies, nurture was more significant than nature”

MY COMMENT: First, research on the causes of sexual orientation should not be used at all as arguments for passing unacceptable, non-democratic legislation.

Further, this is factually entirely incorrect. Regrettably, President Museveni’s improper interpretation is used to justify the unacceptable anti-homosexuality law. Overall, this is complete misuse of a 2010 study published in the Archives of Sexual Behavior by me and colleagues “Genetic and environmental effects on same-sex sexual behavior: a population study of twins in Sweden.”

Our study addressed how genetic and environmental factors contribute to partnered human sexual behavior. The correct intrepretation of the first cited percentage above [34%-39%] is that it expresses the OVERALL proportion of variance in same-sex sexual experiences [OR the opposite; no same-sex sexual experiences] explained by genetic effects in the ENTIRE sample of adult twins in Sweden. The second percentage [66%] provides the OVERALL proportion of variance accounted for by unique environmental factors.
Figures for females presented in our paper were not cited.

The President continues: “Can somebody be homosexual purely by nature without nurture? The answer is: “No”. No study has shown that”.

MY COMMENT: This does not make sense; available data are not consistent with that conclusion.

Again, the President proceeds: “Since nurture is the main cause of homosexuality, then society can do something about it to discourage the trends. That is why I have agreed to sign the Bill.”

MY COMMENT: Our study clearly indicated that the environment shared by male twins in Sweden [culture, common upbringing] had 0 [zero] effect. Conversely, 61-66% of the variability in sexual orientation across the entire sample was explained by non-shared [unique] environment that included individual, twin-specific biological experiences [such as intrauterine milieu, birth complications, infections, head trauma, substance misuse] and social experiences [twin-specific upbringing, peer influences etc.] and measurement error.

To summarize, we used data from a population-based 2005-2006 survey of all adult twins [20-47 years] in Sweden for a large twin study of same-sex sexual behavior [not self-defined homosexual/bisexual/heterosexual identity]. Twin resemblance was moderate for the 3,826 studied identical and fraternal same-sex twin pairs. Biometric modeling revealed that, in men, genetic effects explained 34-39% of the variance, the shared environment 0%, and the individual-specific environment 61-66% of the variance. Corresponding estimates among women were 18-19% for genetic factors, 16-17% for shared environmental, and 64-66% for unique environmental factors. We concluded that the results were consistent with moderate, primarily genetic, familial effects, and moderate to large effects of the nonshared environment [social and biological] on same-sex sexual behavior.

Any attempts to “treat” or convert individuals with homosexual or bisexual orientation into heterosexuals is unethical. Finally, as a side comment, the assumption that strong or exclusive genetic influences would make any behavior impossible to affect through interventions via the environment [genetic determinism] is not correct.

NOTE: The paper can be downloaded for free from ResearchGate. Långström N., Rahman Q., Carlström E., & Lichtenstein P. (2010). Genetic and environmental effects on same-sex sexual behavior: A population study of twins in Sweden. Archives of Sexual Behavior, 39, 75-80.