Science doesn’t show that gay and transgender people are “born that way,” two prominent researchers have concluded in a report released Monday that is likely to churn up controversy.
The 144-page report, published in the quarterly journal the New Atlantis, seeks to overturn prevailing notions that sexual orientation is innate and that a person’s gender identity can be different than a person’s biological sex.
After reviewing dozens of studies, Johns Hopkins psychiatry professor Paul McHugh and Arizona State University statistics professor Lawrence Mayer concluded there are no compelling biological explanations for why someone might identify as gay or transgender.
“Examining research from the biological, psychological and social sciences, this report shows that some of the most frequently heard claims about sexuality and gender are not supported by scientific evidence,” the researchers wrote.
McHugh and Mayer also looked at studies on mental health among LGBT populations, concluding that gay and transgender people experience higher rates of mental health problems, some of which, but not all, stem from discrimination and stigma. Sex-reassigned individuals particularly have higher risk for mental health problems, with a suicide rate 19 times greater than the general population, the researchers wrote.
McHugh and Mayer stressed the potential effects on children who are encouraged to embrace their cross-gender identity. While some children might experience better psychological well-being if they’re encouraged to embrace cross-gender identification, there’s a lack of scientific research showing all children should be pointed that direction, they found.
The findings should cause health providers to re-evaluate how they treat children who do not identify as their biological sex, the researchers wrote.
The study is likely to stoke the controversy over how transgender people should be treated. Last week, the federal government issued a rule saying people must be allowed to use the bathroom in federal buildings that matches their gender identity. A number of states have sought to pass laws requiring people to use the bathroom appropriate for their biological sex.
It also challenges views that sexual orientation is biologically determined. While McHugh and Mayer acknowledged evidence that certain factors such as genes and hormones are associated with sexual behaviors and attractions, they concluded that science hasn’t found a “compelling” biological cause for sexual orientation.
Polls show people are evenly split over whether sexual orientation is biologically determined or a choice people make.
McHugh and Mayer acknowledged that their conclusions about such highly charged topics are likely to “elicit spirited responses,” but wrote that “we welcome them.”
Their work, they conclude, suggests “there is a great chasm between much of the public discourse and what science has shown.”
“Thoughtful scientific research and careful, circumspect interpretation of its results can advance our understanding of sexual orientation and gender identity,” McHugh and Mayer wrote.
The report was published by the New Atlantis, a journal published quarterly by the Center for the Study of Technology and Society and the Ethics and Public Policy Center.
