Genetics and Human Behaviour: The Ethical Context
Background
10.1 There has always been considerable interest in biological explanations of homosexuality, as in other aspects of human behaviour. Until the 1970s, homosexuality was classified as a mental disorder in many Western countries, which meant that much research was aimed at developing ‘cures’ for the ‘disease’.(1) Today, the vast majority of countries do not classify homosexuality as a disease. Nevertheless, attitudes towards homosexuals are often negative, hostile and discriminatory. Homosexual behaviour remains illegal in over 40 countries across Africa, Asia, Europe, the Middle East and the Americas, and in some, it is punishable by death.(2) Even in those countries in which homosexuality is not illegal, it is often the case that homosexual couples are not awarded the same legal rights and recognition as heterosexual couples.
10.2 There remains considerable controversy about whether sexual orientation is a matter of choice and whether it is possible to change one’s sexual orientation. A recent Gallup poll conducted in June 2001 on Americans’ attitudes towards homosexuality asked ‘In your view, is homosexuality something a person is born with or is homosexuality due to other factors such as upbringing or environment?’ 40% of respondents said that it was something a person was born with, while 39% felt that it was the result of environmental factors. This was the first time that opinion had been equally split since the first poll in 1977, at which time the respective figures were 13% and 56%. During the period 1977–2001, there was also a gradual increase in adherence to the belief that homosexuality is an acceptable alternative lifestyle, though approximately half of those questioned in 2001 still thought it was not. Various polls have shown that people who believe homosexual orientation cannot be changed, is biologically based or is not a choice are more likely also to believe that there should not be social or criminal sanctions against homosexual behaviour.(3)
Footnotes1 Most countries use one of two classification and diagnostic systems for psychiatric illness: the Diagnostic Statistical Manual for Mental Disorders (DSM), published by the American Psychiatric Association, or the International Classifications of Diseases, Mental Disorders Section (ICD). Homosexuality was removed from the DSM in 1973. A new ‘disorder’ of ego-dystonic homosexuality was included in the 3rd edition in 1980 but was removed six years later after considerable criticism. Homosexuality was included as a psychiatric disorder in the ICD until the publication of its 10th edition in 1993.
2 The International Lesbian and Gay Association. (September 1999). International Lesbian and Gay Association World Legal Survey 1999. http://www.ilga.org/Information/Legal_survey/ilga_world_legal_survey%20introduction.htm. (9 August 2002).
3 See, for example, Whitley, B. E., Jr. (1990). The relationship of heterosexuals' attributions for the causes of homosexuality to attitudes toward lesbians and gay men. Pers. Soc. Psychol. B. 16, 369–77; Piskur, J. & Degelman, D. (1992). Effect of reading a summary of research about biological bases of homosexual orientation on attitudes toward homosexuals. Psychol. Report. 71, 1219–25.