sensenbender (imported) wrote: Mon Jul 19, 2010 11:09 pm
Problem with this part of your theory, for me anyway, is that a gene is a gene and having more gay genes or less wouldn't make you more gay or less. True that 'gayness' follows a spectrum from mostly straight to mostly gay with most people somewhere in between toward the straight end of the spectrum. But how could a 'gay gene' survive for thousands of years (hundreds of thousands in fact) if it exists at all? It would have been bred out of the species by now wouldn't it? Homosexuality seems to just be a feature of the organism not necessarily controlled by a specific gene.
If there is one or more gay genes it would not necessarily have been bred out of the gene pool if the product of that gene was evolutionarily better off and added value to the gene pool through qualities such as intelligence or whatever. If in a family group that has gay gene A but this gene does not always result in homosexuality, and higher intelligence possibly

, but the existence of that member of the group improves the survivability of the group who can then pass on that gene.
Also, except for the exclusively homosexual, which until relatively recently was rare as there were often social pressures to be a breeder the gene would still be passed on, particularly if the person with that gene had a better survivability because of that gene.
In one sense, evolution is not about the survival of the individual but also survival of the gene through improving its chances to be passed along sufficiently.
Thats my two cents worth. Please be gentle in your taking it apart.
