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DRoseDARs
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"My god, it's full of peas..."
Jul 2002
time: 21:23
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Gay Sheep May Help Explain Biology of Homosexuals
Mon Nov 4, 1:43 PM ET
By Maggie Fox, Health and Science Correspondent
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Gay sheep that mate only with other rams have different brain structures from "straight" sheep, a finding that may shed light on human sexuality, U.S. researchers said on Monday.
The differences are similar to those seen in some homosexual humans, but probably only go a small way to explaining the causes of different sexual preferences, the team at Oregon Health & Science University said.
"We are not trying to explain human sexuality by this study," Charles Roselli, a professor of physiology and pharmacology who led the study, said in a telephone interview. "Whether this is a big component of what contributes in humans, that's still debatable."
Working with a team at the U.S. Department of Agriculture (news - web sites)'s Sheep Experiment Station in Dubois, Idaho, Roselli's team studied 27 sheep -- 10 ewes, nine rams that mated only with other rams and eight rams that mated only with females.
The "gay" sheep are strongly homosexual, Roselli said.
"They don't pair-bond," he said. "But they are exclusive. They don't court or mate with females. They only court and mate with males."
First the scientists watched the sheep to be sure of their behavior -- something that cannot be done with humans. Then they took apart their brains.
"There had been reports in humans that a certain area of the hypothalamus, the preoptic area ... was usually larger in males than females," Roselli said. This area was also found to be larger in heterosexual humans than in homosexual men.
But the researchers had used the brains of men who had died of AIDS (news - web sites) in their study, which meant the disease or drugs used to treat it could have had an effect on the brain.
"With an animal model you can be more selective and do more controlled studies," Roselli said.
The sheep had similar differences in their brains, the researchers told a meeting in Orlando, Florida, of the Society for Neuroscience.
"In a sense we confirmed what been found in humans," Roselli said.
The brain cells in this area also made greater amounts of an enzyme called aromatase in the heterosexual rams. Aromatase is involved in the action of testosterone, the so-called male hormone.
This does not mean the gay rams had less testosterone in their brains, Roselli stressed. "It is not necessarily the activational effect of the hormone," he said. Other types of neurons are probably active -- they just have not found them yet.
No differences in testosterone relating to sexuality have been found either in the sheep or in humans, he said.
"It's not that gay men have lower levels of testosterone," he said. "And it's not the case with these sheep."
Roselli believes that exposure to hormones while still in the mother's womb may affect the brain and cause differences in sexual preference, and more experiments will aim to show whether this is true.
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Although I do find this interesting and informative, my problem is that some people of the NAZI RELIGIOUS FREAK persuasion (not to be confused with the honest, descent people of faith who aren't filled with hate and spiteful of their fellow (hu)man that doesn't fit into their perfect little mold) will make an association between gays and goats (<- which are often symbolically associated with Satan and other devilish stuff). I can see them braying, "THERE!!! SEE, SEE?!?! THE QUEERS ARE DEVIL SPAWN!!! THEY'RE JUST LIKE SATAN'S HOOVEN DEMONS!!!" Yes, I know, sheep are not goats, but everyone knows that passionate people don't let the facts get in the way of their opinions... 
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Capt Dizle
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quote:
Originally posted by Boddington's
Something happening in nature doesn't automatically make it natural. |
This makes perfect sense to me.
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Capt Dizle
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I suppose that this study is laying the foundation for declaring homosexuals mentally ill.
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DRoseDARs
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"My god, it's full of peas..."
Jul 2002
time: 21:23
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quote:
Originally posted by CyberShy
quote:
Wouldn't suprise me if the ultra-conservatives start pushing for a re-reversal of the APA's position based on this and future studies sure to follow... |
Why be mad at people who want to study the possibility of mental illness behind homosexuality?
It's like you want to forbid other opinions, and want to close any scientific research that might come with other conclusions than the one you prefer.
If they want to study it, let them study it. It's their right, and it's the only way science can work.
About satanism and goats: this thread ID = 66606 ! |
Because, CyberShy, they'd be pushing for all the wrong reasons: religion, religion, religion. Plus, funny things happen when someone is considered "mentally ill." Other people begin treating them like invalids, incapable of living independant, healthy, happy lives. Usually they get institutionalized, drugged, or both.
As I indicated in the top post, I have nothing against (UNBIASED AND SCIENTIFIC) studies on homosexuality, but there is a grave risk of the effort being misused or misdirected.
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Boris Godunov
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Portland, OR
Aug 2001
time: 00:23
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quote:
Originally posted by CyberShy
Much animal males 'sodomise' other males of the group to show their superiority above them. It used to happen in old civilizations as well, that the king 'sodomized' new slaves to show his power above them.
We can have a cute discussion on how human homosexuality compares to this behavior  |
Except the articles says:
"Working with a team at the U.S. Department of Agriculture (news - web sites)'s Sheep Experiment Station in Dubois, Idaho, Roselli's team studied 27 sheep -- 10 ewes, nine rams that mated only with other rams and eight rams that mated only with females."
This doesn't bolster your argument, as the rams were exclusively homosexual in their couplings. If they were out to show their superiority, they'd still be mating with the females.
And someone please define "natural" and "unnatural." Moral hypocrites like Bods like to through these terms around, but never can define them. I can come up with tons of "unnatural" behavior I'm sure everyone here has engaged in. In fact, I'm sure Spink would have a hard time explaining his late night self-pleasuring sessions by such standards.
quote:
Something that SHOULD be done to some humans. |
 Not sure what you mean here, but I hope it's not what I think...
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Dry
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Brussels
Sep 2000
time: 06:23
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quote:
Originally posted by Boris Godunov
And someone please define "natural" and "unnatural." |
Ok, let me try...
Well, "natural"... that can be found in nature...
Examples:
Stones are natural... so, stoning is "natural" (esp. with "bio" stones).
Houses are unnatural, so ....
Hmm, well, I'm not sure my examples are really that good... err, ok, no...
Ok, forget my examples, bad ones... errr, I give up on this "nature" question.
Does someone has a clue?
Last edited by Dry on 05-11-2002 at 20:15
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Amadan
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quote:
Originally posted by Boris Godunov
And someone please define "natural" and "unnatural." Moral hypocrites like Bods like to through these terms around, but never can define them. I can come up with tons of "unnatural" behavior I'm sure everyone here has engaged in. In fact, I'm sure Spink would have a hard time explaining his late night self-pleasuring sessions by such standards.
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He'd have a pretty easy time of it. Chimps of both sexes have been observed *ahem* enjoying themselves alone.
And Hitler used the example of homosexuality in nature as a justification for exterminating 6.000 gay men as they were, by his reasoning, less than human.
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05-11-2002 10:17
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