"Clearly, this is propaganda -- gender is not assigned at birth. It is assigned with biology"

Ben,

I would suggest that you educate yourself. A few advanced classes in endocrine diseases in childhood and adolescence or endocrinology and metabolism ought to do the trick. Meanwhile please refrain from making "freshman" type comments based on your obviously "sophomoric" understanding of Science.

Elizabeth

narth is a pseudoscientific organization.

it is common knowledge that they got their numbers for gays from health clinics then compared them with numbers in the congregations in their right wing churches.

"Clearly, this is propaganda -- gender is not assigned at birth."

Actually, it is, usually. Sometimes, as with Intersexed children, a little afterwards, at the point of a scalpel blade. They only get it wrong 1 time in 3. The chief goal of Intersex Activism is to stop this mutilation. Wait till the child reaches an age of informed consent, and then let *them* decide what is appropriate. Not a coin-toss (sometimes literally...)

"It is assigned with biology; as scientific studies have amply shown, males and females have significant differences in brain biology."

True! Go to the head of the class! Not many people know that, nor that the differences are detectable at 26 weeks after conception. One problem though...

Specific Cerebral Activation due to Visual Erotic Stimuli in Male-to-Female Transsexuals Compared with Male and Female Controls: An fMRI Study by Gizewski et al J Sex Med 2009;6:440–448.

Neuroimaging Differences in Spatial Cognition between Men and Male-to-Female Transsexuals Before and During Hormone Therapy by Scoening et al J Sex Med. 2009 Sep 14.

Male-to-female transsexuals show sex-atypical hypothalamus activation when smelling odorous steroids by Berglund et al Cerebral Cortex 2008 18(8):1900-1908;

Male–to–female transsexuals have female neuron numbers in a limbic nucleus. Kruiver et al J Clin Endocrinol Metab (2000) 85:2034–2041

Sexual differentiation of the human brain: relevance for gender identity, transsexualism and sexual orientation. Swaab Gynecol Endocrinol (2004) 19:301–312.

A sex difference in the human brain and its relation to transsexuality. by Zhou et al Nature (1995) 378:68–70.

A sex difference in the hypothalamic uncinate nucleus: relationship to gender identity by Garcia-Falgueras et al Brain. 2008 Dec;131(Pt 12):3132-46.

Transsexuality == Feminised brain with otherwise masculinised anatomy, or the reverse.

This unfortunately satisfies neither the Lefty "Gender is a social construct" academic trendoids, nor the Religious Right's "God Does Not Make Mistakes" ideology.

I find the Right pursuadable, rarely, by facts. The Left, hardly ever.

Homosexual folk, male and female, in countries where there is significantly less discrimination based on sexuality, do not show the increased suicide and substance abuse rates that they do in countries where discrimination is common. It suggests that the numbers are a sociological problem, not a mental one.

o.O How is transsexualism on a similar note to pedophilia?

Either way. You are correct that brain-biology has been strongly implicated in the formation of gender identity, they hypothalamus especially.

Research on male to female transsexuals has also found that they have a female structure to their hypothalamus. That is to say, their brain is female.

so be it yes society causes a bit higher suicide rates etc. however the highest rate is in doctors...go figure

trans folks do have a different hypothalamus I think this guy has issues he is not dealt with yet..dunno

katherine tafolla

Whatever the situation with biology or society the statistics are that homosexuals, transwhatevers, and deviants in general occur infrequently enough to label them abberations. Therefore they should be studied and if possible treated.

I also think for alot of these folks they just don't like who they are and their abberant behavior is an escape mechanism like any other that is typically treated as a psychological disorder.

Men that don't, can't or won't adapt to the normal role and attitudes of the male of the species logically have to be undeveloped or underdeveloped and it manifests itself by the grown male acting like a boy or even a female. to step outside the "natural" role and call it normal behavior is illogical and self-deceiving. it may comfort but so does most self-deception in the short run.

Thanks Ben for your expert analysis. Far too many have fallen for what is total propaganda disguised as science. Environmental activism is one area, sexual activism is another, and on and on. The left seeks to cut off valid and productive debate to silence and marginalize its political opponents. It doesn't matter that most homosexuals report being abused or groomed into the lifestyle by older men or through prostitution. Most of the public is uneducated about this issue or have been fed the nonscientific political driven propaganda of leftists which have control over most universities. A friend of mine was abused by his uncle when he was a child and now identifies himself as a homosexual. The one other gay man I knew personally was killed by the boy he had groomed with drugs and alcohol. The boy is still in jail. There is a Don't Ask Don't Tell policy and it is media wide and it hurts not just heterosexuals but also hurts people who had homosexuality forced onto them before they had a chance to develop normal sexual relationships. It is not surprising that sadly violence and abuse is so intertwined with the lifestyle.

You might want to take a look at this link. This is what happens on the public streets of the San Francisco.

http://www.zombietime.com/up_your_alley_2008/

To Mael:

Your gay circle of freinds is most likely very limitied or fabricated. I am gay and also I have many gay friends. Neither I nor any of my dozens of friends were molested or "groomed" by any gay adult. A couple of them do have issues with depression. However, I have an equal number of heterosexual friends who also have issues with depression. I have been affected by suicide twice among my closest family. My step-sister (hetero), my brother-in-law (hetero) both, sadly, took their own lives.

You obviously have issues with gay people. Otherwise why would you want to show everyone on this site what some of them do at a San Francisco street fair. I find that sort of stuff pretty gross too...but again, this is not soley the only group of people who engage in this kind of behavior. Ever been to Mardi Gras of Fantasy Fest in Key West? Believe me, there are plenty of heterosexuals doing similar stuff. I never once chalked up that kind of behavior as what all the het's are doing. That is becasue I have a brain. You belittle and disrespect an entire group of people by spreading images like this that represents a small sub-culture within a subculture.

I find it strange how many Americans use 'liberal' as if it is a bad word, just like how they are outraged when the government puts up a bill that will provide health insurance to the needy. It's mindboggling. In the specific context of this article, the author should come and live among the religious right in my country, India, who hold similar views. They even think homosexuality is an import from the Big Bad West! And it is still a criminal activity under the law. Mr Shapiro will feel right at home here.