Is there a gay gene?
I’m on the right track; I was born this way.
Lady Gaga, “Born This Way”
Defining the Issue
Does DNA code for same-sex attraction in the same way it codes for hair or skin colour? Many people believe that it does. A common perspective is that someone does not choose his or her sexual orientation any more than a person can choose his or her ethnic heritage. Many people believe a particular gene or group of genes determines which people are same-sex attracted.
Research from American geneticist Dean Hamer in 1993 is often cited as evidence for the claim that a gay gene exists. In the July 16, 1993 edition of Science, Hamer was the primary author of an article that claimed “a statistically significant correlation between the inheritance of genetic markers on the chromosomal region Xq28 and sexual orientation in a selected group of homosexual males.”1
Specifically, he claimed that out of forty pairs of homosexual brothers, thirty-three of the brother-pairs shared something in common in the Xq28 region. Though the authors tried to use some caution in their summary, the strong suggestion was that male homosexuality was attributable to genetics.
To understand what Hamer claimed, it is important to know that Xq28 is not a gene but rather a region of the X chromosome that contains many genes. Hamer was not claiming to have found a gene, but he was suggesting this was a region where such a gene might exist for male homosexuality.
When Hamer expanded his study to include women in 1995, he could find no genetic link to female homosexuality. In the years following Hamer’s work, others attempted to replicate his findings, with some researchers unable to substantiate Hamer’s claims while others found weak evidence supporting his work.2
A major study of possible genetic contributions to homosexuality published in 2019 has fairly laid to rest the claims of a gay gene somewhere in Xq28. Using an enormous sample of DNA from 477,522 men and women, including both heterosexuals and homosexuals, and utilising far more precise methods, this study found no connection between Xq28 and homosexuality.
This new research did find five specific DNA base pairs that seemed to have some low-level connection with homosexuality: two for both men and women, two for men only, and one for women only. But these are not genes, and the authors suggested homosexuality might be influenced by small additive effects of various small genetic anomalies. Overall, they estimated that perhaps 25 percent of what makes a person homosexual could possibly be attributed to genetics.3
To summarise, no one has found a gay gene. Hamer’s claims about the possibility of a gay gene in the Xq28 region of males can be considered nearly refuted.
The best data using the most precise methods has failed to yield any predictive value regarding homosexuality: no one can perform a genetic test and determine if a person is gay.
Some genetic influence is probably at work in some homosexuals, but at a low level. The genetic factors at work do not cause homosexuality in the way genetics cause hair or skin colour. Many factors contribute to the emergence of a homosexual identity, including one’s genetics, the culture in which one is raised, the family in which one is nurtured, and one’s own choices.
Additionally, the age of first sexual experience, the context in which it occurs, and the age and sex of the person with whom it occurs all have a strong organizing effect on someone’s later sexual identity.
Biblical Ethical Principles
The Bible teaches that many factors contribute to the choices humans make. All of creation was negatively affected by the fall (Genesis 3; Romans 8:19–23), and this includes the human body and our genetics. It is not surprising to find genetic contributions to any number of human behaviours.
Furthermore, Scripture acknowledges the influences parenting can have on a person’s adult character and identity, both positively and negatively (Proverbs 29:15, 17). Scripture also emphasises that growing up in a culture fixated on moral autonomy has negative influences (Judges 17:6; 21:25).
Ungodly friends can also degrade our character (1 Corinthians 15:33). All of these variables are acknowledged while emphasising personal moral accountability for the choices we make and the manner in which each of us responds to temptation. As Romans 14:12 says, “So then each of us will give an account of himself to God.”
Suggested Moral Stance
The Bible explicitly teaches that sex is designed by God only for heterosexual and monogamous marriage (Genesis 1:26–28; 2:24–25). Sexual promiscuity is forbidden in general (1 Corinthians 6:18), and homosexual behaviour is forbidden specifically (Romans 1:24–27; 1 Corinthians 6:9–11).
Christians recognise that genetics serve as a contributing factor to any number of temptations, but reject the notion that humans are genetic automatons doomed by their DNA to any number of moral outcomes.
No one has found a gay gene. Data to date does not indicate that homosexuality is a trait like hair or skin colour. But even if a “gay gene” were discovered, a genetic contribution to any temptation does not excuse one from moral accountability.
1 Dean Hamer et al., “A Linkage Between DNA Markers on the X Chromosome and Male Sexual Orientation,” Science 261 (July 1993): 321.
2 For example, see Brian S. Mustanski et al., “A Genomewide Scan of Male Sexual Orientation,” Human Genetics 116 (2005): 272–78; and A. R. Sanders et al., “Genome-Wide Scan Demonstrates Significant Linkage for Male Sexual Orientation,” Psychological Medicine 45 (2015); 1379–88. The title of this last article is an exaggeration, as the authors themselves admit none of their findings reached acceptable standards for statistical significance.
3 Andrea Ganna et al., “Large-Scale GWAS Reveals Insights Into the Genetic Architecture of Same-Sex Sexual Behavior,” Science 365 (August 2019): 1–8.
Branch, J. A. (2021). 50 Ethical Questions: Biblical Wisdom for Confusing Times (pp. 209–212). Lexham Press.
