What causes a child to grow up gay or straight? In this book, neuroscientist Simon LeVay summarizes a wealth of scientific evidence that points to one inescapable conclusion: Sexual orientation results primarily from an interaction between genes, sex hormones, and the cells of the developing body and brain. LeVay helped create this field in 1991 with a much-publicized study in Science, where he reported on a difference in the brain structure between gay and straight men. Since then, an entire scientific discipline has sprung up around the quest for a biological explanation of sexual orientation. In this book, LeVay provides a clear explanation of where the science stands today, taking the reader on a whirlwind tour of laboratories that specialize in genetics, endocrinology, neuroscience, cognitive psychology, evolutionary psychology, and family demographics. He describes, for instance, how researchers have manipulated the sex hormone levels of animals during development, causing them to mate preferentially with animals of their own gender. LeVay also reports on the prevalence of homosexual behavior among wild animals, ranging from Graylag geese to the Bonobo chimpanzee. Although many details remain unresolved, the general conclusion is quite clear: A person's sexual orientation arises in large part from biological processes that are already underway before birth. LeVay also makes it clear that these lines of research have a lot of potential because--far from seeking to discover "what went wrong" in the lives of gay people, attempting to develop "cures" for homosexuality, or returning to traditional explanations that center on parent-child relationships, various forms of "training," or early sexual experiences--our modern scientists are increasingly seeing sexual variety as something to be valued, celebrated, and welcomed into society.

What causes a child to grow up gay or straight? In this book, neuroscientist Simon LeVay summarizes a wealth of scientific evidence that points to one inescapable conclusion: Sexual orientation results primarily from an interaction between genes, sex hormones, and the cells of the developing body and brain. In this revised edition LeVay broadens his horizons. He adds a new chapter on bisexuality, reviews some uncommon forms of sexuality such as asexuality and pedophilia, and considers whether there could be a biological basis for subtypes of gay people such as "butch" and "femme" lesbians.

What makes people gay, lesbian, bisexual, or heterosexual? And who cares? Written by one of the leading scientists in the research of sexual orientation, Queer Science looks at how scientific discoveries about homosexuality influence society's attitude toward gays and lesbians, beginning with the theories of the German sexologist and gay-rights pioneer Magnus Hirschfeld and culminating with the latest discoveries in brain science, genetics, endocrinology, and cognitive psychology.

Based on research, the author explores in this publication the personal stories of forty young men to help us understand the biological and psychological factors that led them to become mostly straight and the cultural forces that are loosening the sexual bind that many boys and young men experience.

“Heterosexuality,” assumed to denote a universal sexual and cultural norm, has been largely exempt from critical scrutiny. In this boldly original work, Jonathan Ned Katz challenges the common notion that the distinction between heterosexuality and homosexuality has been a timeless one. Building on the history of medical terminology, he reveals that as late as 1923, the term “heterosexuality” referred to a "morbid sexual passion," and that its current usage emerged to legitimate men and women having sex for pleasure. Drawing on the works of Sigmund Freud, James Baldwin, Betty Friedan, and Michel Foucault, The Invention of Heterosexuality considers the effects of heterosexuality’s recently forged primacy on both scientific literature and popular culture. “Lively and provocative.”—Carol Tavris, New York Times Book Review “A valuable primer . . . misses no significant twists in sexual politics.”—Gary Indiana, Village Voice Literary Supplement “One of the most important—if not outright subversive—works to emerge from gay and lesbian studies in years.”—Mark Thompson, The Advocate

Imagine a future scenario in which prospective parents will have the option to decide the sexual orientation of their offspring in the privacy of a doctor's consultation room. In the past, liberals dreaded the intrusion of a paternalistic state apparatus into the minutiae of people's private lives. In the future they may have to fear the reverse: that private reproductive decisions will impact the very demographic composition of future generations that make up 'the public'. Nowhere does this book claim that the ability to isolate a 'gay gene' or similar genetic marker for homosexuality currently exists. Rather, it demonstrates how Christian bioethicists and liberal eugenicists have so far anticipated and addressed the seemingly implausible scenario just described and provides a liberal critique of the their arguments, should pre-natal selection for sexual orientation ever become a genuine possibility. Murray provides an unprecedented survey of Christian bioethicists' responses to the 'gay science' of the 1990's, and shows where they fit in a long religious tradition of stigmatizing and pathologizing homosexual people that stretches back to first century Christian communities. This book contains no assertion that all people who identify as homosexual, gay, lesbian, bi, or transgender are born that way. Nor does it suggest that being 'born that way' is a necessary condition for granting full legal acceptance of homosexual behavior. Rather, it reveals how religious teachings about human sexuality have both misrepresented the facts of human nature and misjudged their ethical significance. Murray's analysis provides an opportunity for the universal and global church and those who object to homosexuality as less than innate to reconsider and learn new perspectives. - Reverend Rowland Jide Macaulay, Founder & CEO, House Of Rainbow Fellowship, Lagos, Nigeria and London, United Kingdom A fresh, informative and challenging contribution to the scientific and ethical issues concerning homosexuality, which debunks traditional Christian objections and tackles the emerging debate around the potential of 'genome editing' to eliminate same-sex behaviour. - Peter Tatchell, human rights campaigner