How same-sex marriage ruling skirts science of born this way

[cronus]

http://www.newscientist.com/article/dn2 ... ZL2SRtVhBc

How same-sex marriage ruling skirts science of 'born this way'

Marriage for all, no gay gene required. For same-sex couples in the US, 26 June was a landmark date: the Supreme Court legalised marriage between two men or two women in all 50 states.

"[Same-sex couples] ask for equal dignity in the eyes of the law," wrote Associate Justice Anthony Kennedy in the decision. "The Constitution grants them that right."

But one thing the decision didn't do was declare sexual orientation a "suspect class" under the law, which would have given it the same protection as race. One of the criteria for this classification is that the trait must be immutable – an argument that the gay rights movement has internalised under the banner of "we're born this way".

But although there is some evidence that sexual orientation has a genetic component, most scientists agree that it's not that simple. "There's significant consensus in the scientific community that there's enough different interacting causes for sexual orientation that two different individuals can be gay for different combinations of reasons," says sexuality researcher Lisa Diamond at the University of Utah.

"I think all the evidence suggests that we're born with an underlying capacity and then that capacity interacts with a whole bunch of other influences," she says – whether they be prenatal, genetic or environmental.

She would rather activists win these battles based on a truer understanding of the science. "It shows we don't need to be considered a protected class in order to make strong and successful arguments about civil rights," she says.

(continued, it's complicated - ask any sailor six months at sea?)