gay gene

[Rakesh Bhandari]

"It is worth a moment's reflection as to what sort of genetic system would
be involved if it ever turned out that homosexuality is genetically
determined. We would have to accomodate, within the same system of
genotype/phenotype transformation, the Native American berdachs, the Celts,
and the ancient Greeks, as well as the homophobic society of today's US.
What sort of genetic basis could account for all of these patterns? If
homosexuality were genetically determined, it would take a very complex
genetic system indeed to be able to account for all these forms. On the
other hand, we can say that with a great deal of confidence, although
rather trivially, that if genes are involved, we all have the gay gene
(since several societies are or have been almost completely homosexaul in
the sense that virtually all of the males regularly engage in homosexual
activities, all male members of the society must carry those genes)."

John van der Meer, Reconstructing Biology. Wiley, 1996, p. 195