Here’s how I see it. Even if the researchers themselves only wanted to understand the biological basis of homosexuality, the data obtained would tell us much more. If we know the “cause” of homosexuality, then we also know the “cause” of heterosexuality. Comparing the physiology of “gay brains” to “straight brains” allows us to better understand both. There was a time when many people assumed that there was no other “biological” possibility than heterosexuality – that no particular brain structures or functions were involved in sexual orientation per se. Now it is generally agreed that different sexual orientations result from brain differences and furthermore, that those brain differences are innate. This is a major leap in understanding. If the research indicates that homosexuality is not a choice, then it also indicates that heterosexuality is not a choice. Everyone’s sexual orientation has a genetic, anatomical, and physiological basis. The research objective is to understand the biology of sexual orientation – in anybody and everybody, not only gay people. And not just people either – the other mammals too. Sexuality is ancient. The hypothalamic and limbic brain regions involved in sexual behavior are far more ancient than people and are likely much the same in all mammals. So the study of gay and lesbian people is basic biology.Additionally, by comparing transsexual brains to typical brains, we can eventually understand the neuroscience of sexual identity and know the anatomical and physiological basis of a person’s sexual sensibility of self, whether female, male, or intersex in identity. Once more, the objective is to understand the biology of sexual identity in all people, and likely other mammals as well. Again, this is biology, and it is why the study of innate “core sexuality” is so fascinating to me.*This essay was originally written by me as a comment to a post on another blog