Scientific Facts Regarding Homosexuality
& Marriage Equality

Courtesy of Kate O’Hanlan, MD, FACOG, FACS, SGO
MEUSA LGBTIQ Health & Medical Professional Community Liaison
LGBTIQhealth@marriageequality.org

ALL (not some, all) of America’s established experts on family, mental health and child health agree that America would benefit if same-sex couples could have civil marriage to protect their families. Here is why:

The National Library of Medicine scientific research publications all confirm that sexual orientation is natural, biologically induced in the first trimester of pregnancy, morally neutral, immutable, neither contagious nor learned, bearing no relation to an individual’s ability to form deep and lasting relationships, to parent children, to work, or to contribute to society.

Sexual orientation and gender identity are like handedness: biological, unchangeable, innocent. We used to think left-handed was evil, as in “sinister” which comes from Latin for "left", force lefties to use their right hand, even though they never really changed handedness.

Research reveals variable hormonal levels in the first twelve weeks of pregnancy permanently affect child’s neural circuitry for sexual orientation and gender identity to express on a spectrum between straight and gay, same or opposite gender. A little extra testosterone secreted from the adrenals during early pregnancy affects the baby girls’ brains causing nearly half to be lesbian, a tenth to be transgender. Also, a girl twin baby simply sharing the womb with a boy co-twin, in which some of his testosterone from his amniotic fluid gets into her blood, causes about one fifth of girl co-twins to be lesbian. These girls also have the bone structure and physical coordination of boys, so they are good in sports, and thus the stereotype.

The opposite is also true: a bit less testosterone than usual in a boy's blood during early pregnancy can make him “light in the loafers” or transgender. If a boy's mother has delivered many older brothers before him, which caused her to make blocking antibody to their male proteins, then the youngest brother receives lower levels of testosterone in his blood, resulting in about one fifth of boys with many older brothers being gay. These boys have the physiology and verbal skills and excel in language and visual arts, slightly more like girls, and thus the stereotype.

Most homosexuals and most heterosexuals will say that they had no choice to be how they are because they were born on the far ends of the spectrum. They firmly claim they were "born that way." But, some straight and gay folks feel it WAS and IS definitely a choice for them because they were born closer to the middle of the biological spectrum between straight and gay: they are bisexual. Their orientations don't change from straight to gay; they simply have brain wiring that attracts them to both. All orientation is hard-wired prenatally and none can change it. It is all biological and innocent, and not contagious or changeable.

Everybody has an opinion about same-sex marriage, but what does the scientific research reveal about the health and welfare of children and families in same-sex marriages?????

Rather than make gay rights a popularity contest, let’s ask America’s best experts on family, mental health and children what the research shows is best for all American families. From the American Psychological Association: homosexuality is a normal sexual orientation; homosexual relationships are normal relationships.

The American Academy of Pediatrics, American Psychological Association, American Psychiatric Association, American Association of Child and Adolescent Psychiatrists, National Association of Social Workers, Child Welfare League of America, North American Council on Adoptable Children have endorsed civil marriage/adoption for same-sex couples because marriage strengthens mental, physical health and longevity of couples, and having two parents (of any gender) provides greater health, legal/financial security for children. Research confirms that children develop perfectly normally. Even the American Academy of Anthropology has issued a policy statement that says access to civil marriage by same-sex couples will not harm our social order. Visit the websites of these non-partisan, national professional and certifying associations for their policy statements.

If we don't listen to professional experts on national family health and welfare, then we are simply voting our religious beliefs or personal bias into state and federal laws, and harming the families of gay and lesbian couples, especially those with children.

About Dr. O’Hanlan: Dr. O'Hanlan is a gynecologic cancer surgeon. Since meeting her wife, Léonie Walker, almost 28 years ago, Dr. O'Hanlan has been working on equal rights for gays and lesbians. In 1989, she won partner insurance benefits at Albert Einstein College of Medicine in New York. Continuing her equality efforts at Stanford University, she led the initiative to create an equal employment benefit package there in 1991, making Stanford the first university to grant a precisely equal employment package to all employees. She founded the Lesbian Health Fund in 1992, which has fostered 47 articles, with 31 grants from over $500,000. She wrote the American Medical Women's Association policy endorsing same-gender civil marriage in 1994. She then authored Homophobia as a Health Hazard: Report of the GLMA, Lesbian Health: Perspectives for Treating Obstetrician/Gynecologists, the first chapter on lesbian health in Copeland's Gynecology Textbook, and published the first evidence of HPV transmission by lesbians by 2000. She was co-principal investigator of the first NIH grant studying lesbians with breast cancer. She also published the first article about female to male transsexuals undergoing hysterectomy in 2007. As former president of the Gay and Lesbian Medical Association, Dr. O'Hanlan has spoken on LGBTIQ health issues at the National Institutes for Health, the President's Cancer Panel, the Office of Research on Women's Health, and the American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists (ACOG). She authored the District IX, California, ACOG endorsement of marriage equality, and published a review of policies about civil marriage equality, requesting the national ACOG to review this subject. She is a Fellow of the progressive Rockway Institute, and became a marriage officiant during the brief time when California permitted equal access to civil marriage in 2008.

6 December 2012 Patterns and Predictors of Disclosure of Sexual Orientation to Healthcare Providers among Lesbians, Gay Men, and Bisexuals - The Williams Institute

New research from shows that bisexual men and women are less likely than gay men and lesbians to disclose their sexual orientation to healthcare providers.  The study, which examined nondisclosure of sexual orientation among lesbians, gay men and bisexual men and women, found that concealment of sexual orientation from healthcare providers was related to poor psychological wellbeing.

26 October 2012 Adolescents with Lesbian Mothers Describe Their Own Lives - The Williams Institute

This 26-year study shows that the teens who were studied have close friendships and consider their mothers to be good role models. They are academically successful and happy with their lives. The 17-year-olds participating in the longest-running study of lesbian families had high school GPAs in the A- to B+ range, and nearly all planned to attend four-year colleges. These adolescents had strong family bonds, and they were nearly unanimous in describing their mothers as good role models.

“These kids were planned and their lesbian mothers were very engaged in parenting. At the end of high school, the teens tell us that they have excellent grades, feel connected to their families and friends, and admire their parents,”  said Nanette Gartrell, MD, Distinguished Visiting Scholar at the Williams Institute.   
 
In the study, teenagers were asked a series of questions about their everyday life experiences. “They teach me to be accepting of all people on this earth, no matter what differences they may have,” wrote one adolescent boy. One teenage girl described her mothers as “very successful, powerful, beautiful women who are happy with their lives and I would love to end up like them.”
 
Adolescents were drawn from families that are participating in the National Longitudinal Lesbian Family Study (NLLFS). The study, Adolescents with Lesbian Mothers Describe Their Own Lives, appears in the current issue of the Journal of Homosexuality.

15 October 2012 Same-Sex Legal Marriage and Psychological Well-Being: Findings From the California Health Interview Survey

Children of Same-Gender Parents May Be Less Constrained by Traditional Gender Stereotypes

A study of young children of first-time adoptive parents found that the children of same-gender parents were less gender stereotyped in their play behavior than the children of heterosexual parents, which may translate to strengths that aid them later in life, according to new research funded by the Williams Institute.  

“How parents play, and what kind of toys they let their kids play with, can affect child development — even at 18 months,” said Abbie E. Goldberg, Associate Professor of psychology at Clark University.  “Research shows that some flexibility in play-type has psychological benefits for children.”

The study found that sons of lesbian mothers engaged in slightly more nurturing-type play behavior than sons of gay fathers and heterosexual parents.  The researchers suggest that two-mother households, like single-mother households, may develop slightly different play styles.  The study also found that daughters of gay fathers were more stereotypically-feminine in play behavior than daughters of lesbian mothers and less stereotypically-feminine in play behavior than daughters of heterosexual mothers.

The study, entitled Gender-Typed Play Behavior in Early Childhood: Adopted Children with Lesbian, Gay, and Heterosexual Parents is in the upcoming issue of Sex Roles: A Journal of Research.

 Absence of Male Role Models Produces No Negative Effects for Teens With Lesbian Mothers

According to a new study (June 2012) from the Williams Institute, the absence of male role models did not adversely affect the psychological adjustment of 17-year-old teens raised in lesbian-headed households. “This study is part of a growing body of research that evinces the positive psychological well-being of children reared in planned lesbian families,” said the study’s co-author Nanette Gartrell, MD, Visiting Distinguished Scholar at the Williams Institute.  

Findings were based on teens who participated in the U.S. National Longitudinal Lesbian Family Study (NLLFS). The NLLFS teens with and without male role models did not differ from each other in psychological well-being, and also did not differ on stereotypical feminine (e.g., understanding) and masculine (e.g., competitive) traits.  Approximately half of the teens had male role models.

“There was no empirical evidence suggesting that boys require a same-sex parent, or male role model, to develop a healthy psychological well-being,” said lead author Henny Bos, Ph.D, University of Amsterdam.

The study, Adolescents of the U.S. National Longitudinal Lesbian Family Study: Male role models, gender role traits, and psychological adjustment, is published in Gender & Society.

Male Homosexuality Study: Gay Men Have Evolutionary Benefit For Their Families, New Research Suggests

This article regarding studies led by Andrea Camperio Ciani at the University of Padova in Italy and others was written by Natalie Wolchover and published in the Huffington Post on 13 June 2012.

HHS Secretary Kathleen Sebelius' speech at the World Health Assembly

Health and Human Services Secretary Sibelius made this speech on 21 May 2012 in Geneva Switzerland at the 65th World Health Assembly "Breaking Down Barriers: Addressing Stigma and Discrimination in Health Care for LGBT Persons."

Stress and Mental Health Among Midlife and Older Gay-Identified Men

This study published in the Amercian Journal of Public Health in March 2012 concluded that: "Sexual minority and aging-related stress significantly affected the emotional lives of these men. Personal sense of mastery may help to sustain them as they age. We observed specific mental health benefits of same-sex legal marriage."

Public Health Implications of Same-Sex Marriage

Commentary by William C. Buffie, M.D. in the June 2011 issue of the Amercian Journal of Public Health. This commentary concludes that, "Legislation to make marriage equality a reality will change, and save, lives."