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Evolutionary Dead End

A crazy idea popped into my mind following my discussion with Howe regarding Koi. Although Howe’s explanation on how domestic Koi are unable to spawn due to genetic deficiencies turned out to be inaccurate, it led me to think of a scientific argument for the legalisation of gay marriage.

One of the main arguments against gay marriage is that its legalisation will lead astray many young people, which in conservative lingo means turning them gay. How our genes and social environment determine our sexual preferences is debatable, but this argument implies that most people are inherently homosexual — which the conservatives will be loathe to agree — and all it takes is to legalise gay marriage before everyone starts coming out of the closet.

Granted, the legalisation of gay marriage is equivalent to the social acceptance of gays, and we can expect to lose some fringe members of our heterosexual-dominant society — for example, bisexuals — to the burgeoning gay community.

But if the status quo remains and the definition of marriage remains the union between a man and a woman, this will pressure many gays and lesbians to get married with a member from the opposite sex — whom they obviously don’t love — in order to conform to social norms. Not only will their heterosexual partners suffer from an unhappy marriage, their children will inherit their genes and have a high chance of turning gay too. This vicious cycle will continue until we accept homosexuals and legalise gay marriage.

By allowing gay marriages, genes that cause homosexual inclinations are effectively removed from the human gene pool. It is impossible for homosexuals to pass their genes to their offspring since they’re obviously not interested in mating with the opposite sex to have any children at all. Hence in theory, if we can get every gay and lesbian in the world to get married, there’ll be no more gay people for the conservatives to worry about by the next generation!

Don’t get me wrong, I’m not a gay basher. My support for the legalisation of gay marriage is based on the belief that everyone should enjoy the same rights and freedom, regardless of his religion, race or sexual preference. However, the harsh fact is that homosexuality is an evolutionary dead end.

It is perhaps ironic that the legalisation of gay marriage may in fact signal the demise of the gay movement. Soon there’ll be no one left to wave the rainbow flag.

13 January 2005 · Science

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