• Question: Why do humans go for same sex such as gay and lesbian? How come it always has to be someone from a different sex?

    Asked by to Edward, Ian, Mathew, Naomi on 25 Jun 2014. This question was also asked by .
    • Photo: Ian Stephenson

      Ian Stephenson answered on 25 Jun 2014:

      Evolution is all about having the most surviving offspring.

      We have genders because its a great way of mixing up DNA. If you just had one parent, then you’d be an exact copy of them, but by having two parents and mixing up characteristics from both you get a new person that’s unique. Having lots of slightly different people around means they have a better chance of surviving as a species.

      Which leads to a very strange question: same sex relationships don’t produce children. Therefore at its simplest, evolution says that they shouldn’t exist! (Wow -there’s such a lovely irony! Fundamentalists who hate evolution and hate gay people would have to claim that being gay couldn’t have evolved, so god must have made them!!).

      But its more complex than that. If we accept that same sex relationships exist (because they do!), and the evolution is valid (which it is), then having gay and lesbian people must benefit overall reproduction and species survival in some way other than directly producing offspring.

      There are two possible ways that this can happen: either directly, where having a gay couple in your immediate family helps offspring, perhaps by providing childcare, and other support which on balance is a bigger benefit to the survival of the family than simply making more babes.

      Or indirectly. In this scenario being gay or lesbian doesn’t help directly, but its a side effect of some other beneficial trait. By having this other trait as part of human genetic make up, the side effect is that some people won’t produce offspring, but on balance the combination of the two is positive for the species.

      No one’s really sure of the exactly how or why some people are gay/lesbian, but evolution say that on balance it must be a good thing.

    • Photo: Naomi Osborne

      Naomi Osborne answered on 25 Jun 2014:

      I suppose the same way that people attracted to people with brown hair, or blue eyes or short or tall people – there isn’t necessarily an explanation for it, it just is what it is. Hundreds of animal species have been observed displaying same sex behaviours including primates, dolphins, rams, birds and elephants so it isn’t just humans – it’s probably most animals on Earth. This proves homosexuality is a way of life, just as heterosexuality is 🙂

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