Is
sexual orientation in the genes? Yet another indication might be at hand.
According
to Kenneth Zucker, Ph.D., a researcher at the University of Toronto's Center for
Addiction and Mental Health (CAMH), homosexuals are more likely to be lefties
than heterosexuals. Zucker analyzed data collected in 20 different studies over
the past 50 years and discovered a correlation between left-handedness and homosexuality.
The findings, reported recently in the Psychological Bulletin, indicate that lesbians
have a 91% greater chance of being left-handed or ambidextrous than straight women,
while gay men are 34% more likely than straight men to not be right-handed. While
Zucker says the research provides empirical evidence that links homosexuality
to left-handedness, "we don't have a definitive answer as to why the relationship
exists."
The
study raises a red flag for Bonnie Spanier, Ph.D., director of women's studies
at the State University of New York in Albany. "What biases do these researchers
take with them in the lab?" she asks. "There is a long history of using
biological differences to call people superior or inferior."
Simon
LeVay, Ph.D., a neuropsychologist who studies the biological differences between
homosexuals and heterosexuals and is both gay and left-handed, is also reluctant
to jump to conclusions. "The data obscures the fact that most homosexuals
are right-handed, and most left-handed people are heterosexual," he points
out. Still, he is not offended by the study. "The biological approach is
helpful in understanding that sexual identity is a given," he believes.
By:
Nicole Bade Originally published by Psychology Today:Nov/Dec 2000
