No “Gay” Gene According to the American Psychological Association
by Jeffrey W. Hamilton
Science in its ever-fickle way has come to the conclusion that Christians have known all along: There is no gene that causes homosexuality.
The attempt to prove that homosexuality is determined biologically has been dealt a knockout punch. An American Psychological Association publication includes an admission that there's no homosexual "gene" -- meaning it's not likely that homosexuals are born that way.
For decades, the APA has not considered homosexuality a psychological disorder, while other professionals in the field consider it to be a"gender-identity" problem. But the new statement, which appears in a brochure called "Answers to Your Questions for a Better Understanding of Sexual Orientation & Homosexuality," states the following:
"There is no consensus among scientists about the exact reasons that an individual develops a heterosexual, bisexual, gay or lesbian orientation. Although much research has examined the possible genetic, hormonal, developmental, social, and cultural influences on sexual orientation, no findings have emerged that permit scientists to conclude that sexual orientation is determined by any particular factor or factors. Many think that nature and nurture both play complex roles...."
That contrasts with the APA's statement in 1998: "There is considerable recent evidence to suggest that biology, including genetic or inborn hormonal factors, play a significant role in a person's sexuality."
Christians have always known that homosexuality is a choice regarding whether to commit a sin or not. People can choose to enter into sin and they can choose to leave sin. "Do you not know that the unrighteous will not inherit the kingdom of God? Do not be deceived. Neither fornicators, nor idolaters, nor adulterers, nor homosexuals, nor sodomites, nor thieves, nor covetous, nor drunkards, nor revilers, nor extortioners will inherit the kingdom of God. And such were some of you. But you were washed, but you were sanctified, but you were justified in the name of the Lord Jesus and by the Spirit of our God" (I Corinthians 6:9-11).
Photo by Evgeni Tcherkasski on Unsplash
The reason scientists have not found a single factor for homosexuality is that they continue to look in the wrong places. They start with the assumption that there must an external factor which causes people to desire homosexual sex, so they have looked at pre-birth factors, genetics, hormones, environmental factors, and the like. But the simple answer is that people choose to sin. The reasons behind those choices are varied, but it comes down to a choice.
One of the consequences of the push for an external cause of homosexuality is that people accepted the lie that homosexuality cannot be "unchosen" or rejected. For quite a while people have been told that homosexuals cannot help their behavior. Thus, we have a generation of young people who have become convinced they must be homosexual because they faced temptation involving homosexual desire. They fear what they will become and fear what might be the consequences. The realization that they have a choice is freeing. "But God be thanked that though you were slaves of sin, yet you obeyed from the heart that form of doctrine to which you were delivered. And having been set free from sin, you became slaves of righteousness" (Romans 6:17-18).
"For this is the will of God, that by doing good you may put to silence the ignorance of foolish men -- as free, yet not using liberty as a cloak for vice, but as bondservants of God" (I Peter 2:15-16). So let us spread the joyful news that there is freedom from sin, including homosexuality, through the precious blood of Christ Jesus!
