Happily for some, especially those on the religious right, but terrifyingly for everyone else we may soon witness the genetic genocide of gay men and lesbians.
The dawning of a new age of "genetic selection" is upon us and included in this new age is the very real possibility that tests will soon be available to "detect" a chromosomal marker for homosexuality in-utero, and a "patch" designed to "correct" the condition of the fetus - essentially turning the unborn child straight.
As a gay man myself I've been thinking a lot lately about the consequences of genetic testing which is designed to detect and possibly "cure" homosexuality in a fetus. This article from Radar has really got me thinking about this issue.
It's a day in the not-too-distant future. A woman, three months pregnant, sits anxiously in her obstetrician's office pondering the possibility of giving birth to a gay kid.
Perhaps, she thinks, she shouldn't have agreed to the test in the first place. Maybe it would've been better not to know, to have left everything to fate. And what difference did it make, really? Like most of her friends, the woman, though moderately religious, considers herself an open-minded cosmopolitan with a Seinfeld-ian attitude toward homosexuality: "not that there's anything wrong with that!"
At least that's how she feels about other people's gay children. But this is her baby, her first and perhaps only one. And however much she and her husband try to reconcile themselves to the idea, they know the world at large will always remain a uniquely difficult place for a boy who likes other boys.
Without resolving this conflict, she consents to an analysis of her amniotic fluid sample, mentally grouping it with the tests already performed to look for markers of Huntington's disease and Down syndrome—things to be ruled out. Only this time, the results have come back positive.
And now she has a choice to make. A hormone patch, applied to her belly, could redirect her child's genetic destiny, reversing the sexual orientation inscribed in his chromosomes. There would be one fewer homosexual in the world—if that's what she wants.
Obviously some people are hugely excited by the possibility that within a generation parents will be able to find out if their fetus is gay and then make a decision whether to apply a hormone patch to "correct" the condition. I've seen quotes from evangelicals heralding the advancement of any test or "cure" for homosexuality, which strikes me as slightly strange considering how much time and effort they've put into making the case that being gay is a "lifestyle choice" undeserving of societal protection or recognition.
Conservatives opposed to both abortion and homosexuality will have to ask themselves whether the public shame of having a gay child outweighs the private sin of terminating a pregnancy (assuming the stigma on homosexuality survives the scientific refutation of the Right's treasured belief that it's a "lifestyle choice"). Pro-choice activists won't be spared, either. Will liberal moms who love their hairdressers be as tolerant when faced with the prospect of raising a little stylist of their own? And exactly how pro-choice will liberal abortion-rights activists be when thousands of potential parents are choosing to filter homosexuality right out of the gene pool?
I look toward this type of future - a future devoid of gay people and of the amazing and wonderful contributions they've made - with terrible fear and deep sense of foreboding. Is this really the type of world we want to live in, one in which homosexuality is designated a "disease" that requires in-utero curing?
Gay rights advocates worry that genetic testing puts homosexuality on the same level as such diseases, pointing it down the road to the same goal: elimination. Even if it were possible to genetically erase homosexuality, however, doing so would come at a social price. Glenn Wilson, a reader in personality at the Institute of Psychiatry in London and coauthor of Born Gay: The Psychobiology of Sex Orientation, argues that the same genes that influence homosexuality are crucial to the expression of valued behavioral traits, such as verbal fluency and mastery of spatial relationships. (Translation: It's not entirely accidental that your Uncle Jimmy has a knack for show tunes and interior design.)
"If you did ever succeed in wiping out homosexual orientation, you would also remove many positive traits that are good for humanity as a whole and also good for individuals," Wilson adds. Thus, eradicating homosexuality, even if it could be done without the destruction of a single organism, "would be ethically indefensible."
This also raises questions as to the nature of sexuality and how "inert" it really is. Most people are born gay - this I accept as fact - but what about those who are bisexual or who make a more political choice (as in lesbian separatism) to be gay? You can really twist yourself into knots thinking about this kind of thing.
We as a nation and a world are entering very dangerous territory here - a nightmarish world of hyper-eugenics which heralds a frighteningly narrow set of human characteristics that are perceived to be "desirable." Once people have the choice to bear children that are genetically streamlined how many people are going to make the choice to not avail themselves of the technology to do so? Especially when NOT doing so will mean their children, while unique, will be at a severe disadvantage when it comes to those children that have been "chosen" to have super intelligence or incredible good looks or any of the other characteristics we perceive as "desirable."
Ethics, however, might not dissuade the many who continue to view man-on-man action as the ultimate threat to Western civilization. "You put this stuff in the hands of a real homophobe," warns Martin Munzer, president and CEO of CyGene, "and that's when it gets scary."
I don't know what the answer is. Once this kind of technology is out of the bottle there is no stuffing it back in. Banning these tests won't make them unavailable - they'll simply be driven underground or be available overseas.
Please recommend this diary. I would love for us to have a debate over how we're going to be able to handle the coming mainstreamization of genetic testing and what this portends for the future. Not only for gay men and lesbians but for all of us as human beings.