The Biological Causes and Consequences of Homosexual Behavior and Their Relevance for Family Law and Policies

Abstract

What we do not know about the causes of homosexual attraction seems to exceed what we do know; but we have abundant and increasing knowledge about the consequences and effects of homosexual behavior. This paper explores briefly both of those subjects with emphasis upon the effects and outcomes of homosexual behavior that should be very relevant to family law. The evidence that homosexual attraction is immutable (comparable to race, for example) has many gaps and is very unsettled; and even if established it would not necessarily justify the claim for legalizing same-sex marriage. There is substantial evidence that homosexual behavior is associated with significant personal and public health risks. Those risks are not irrelevant to the content of many family policies including marriage, adoption, custody, visitation and guardianship.