An author called Joan Roughgarden, in her new book Evolution’s Rainbow: Diversity, Gender and Sexualilty in Nature and People, argues that Darwin’s theory of sexual selection doesn’t fit the available data based on her research on homosexuality and same-sex relationships in humans and other animals.

This interview with Roughgarden is interesting, although a bit shallow, and actually left me wanting to yell through my computer screen at her. At one point she says, “A typical couple has sex once a week for 50 years, but has only two offspring,” which is so wrong if you’re looking at the human population as a whole right now and at humans in the millions of years that we’ve existed. At other times, though, she makes intelligent reference to things like polygamy.

I hope this is a useful, interesting and well-researched book, but this interview raises a few doubts. I wondered what you all would think.

Remember Inherit the Wind and the Scopes “monkey trial”? The same county, Rhea County, Tennessee, had a commissioners’ meeting on Tuesday, March 16, and voted unanimously to make homosexuality within the county illegal.

Obviously didn’t pay attention to the Supreme Court decision from last year….

More and more evidence is mounting (sorry, there’s another double entendre) that our sexuality and gender identities are neurologically based and certainly not just lifestyle “preferences.” UCLA has done a study focusing on this, and their researcher Eric Vilain says, “Our research implies that genes account for some of the differences in male and female brains. It’s quite possible that sexual identity and physical attraction is ‘hard-wired’ by the brain. If we accept this concept, we must dismiss the myth that homosexuality is a ‘choice’ and examine our civil legal system accordingly.”

Be sure to read the whole article for some interesting things on differences in startle responses in gay and straight people.

P.S. Just found the link to this latter study.