Ricketts W
J Homosex. 1984 Summer;9(4):65-93. doi: 10.1300/J082v09n04_06.
Research based on the assumption that homosexuality can be traced to heredity, prenatal brain differentiation, or effects of gonadotropins in adulthood is reviewed. From a biological standpoint the studies are deficient in several respects: More or less accurate methods of hormone assay, uncertainty over the process of brain sexual differentiation in humans, lack of agreement regarding the role of various gonadotropins in human behavior, small samples, and lack of controls. Moreover, the biological research is based on unwarranted assumptions about human sexuality, sex differences, and sexual orientation that have been imported from the social sciences and popular beliefs. The article questions why a biological basis for sexual orientation is expected, why biologists try to explain homosexuality but not heterosexuality, and what biologists mean by "homosexual." The author concludes that the biological research on homosexuality shows the ineluctable taint on "objective" science of personal beliefs and cultural prejudices.
本文综述了基于同性恋可追溯到遗传、产前脑分化或成年期促性腺激素影响这一假设的研究。从生物学角度来看，这些研究在几个方面存在不足：激素检测方法或多或少不够精确，人类脑性分化过程存在不确定性，对于各种促性腺激素在人类行为中的作用缺乏共识，样本量小且缺乏对照。此外，生物学研究基于从社会科学和大众观念中引入的关于人类性行为、性别差异和性取向的无端假设。文章质疑了为何期待性取向有生物学基础，为何生物学家试图解释同性恋而非异性恋，以及生物学家所说的“同性恋者”是什么意思。作者得出结论，关于同性恋的生物学研究显示出个人信念和文化偏见给“客观”科学带来的不可避免的污点。
