IRIS ROBINSON held nothing back this month when . 鈥淗omosexuality is disgusting, nauseating, shameful, wicked and vile,鈥� she said. It is 鈥渘ot natural鈥�. Her Christian belief told her it is 鈥渁n abomination鈥� and she advised homosexuals to seek psychiatric help. Such intolerance may be bread and butter for preachers of the fire-and-brimstone variety but it is rare in UK politics. Robinson is a Member of Parliament and of the Northern Ireland Assembly.
Interpretation of biblical verses is best left to Christian scholars, but much else that Robinson said should not go unchallenged, such as the notion that homosexuality is unnatural. The animal kingdom is replete with same-sex action. Male penguins do it, rams do it, even female macaques pair off to do it. Nine years ago, Bruce Bagemihl counted 470 species that indulge in same-sex activity, ranging from male anal penetration by males to body rubbing and fellatio (快猫短视频, 7 August 1999, p 32).
Perhaps Robinson means something different by unnatural. After all, the human body has evolved for the act of procreation, hasn鈥檛 it? Well, up to a point. Over the past two decades, research has found increasing evidence that 鈥渘ature鈥� seems to be saying something different to many people.
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Take genes. In 1993, Dean Hamer at the National Institutes of Health in Bethesda, Maryland, identified a region on the X chromosome that might predispose men to homosexuality 鈥� a putative 鈥�gay gene鈥�. And there are findings to support Hamer鈥檚 notion that such a gene might increase a woman鈥檚 chances of having more children, which would ensure that it persists.
Then there are anatomical differences between straight and gay people, particularly in brain structure. Critics have rightly argued that these changes may not be the cause of homosexual behaviour, but the result. However, a study published this week, looking at aspects of brain symmetry and wiring that are probably fixed at birth, found clear differences between heterosexuals and homosexuals (see 鈥淕ay brains: a case of altered gender?鈥�).
It would be wrong to say that homosexuality is all down to 鈥渘ature鈥�: it is likely that people are influenced to different degrees by both biology and learning. But the notion that homosexuality is 鈥渦nnatural鈥� is equally wrong. Robinson鈥檚 other comments are also disturbing. Homosexuality is not a mental disorder and there is absolutely no valid scientific evidence that .
Does it matter that a high-profile politician is peddling ideas not backed by scientific or medical evidence? For one particular reason, yes. Robinson is chair of the Northern Ireland Assembly鈥檚 health committee. One can鈥檛 help worrying about the quality of healthcare the people of Northern Ireland can expect.