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Originally Posted by timalkin
I'm not really sure what is gained by revealing this type of information. A biological basis for homosexuality simply means that homosexuality is some sort of genetic mutation that is undesirable in the grand scheme of life. Since homosexuals don't bear offspring, they don't pass their genetic material to another generation.
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Why is it undesirable? At a species level, it has little effect on the population. One in 20 men and one in 40 women is homosexual, yet we're still growing our population.
And it's not a genetic mutation. The best evidence available right now seems to indicate that male homosexuality is a result of variant gestational hormone levels. The cause of female homosexuality is more difficult to determine, but there does seem to be a stronger environmental influence. It's still natural.
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It's not such a big deal in the human world where we set goals other than having children and raising them, but a homosexual animal is very undesirable in nature. An animal's most important goal in life is to produce offspring. It's safe to say that any homosexual animal species died out long ago.
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This presumes a species that is 100% homosexual. Since we're talking about humans, where homosexuality is 5-6% for males and about half that for females, it's hardly an issue. As someone else suggested, it may be an adaptation to population density, though I see no evidence to support this and think that there is some good evidence on the other side. If it is, it wouldn't make it good or bad, it would make it evolutionary. In other words, natural.
I suspect that dd3953 is right about homosexuals reproducing less often than heterosexuals, primarily because homosexual couples cannot produce accidental pregnacies, while that's quite common among heterosexuals. It's not really an issue, though, as we don't reproduce true. Children of homosexuals are no more likely to be homosexual themselves than those of heterosexuals, and nearly all homosexuals come from heterosexual parents. We don't need to reproduce, because you folk are gonna keep making more of us.
Gilda