Does science know what causes homosexuality yet?

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See, I don't get what MHX is talking about. Most of the people that dislike these two things don't bother with asking what causes it, unless they're in it for an arguement. The people who genuinely wonder do so out of a curiosity about what makes us tick. Is it wrong to be curious? We study the scientific principals behind everything else- why not ourselves?

it's not the curiosity that is offputting to me. it is the starting point of assumption that homosexuality is an aberration from the norm.

That wasn't my intention. I don't think it read like that.

Maybe I could have asked if we're any closer to know what scientifically causes our differences in sexual orientation.

i like it like that! i perfectly agree.

I tend to reject the notion of learned behaviour--at least partially. There appear to be observable, anatomical differences between heterosexual male and homosexual male brains. While I don't believe that these are entirely deterministic of sexual orientation, I do believe that these could not arise as a result of learned behaviour.

My preferred theory (and it is a preference only, I don't have empirical evidence to back this up) is that environmental issues in utero have an impact on foetal development which creates differences in brain structure. These structures create the potential for differences in sexual orientation that are then reinforced or mitigated by post-natal environmental factors.

But this provides us with no understanding of bisexuality or lesbianism. But I'm not expecting a "Grand Unified Theory" of queerness, anyway.

And that is why I like physics so much better than biology...

@hyperlexian: When I wonder what the cause of homosexuality is I'm not saying that it is an abberation from the norm. I am simply asking what is anatomically, hormonally, or psychologically different between a homosexual and a heterosexual. If we find the cause of homosexuality then I think it is reasonable to assume that we'd also find the reason for heterosexuality--the two would go hand in hand.

i get what you are saying, but the language in this discourse largely places homosexuality as the aberrant condition that should be studied. i don't buy into that. it makes more sense to study all of the variations for answers.

what i mean is that.... if we have a starting point asking, "what causes some humans to be female", the language points to the female gender being an aberration of the default maleness. that sounds ridiculous to me (probably to most people), and i feel the same way about considering homosexuality to be an aberration by default.

i think that the way our society views these subjects colours the approach of research and policy-making.

I blame my mother.

But in all seriousness, I expect it's more that just one thing that causes homosexual desires. I think it is a mixture of genetics, experience, and hormones. Though I expect experience to be a minor cause.