Life

Homosexuality Is Good For Evolution

by Catie Keck

Contrary to whatever the conservative circus will have you believe, more and more research has proved that same sex preferences are not, in fact, a chosen orientation. But a new study shows there may be added benefits to homosexuality: it’s an important part of human evolution. And contrary to whatever the procreation police have deemed vile or inappropriate (as if knocking a few digits off our global population wouldn’t hurt), a hormone linked to homoerotic thoughts is the same one that allows us to form bonds with members of the opposite sex, enabling us to engage as a fully functional society.

Researchers at the University of Portsmouth found that progesterone, which is produced by in the adrenal glands in men and the ovaries in women, is closely associated with “the need to forge same-sex alliances, which can be traced back to the teamwork of the earliest hunter-gatherers.” Basically, as the Telegraph’s Gordon Rayner points out, it’s the hormone responsible for “caring or friendly behavior,” and is increased when we experience “close or friendly interactions.” In their study, researchers asked participants to answer questions such as, "The idea of kissing a person of the same sex is sexually arousing to me," and, "If someone of the same sex made a pass at me I would be disgusted.” They then compared their answers with levels of progesterone in their saliva, and found a link.

Dr. Diana Fleischman, who led the study, explains that our narrow understanding of sex solely as a means of reproduction fails to acknowledge that it serves as a method of forming bonds as well. “Because sexual behaviour is intimate and pleasurable, it is also used in many species, including non-human primates, to help form and maintain social bonds,” she says. “We can all see this in romantic couples who bond by engaging in sexual behaviour even when reproduction is not possible.” Having some level of attraction to persons of the opposite sex is actually an adaptive behavior, she says, and as with any adaptive behavior there will be extremes in either direction.

So, essentially, it’s totally cool to want to make out with Oliva Munn. Because evolution.

Image: Giphy