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56 DePaul L. Rev. 997 (2006-2007)
The Biological Causes and Consequences of Homosexual Behavioral and Their Relevance for Family Law Politics

handle is hein.journals/deplr56 and id is 1007 raw text is: THE BIOLOGICAL CAUSES AND CONSEQUENCES OF HOMOSEXUAL BEHAVIOR AND THEIR RELEVANCE FOR FAMILY LAW POLICIES Lynn D. Wardle* INTRODUCTION A number of scholars at this Symposium addressed the issue of whether the choice to engage in homosexual behavior has a biological cause. This highly contested issue is critical in the development of family law policies regarding the relationships of gays and lesbians. This Article begins with a review of the scientific literature on the immutability of homosexual behavior. It shows how little we actually know about the causes of homosexual attraction and behavior. Any significant reliance upon current information about the biological or social causes of homosexual attraction in formulating or reformulating legal policy would be premature. We must await the maturation and development of this knowledge base. The major focus of this Article is not the biological causes of homo- sexual attraction, but the biological effects of homosexual behavior on human health. Our understanding of the biological consequences of engaging in homosexual behavior is also incomplete, because social acceptance of homosexual behavior is a relatively recent phenome- non. Nevertheless, in the past three decades, valuable information about the consequences of this behavior has more fully developed. Putting aside past and prevailing stereotypes and myths about the consequences of homosexual behavior, this research into the health risks of engaging in homosexual behavior is relevant to a number of family law and policy issues: the legal recognition of same-sex mar- riage, domestic violence, adoption and foster care by gay and lesbian * Bruce C. Hafen Professor of Law, J. Reuben Clark Law School, Brigham Young Univer- sity. I gratefully acknowledge the research assistance of BYU Law School students Jacob Ong, Evie Brinkerhoff, and Kevin J. Fiet, the psychological expertise and advice of A. Dean Byrd, Ph.D., M.B.A., and the production assistance of Marcene Mason. I thank Professor Jane Ruth- erford, who invited me to participate in this Symposium, Christine Matott, Symposium Editor for Volume 55 of the DePaul Law Review, and her associates, who were so gracious and compe- tent in arranging and managing the logistics of the Symposium, and also their successors, who edited the papers for publication.

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