Evolutionarily speaking, homosexuality is puzzling. Homosexual intercourse produces no offspring and is a waste of time and energy (again, evolutionarily speaking). Nevertheless, many species exhibit this behavior. Let us explore the possible reasons why homosexuality persists.
One theory is the “Gay Uncle” theory. Although, your gay uncles and aunts don’t have biological children of their own, they can help raise you while your parents are busy hunting and gathering food. You still share a quarter of your uncle’s genes so if you have at least three other siblings or first cousins being taken care of, then the evolutionary math adds up. The problem with this theory is that gay men and women do not spend much of their time taking care of their nieces and nephews.
Another is called the “Sneaky Fucker” theory. Let’s say that caveman Fred is off to hunt for the day but wants to protect his lover Wilma from predatory animals and interested men while she stays home. Fred feels safe though since he asked his gay best friend Barney to protect her while he’s gone. Although Barney is almost exclusively gay, he is infatuated with Wilma; he also knows that Wilma wants Barney as well. Unbeknownst to Fred, Barney and Wilma have a secret affair. However, straight men tend not to ask gay men to protect their wives and girlfriends. (However, kings did have eunuchs to protect their concubines; “Eunuch” literally means “bed keeper” in Greek.)
A far more convincing theory has to do with genetics. The groundbreaking sexologist Alfred Kinsey found that human sexuality is not black-and-white but a spectrum with a lot of gray area. While most people are sexually attracted to the opposite sex, sometimes they do feel same sex attraction and act upon them. We can think of homosexuality as a recessive trait that straight individuals can carry. Therefore, full-blown homosexuality may be the result of someone receiving the recessive gay genes from both parents.
Some may even argue that we can skip the genetics part and solely rely on Kinsey’s spectrum theory. As long as a lesbian feels an attraction to one man to have sex with him at least once, she has a chance of passing on her genes. The idea: you only have to be “straight enough” make it through to the next round in natural selection.
One more possibility is worth mentioning: homophobia. Because of the rampant discrimination that exists around the world, many gay men and women stay in the closet and have heterosexual relationships. I went through a fascinating book called Gay in America by Scott Pasfield and I was amazed by how many of these gay men had biological children with their ex-wives, especially ones from the South and Midwest. I also asked my parents if they personally knew any gay Koreans back in Seoul. They said they couldn’t think of a single one and everyone there eventually gets married and has kids. According to my dad, most gay Koreans are in the closet because of the intense homophobia and strong Confucian values that permeate Korean culture.
One thing that is unclear is if the percentage of homosexuals will decrease as time goes on. As we become more tolerant of gays in our communities, fewer gays will be pressured into heterosexual relationships. On the other hand, we now have the technology and means to enable same-sex couples to have biological children of their own so the percentage of gays could increase.
As a final note (in case it wasn’t clear), I’d like to remind readers that I am not making any moral justifications for homophobia. Just because it may have a served an evolutionary purpose does not mean that it is right.
