Biology Forums - Study Force

I know the explanation to why people are gay is now more hard wired than it was 20 years ago, but what about women? Why are there gay women?

The trait of being gay for MEN could have posed an evolutionary advantage due to the fact that long ago, when we lived in tribes or clans, a gay man would not have children of his own and thus would support raising his brother and/or sister's children. A gay man's nieces or nephews still have 50% of his own genes, just like how if he did have kids they would also have 50% of his genes. (Explained: Gay man and his siblings are composed of half mothers genes and half fathers genes. Thus gay man and his siblings have the same genes. If the gay man's brother/sister has a child then the child is half the brother/sisters genes and half someone elses. Same goes for if the gay man had a child of his own, half his genes and half someone elses.) So, knowing all this means that the gay man may have more success of having his genes (or parents genes) survive by helping his brother and sisters children survive and reproduce. Rather than only trying to keep his one or few children survive to reproduce. Example.. So, help raise his 8 nephews and nieces survive to reproduction vs. only help his two children survive to reproduction.
So perhaps the same could be said for WOMEN and lesbianism. It is likely just a shared trait between genders. The only difference is that long ago (in tribes) women probably didn't have a choice in sexual orientation, whereas men probably did. That last bit is my speculation though. Obviously today we do not rely on our relatives to help raise a family, but long ago this was a necessity.

^^ I couldn't disagree more about why gay people are prevalent.

Most men with gay tendencies were expected to marry a woman out of fear. Hence, their genes were spread since our species evolved. The same thing goes with many cultures today - to this day, gay men marry women because it's the norm in their culture. These men usually have fewer offspring because of erectile dysfunction and not being able to perform with a woman.

Lesbanism I'd say isn't as hardwired in terms of genetics than homosexuality is in men. It's the reason there exists later-in-life lesbians - women who were attracted to men throughout their lives, than found spending time with the same gender more appropriate to their survival. Some women produce far more testosterone than normal, making them more androgynous, thus seeking for different qualities in a partner. This doesn't mean it's necessarily their genes, but how their genes are configured during fetal development. I'm not an expert at this field, but I couldn't relate to what @todaywasboring was saying. If these "gay" men didn't reproduce, then how were their genes passed on? Doesn't make much sense.

The gay trait is thought to actually pass on from the female and produces gay men. By creating a gay man the man will help raise his brother and sisters children. And his sisters will likely in turn pass on the trait of being gay. This is how it is passed on. I think that makes sense the way i wrote it. And i'm talking about long long ago, when we were in tribes and there was no social norms or stigma about sexual preference.
 Its called kin selection< here is an article about it. http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2010/02/100204144551.htm

Here is another one talking about how the gay gene is passes on from females and how it increases fecundity.

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2012/06/12/why-are-there-gay-men_n_1590501.html

Its all very interesting stuff! and i looked into it a lot for a class. Though i cant find the actual research papers about this on google... i can only find articles about it.

Huffington post? :(

Epigenetics also holds a strong argument as to why homosexuality is present, it might not even be a specific gene or a group of genes. Chemicals that the fetus is exposed to during early and late pregnancy have been shown to turn certain genes on and off.

Here's an article that might explain it better than I do. Personally, I believe this is the reason for it all.

http://www.the-scientist.com/?articles.view/articleNo/33773/title/Can-Epigenetics-Explain-Homosexuality-/

Let's not forget about inbreeding, intentional or otherwise. Our sexuality is definitely determined in our genes.For example, the identical twins one boy one girl and both being gay. :)