Gay = Left Handed?

[Dahmerqueen]

Hey Folks,

I have wanted to find a site like this for a long time. Just so I can ask this question

A few years back I read an article about an apparent correlation between Homosexuality and 'Left-Handedness'

This stated that that a poll of gay men showed that the majority were left handed, theorising that a gay man is more likely to be left-handed than right-handed

However, this did NOT suggest that a left-handed man was more likely to be gay! 

I think the figure was something like over 70% of gay men were left handed, I am a gay 'leftie', My ex was left-handed and two of my three gay friends are lefties too..

Therfore my queston is..

Q - Is there any truth in this? and if so, does anyone know why this is?

Oh and please, No "Just what is gay" responses, I understand that Human sexuality is a complex issue but at its most basic level I see it like this...

"I am a man who is NOT sexually attracted to Women in any way yet I AM sexually attracted to men"

Hope someone can help,

Thanks in advance

R   x

[magicdice]

gay men are more likely to be left-handed and have an older brother

however, left-handed men with older brothers are not more likely to be gay

i doubt they're related directly, possibly both are linked through some other factor

sorry that this is no use whatsoever!

xx

[morg_monster]

I read a theory a couple of years back which aimed to answer why homosexuality hasn't been 'bred out' as on the whole gay men don't have children.  it hypothesised that male homosexuality was actually passed down through the mother's line, and that if a woman had many sons, then a younger son may be gay so that he would not leave the family home to marry, instead staying at home to help his mum, as a daughter would have done.  I know it is a bit bizarre but it is supported by the true fact that gay men tend to have one or more older brothers.  In some cultures (pacific mainly i think), in a family with many sons and no daughters, the youngest son was brought up as a girl to help mum out!  Not sure if this goes on anymore.

[Dahmerqueen]

Thanks a lot matey, thats very interesting, any ideas where you gleaned this info...I only have an older sister..

I would really like to know more about this anoyone got any ideas..?

Thanks again

R x

[Chillum]

It all sounds a bit sinister to me.

[Dahmerqueen]

Maybe 'In a Pickle' should re-read my question.

This is not what I asked!

'Left handedness proving gayness' is precisely what I highlighted in BOLD as not being what was meant

And I find your tenuous link from my innocent question to the likes I Hitler simply disgraceful

I am in no-way trying to pigeonhole anybody!! I was merely asking if anybody else had heard of the theory that a lot of gay men are left handed...

It really is that simple

try thinking a bit next time before you respond in such a manner eh...

[Hippy]

Gay man here, right handed, older sister (also right handed) not gay, mother left handed not gay, father right handed not gay. I have one gay male friend who is left handed, but work with about four left handed non-gay men. Not a fair comparison I expect, as the work people probably amount to 300 or so, but my close gay male acquaintances are fewer.

Left handedness is genetically determined in a sort of negative way. There is a gene to predispose right handedness, and in the absence of this gene 50% of such people will be lefties.

"Sinister" is Latin for left.

Although I have done no scientific research, my experience leads me to suspect that lefties are about 5.5% of the population, and seem equally distributed between men and women.

I do so understand your care not to ascribe a causal link between left handedness and being gay, but I am intrigued by yours and other's experience that gay men as a group may display more than the expected number of left handed individuals.

[smudge]

Dahmerqueen - There are a few males in our family who are left handed - they are all 'straight'.

There were a few men at work who were left handed - they were all 'straight'.

I have one homosexual nephew - he is right handed, as is his Partner.

Personally - I think this theory is a load of twaddle!

[morg_monster]

hi again, I've been looking for some info on the newspaper article that I read but it seems to have disappeared ,it was a few years ago, and may well have been discredited by now, as it wasn't based on any actual research.  still an interesting read tho! Also searching on google using various terms tends to bring up a lot of unsavoury ultra-right christian sites about how to cure yourself of homosexuality! which is another thread entirely.

But i did find a couple of sites you may find interesting which tell the story of the 'gay gene' which exploded in the early 90s and why scientists are pretty quiet about it now.  nothing about left handedness though!

http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/entrez/dispomim.cgi?id=306995

http://www.leaderu.com/jhs/satinover.html

[crazy chick]

Ok I hope not......My boy friend is a leftie lol.

[Englishbird]

I'll probably get shot down in flames here - but to my mind it is now generally accepted that people are born gay (specifically men) Therefore a genetic predisposition to being left handed (or anything) makes sense to me.

If we assume that the stats are correct, for the sake of the argument, then i would imagine that the left handed connection is something to do with the right hand side of the brain.

I am not trying to suggest that all gay men are artistic, neither can all black men dance and not all blondes are ditzy.  However there are a greater number of gay men in the arts, and the artistic streak has been linked to being left handed.

[Dahmerqueen]

My Dear Pickle

Simple Answer - For years I have been interested in the psychology and motivation behind serial killers, I know quite a bit about them.

I find Jeffrey Dahmer most fascinating as he (Like Aileen Wuornos) was unusual amongst serial killers

He was gay (most SK are straight, there arent many other gay serial killers .. Gacy/Nilsen/Corll/Cunanan..)

He killed outside his race (Most kill within their own ethnic group)

He was also a cannibal / necrophile this takes him further out of the spectrum of <ahem> "normal" SK characteristics

Most SK take glory in the act of murder, JD also attempted to create subservient 'partners' through the use of muriatic acid, killing was not necessarily the aim (very much like the M.O of British SK Dennis Nilsen)

However, I am not confined to JD, David Berkowitz is interesting also in his unusal use of a gun (most SK tend to prefer a more 'intimate' weapon auch as a knife)

I am a reasonably educated man, I neither glorify nor condone any acts commited by these people. On the contrary the acts some have comitted revulse me

Look up Dean Corll (The Candyman) on google.(DO NOT if easily offended) Fascinating SK but his particular methods for killing were truly horrendous 

When people here it is an interest of mine they presume I am some sick gorehound..they couldnt be further from the truth, I am a complete leftie pacifist veggie hippy

oh yeah and

Its a play on words, everyone always thinks it's 'DramaQueen'

So... Are gay men more likely to be left handed?