Sakari.net

One recent topic in Finland has been Johanna Korhonen, who was appointed the editor of the newspaper Lapin Kansa. She was later fired before she had time to start in her new position, allegedly because her domestic partnership with another woman. A statement that an out lesbian can not work as editor of Lapin Kansa by the retiring editor seems to support her claim of discrimination. The case is still her word against the publisher Alma Media, who claim loss of trust.

Right now the outrage over ms Korhonen’s treatment makes us miss a positive side of the affair: that there is an outrage. The overwhelming reaction seems to be, that ms. Korhonen was treated unfairly if she really was fired because of her sexual orientation. And not just liberal press but the staff and subscribers of Lapin Kansa.

This case has created a lively discussion over the existence of a glass ceiling on the career of openly gay people. The case with a glass ceiling is that it is invisible. You get passed over for a promotion or they just don’t hire you. The open discussion that has ensued shows to me, that the climate is changing for greater equality in the workplace. I’m very hopeful that time when we need to hide our identity in our working life is really behind us.

A recent news story tells of a Swedish research team’s conclusions about physical causes of homosexuality. According the study conducted at the Karolinska Institute in Stockholm sexuality is a biologically fixed trait demonstrated in physical brain differences. The researchers, Ivanka Savic and Per Lindström, studied 90 persons, 25 heterosexual and 20 homosexual men and women with MRI brain scan. They determined that the brain symmetry of gay men resembles that of straight women while lesbian women show an asymmetry similar to straight men.

The researchers also used PET scans to measure blood flow to the amygdala, part of the brain that governs fear and aggression. They found that in straight women and gay men the connections were mainly into regions of the brain that manifest fear as intense anxiety. In straight men and lesbians the amygdala connected mainly into regions of the brain that trigger the ‘fight or flight’ response.

The researchers conclude that the brain structures that in homosexuals resemble those in heterosexuals of the opposite sex are likely to have been forged in the womb and not the result of later learning processes. They acknowledge that the study can’t say whether the brain differences are inherited, or result from abnormally high or low exposure in the womb to sex hormones such as testosterone.

This study adds evidence to support the idea that sexual orientation is innate or biologically fixed. Does this mean that homosexuality is genetically determined? Not really; Results from studies seem to point that way, but there is not really conclusive proof. They can give some insight to what we humans are and how our sexual orientation – whether homo-, bi- or heterosexual – might come about. Interestingly the study seems to confirm some stereotypical ideas about homosexuals, as well as difference between sexes. Judging only from a news story it is hard to say how accurately this represents the findings of the study as individual variation within the studied group was not reported. However the causes may be more complex than a single genetic or prenatal factor.

Does it really matter?

We might think that if homosexuality is innate this would provide justification to gay rights. If we cannot alter our sexual orientation, then it should be accepted that homosexual orientation is equally valuable as heterosexual. This argument doesn’t quite hold water. You cannot derive ought from is, as Hume’s law states. Those who for religious or other reasons are opposed to gay rights would find it equally easy to condemn. On the one hand are those, who are not swayed by scientific arguments. On the other hand some might even want to find a cure – say gene therapy – or genetic screening. The argument for gay equality must come from moral causes.