Mercury Poisoning and Homosexuality

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Mercury Poisoning and Homosexuality

 

 

The two important studies which are printed below  pose challenges for just about

everybody. What does it say if, as new research indicates, mercury pollution directly

contributes to homosexuality ? And what does it say if "dopamine receptor gene

called DRD4" contributes directly to sexual promiscuity and other related behaviors ?

 

To explain the significance of the first case,  here is a part of a report from Illinois

prepared by stopmercurypollution.org on the subject  of mercury poisoning --

 

Mercury pollution is toxic to children

• Mercury is a neurotoxin that passes through the placenta and poisons fetal brain development. Every day, thousands of developing fetuses, newborns and young children are exposed to mercury when pregnant and nursing women eat contaminated fish, or children eat fish themselves.
• Exposure to mercury in the early stages of life can cause permanent neurological and brain damage, including reduced cognitive abilities and other developmental problems.
• Up to 10 percent of U.S. women of childbearing age are estimated to have mercury levels high enough to put their developing children at increased risk for developmental problems.

Mercury pollution is poisoning Illinois lakes and rivers

• Coal plants produce 60 percent of the mercury pollution in Illinois. That pollution ends up in Lake Michigan and the Great Lakes, and in Illinois' inland rivers, lakes and streams. Mercury contamination then works its way up the food chain to poison fish that people eat.
• Fish in Lake Michigan and all Illinois waterways are contaminated with mercury. The Illinois Department of Public Health has issued “fish advisories” warning everyone – particularly pregnant women, women of childbearing age and children – to limit their consumption of fish from Illinois lakes, rivers and streams.

The pervasiveness of mercury in the environment is not exactly something to shrug off. If the

link between homosexuality and wild birds can be shown to also occur in humans, which now

seems likely, not as THE CAUSE, but as one important cause, then claims by homosexuals

are no less than partly --empirically-- false. The widespread post-AIDS era contention that

"homosexuals are born that way" because of genetic predisposition would be demonstrably

untrue with regard to all homosexuals whose condition can be accounted for primarily

because of high levels of mercury in their bodies. Which would also mean that all programs

either in schools or businesses or government which seek "equal rights" for the perverted

are based, in part anyway, on the view that we should accommodate the effects of mercury

poisoning instead of eliminating mercury pollution. Which would be absurd, not to mention the

situation this would create, which journalists  might well characterize as "Greens vs Gays."

 

What should not go unmentioned is the dilemma this poses for Christians and others

who object to homosexuality on moral grounds, especially religious grounds. What it would

not do is in any way nullify comments in the Bible ( such as are found in the first chapter

of the Book of Romans ) or in various Buddhist sutras which condemn homosexual

behavior for its socially disruptive effects. Regardless, how do you morally censure

someone when he or she is an unwitting victim of mercury poisoning ? You can do so

but only on the condition that any judgement you make takes into account

the need of homosexuals to receive medical treatment  --something that is

very unlikely given the current climate of opinion in many intitutions.

 

There is the argument that mercury contamination was not much of an issue at the

time when the Apostle Paul wrote his scathing remarks about gross misconduct

about homosexuals. Yet even there we may wish to consider whether lead poisoning

was a contributory factor since lead-lined aqueducts were commonplace in ancient

Rome and are known to have had major consequences on fertility rates. Further

research may show another chemically related homosexuality link.

 

The reverse could also be tested, do people who live in the "cleanest" environments

show the  lowest homosexual incidence levels ?

 

The study about dopomine receptor genes suggests an "add-on" to the issue.

If this gene is more-or-less randomly distributed throughout the population

then all mercury poisoned homosexuals with the gene would be doubly cursed

with a condition which needs medical intervention no matter how much

they may argue and organize politically for equal rights.

 

In other words, as I have maintained for the past twenty years now, the entire

case for "rights" for homosexuals is based on false premises, all of it, whether

expressed by Robert Gates or Barack Obama or Bishop Spong or Barney Frank

or Arnold Swarzenegger or Steve Jobs or Bill Gates or Laura Bush or the editors

of the New York Times,  is empirically falsifiable.

 

To repeat, science does not support the views of homosexuals.

 

We have known for a long time now, even if the mass media refuses to acknowledge

the facts, that the best of all predictors for homosexuality in humans are the effects

of sexual abuse on children when they become adolescents or young adults.

Unresolved psychological problems from such trauma often ( not always, but

very often ) result in the pathology known as homosexuality when other

conditions contribute to this outcome, like peer group pressures to accept

homosexuality as an alternative, like a near-constant barrage in the media

to accept homosexuality, like inducements in entertainment to try homosexuality,

and so forth.

 

Another well known predictor is pre-natal health of the mother. A number of

dietary deficiencies can contribute to a child becoming homosexual, as can

trauma during pregnancy. If we add in mercury poisoning as a factor

it is easy enough to see where a tipping point could be reached in any

number of cases where it would not, otherwise.

 

Finally, Christians and others should be disabused of the notion that

the problem can be solved through moral preachments alone. What this

all says is that a major part of the problem of homosexuality, and other

behaviors like compulsive gambling and generalized dysfunctional promiscuity,

have  --in part, possibly a major part--  medical causes.

 

In any case, the entire argument that homosexuality is a "rights" issue

is preposterous on the face of it.

 

It is high time to re-organize opposition to so-called "homosexual rights"

primarily on medical grounds.

 

Billy Rojas

 

 

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Pollution Causes Homosexuality in Birds, Study Suggests

Published December 02, 2010

| FoxNews.com

The nature versus nurture debate just took an unexpected turn -- thanks to pollution. 

Increased exposure to the toxic chemical mercury can affect sexual preference in certain species of birds -- inducing homosexuality, a new study has revealed.

Peter Frederick, an ecologist from the University of Florida, and Nilmini Jayasena from the University of Peradeniya in Sri Lanka found that male American white ibises that consumed methylmercury, the most toxic and easily digested form of mercury found in the environment, were more likely to pair with other males. In wild ibis populations with no mercury exposure, same-sex pairing is non-existent.

"We knew that mercury was likely to affect reproductive hormones from an earlier study," Frederick told FoxNews.com, "so we suspected some aspect of reproduction would be affected, like whether the birds came into reproductive condition or whether they were too aggressive to pair."

"We had no clue that mate choice might be involved," he added.

Birds living in wetlands, such as the ibises, are most vulnerable because the environment is a breeding ground for bacteria that convert the mercury spewed from coal-fired power plants into methylmercury, which "is at least ten times as toxic as the stuff in a thermometer," Frederick said. 

Mercury becomes methylated only when it comes in contact with bacteria in anoxic environments, those that use sulfur instead of oxygen for metabolism. And that process is common in wetlands and shallow aquatic areas, Frederick said.

"The implication is that this is probably happening in wild bird populations," Frederick told Nature magazine.

Frederick and Jayasena studied 160 white ibis nestlings over a three-year period. They found that males with higher levels of mercury were less likely to be approached by females and had a higher chance of being involved in a homosexual pairing. As the level of mercury exposure increased, so did the degree and persistence of homosexual pairing.

Frederick believes that the methylmercury, a known endocrine disruptor, is affecting hormone levels in exposed birds.

While the team hopes their findings sheds light

on the effects of mercury pollution, Frederick makes clear that people shouldn’t think that humans ingesting mercury will suddenly become gay. "I want to be very explicit that this study has nothing to say about that," he told Nature.

That said, mercury pollution is a danger to humans for a variety of other reasons: It's known to affect developing fetuses and has degenerative effects on many human organs.

"There are numerous reasons why cleaning up the environment for birds also reduces risk for humans," Frederick said.

The results of the study are published in the current issue of Royal Society B

Like to Sleep Around? Blame Your Genes

By Stephanie Pappas, LiveScience Senior Writer

posted: 01 December 2010

Whether your roommate is Samantha Sleeps-Around or Paul the Prude, cut him or her some slack: People's predilections for promiscuity lie partially in their DNA, according to a new study.

A particular version of a dopamine receptor gene called DRD4 is linked to people's tendency toward both infidelity and uncommitted one-night stands, the researchers reported Nov. 30 in the online open-access journal PloS One.

The same gene has already been linked to alcoholism and gambling addiction, as well as less destructive thrills like a love of horror films. One study linked the gene to an openness to new social situations, which in turn correlated with political liberalism.

In the new study, researchers gathered a detailed history of sexual behavior and relationships from 181 young adults. They also collected DNA samples from the volunteers' cheeks and analyzed the samples for the presence of the thrill-seeking version of DRD4.

"What we found was that individuals with a certain variant of the DRD4 gene were more likely to have a history of uncommitted sex, including one-night stands and acts of infidelity," study researcher Justin Garcia, a postdoctoral fellow at Binghamton University, State University of New York, said in a statement.

"The motivation seems to stem from a system of pleasure and reward, which is where the release of dopamine comes in," Garcia said. "In cases of uncommitted sex, the risks are high, the rewards substantial and the motivation variable — all elements that ensure a dopamine 'rush.'"

People with the thrill-seeking gene variant were about twice as likely to report a history of one-night stands as those without the gene variant. Half of those with a love of risk imprinted in their DNA reported committing infidelity in the past, compared with 22 percent of those without the variant.

"The study doesn't let transgressors off the hook," said Garcia. "These relationships are associative, which means that not everyone with this genotype will have one-night stands or commit infidelity. Indeed, many people without this genotype still have one-night stands and commit infidelity. The study merely suggests that a much higher proportion of those with this genetic type are likely to engage in these behaviors."