Groundbreaking study reveals sexual orientation may not be a choice

The largest ever study of its kind has found clear links between male sexual orientation and two specific regions of the human genome that erodes the notion that sexual orientation is a choice.

The study by the NorthShore Research Institute in the US analyzed the genetic code of 818 gay men to find common genetic markers and the researchers do not claim to have identified a single gene which 'causes' male homosexuality in humans and stress that with complex human traits like sexual orientation there are many influencing factors, both genetic and environmental, the Independent reported.

Neuroscientist Simon LeVay said that this study knocks another nail into the coffin of the 'chosen lifestyle' theory of homosexuality and people have a choice in life, to be ourselves or to conform to someone else's idea of normality, but being straight, bisexual or gay, or none of these, is a central part of who we are, thanks in part to the DNA we were born with.

Lead scientist Alan Sanders said that it's a far cry from finding the 'gay gene' itself and said that they have found a region of the brain that was smaller in gay men.