Exploring the Gay Brain

Last month, when the California Supreme Court declared same-sex marriage a constitutional right, it repeatedly invoked the precedent of interracial marriage. An attorney involved in the case protested: "There is no evidence to establish that a homosexual lifestyle is an immutable characteristic such as race."

He's wrong. There's lots of evidence. More of it just came out this week. It's been driving the gay rights debate all along, away from the clutches of religion and into the clutches of science. The trend is inexorable, but its implications are about to change. The culture war over homosexuality is dying -- and a chemical war is threatening to take its place.

Homosexuality used to be regarded as a lifestyle, something you freely chose or rejected. We discouraged, condemned and punished it like any other sin.

Then along came science. Study after study found differences between gay and straight brains.

Homosexuality came to be viewed less as a lifestyle and more as an orientation, too deeply rooted to be freely rejected. Gay activists embraced and trumpeted these studies. Public opinion shifted. Punishment and condemnation began to subside.