London, UK. Risking the charge of stereotyping, a study team concludes from recent research that sexual orientation and gender conformity in women are both genetic traits.

Scientists have consensus that there are consistent differences in the psychological characteristics of boys and girls, such as the tendency of boys to engage in more rough and tumble play than girls.


Studies also show that children who become gay or lesbian adults differ in such traits from those who become heterosexual — so-called gender nonconformity. Research which follows these children to adulthood shows that between 50 to 80 per cent of gender nonconforming boys become gay, and about one third of such girls become lesbian.

Shared: Genes and Random Environmental Factors

Andrea Burri and Qazi Rahman are from Queen Mary's School of Biological and Chemical Sciences at the University of London.

They report that a shared set of genes and shared set of random environmental factors is partially responsible both for gender nonconformity and female sexual orientation.

The results appear in the journal PLos ONE.The team followed a group of 4,000 British women who were one of a pair of twins. They were asked questions about their sexual attractions and behaviour, and a series of follow up questions about their gender nonconformity. In line with previous research, the team found modest genetic influences on sexual orientation (25 per cent) and childhood gender nonconformity (31 per cent).

The researchers found a connection between these mental traits and how sexual orientation develops. One idea is that there is an association between these psychological traits and sexual orientation because they all develop under common biological drivers. An example is the development of brain regions under the influence of genes and sex hormones.

However, Dr Qazi Rahman, a study co-author, says "We think environmental factors and genetics drive other mechanisms, like exposure to sex hormones in the womb, to shape differences in gender nonconformity and sexuality simultaneously." In other words, the causes are upstream from hormone release, traceable to causative factors very early in development.

Dr Rahman is mindful that the results may carry the risk of stereotyping, adding: "Stereotypes like sissy or mannish have not been helpful in promoting respect for gay people, and those who don't match those stereotypes may find it hard to accept they are gay or lesbian."

But he believes the team's findings are increasingly important to researchers concerned with the mental health of sexual minorities. "We know that gay people who are strongly gender nonconforming report more anxiety and depression symptoms. "Poor mental health in gay populations is partly due to societal stigma and victimisation.

Our results suggest that being gender nonconforming and lesbian comes from within." There is little you can do about it. "So gender nonconformity does not cause mental health problems, but it may trigger negative reactions from other people (like parents and peers) leading to mental health problems."

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