A construção social e política pela não-discriminação por orientação sexual / The social and political construction of the non-discrimination based on sexual orientation

Este artigo busca apontar e compreender, no contexto brasileiro, a construção de uma rede social, política e jurídica de combate à discriminação por orientação sexual. Para tanto, vale-se de uma abordagem genealógica das condições de possibilidade para a emergência da discriminação por orientação sexual como questão social, bem como para a criação de instrumentos jurídicos e sociais de enfrentamento e ações afirmativas pela liberdade de expressão sexual. Consideram-se como aspectos importantes nesse processo a atuação dos movimentos sociais contra a discriminação de gênero e sexo; a dimensão da saúde, sobretudo no que diz respeito à epidemia da Aids nos anos 80; e a resposta do Estado frente a esse contexto.

This paper seeks to understand, in the Brazilian context, the construction of a social, political and juridical network aimed to fight discrimination linked to sexual orientation. To do so, we used a genealogical approach to define the conditions of possibility to the emergence of sexual orientation discrimination as a social issue, as well as the creation of social and legal instruments and affirmative actions to ensure freedom of sexual expression. We consider as important aspects in this process the role of social movements against gender discrimination, the health dimension concerning aids epidemic in the 1980's and the government response to it.

Psicobiología de la homosexualidad masculina: hallazgos recientes / Psychobiology of male homosexuality: recent findings

En esta revisión se examinan reportes empíricos y teóricos que indagan sobre las causas de la homosexualidad masculina. Con base en ellos se establece que la homosexualidad masculina difiere de la femenina en algunos aspectos. Adicionalmente, se muestra evidencia suficiente para considerar la homosexualidad masculina como una condición biológica: existen diferencias cerebrales entre hombres gais y hombres heterosexuales, factores genéticos y prenatales asociados con la homosexualidad, diferencias cognitivas y comportamentales, modelos animales para estudiar la homosexualidad; por último, no se ha encontrado evidencia de factores psicosociales asociados con la condición de homosexualidad en los hombres.

In this paper, empirical and theoretical reports which question the causes ofmale homosexuality are examined. According to these reports, male homosexuality differs from female homosexuality in some respects. Additionally, evidence favouring the consideration of male homosexuality as a biological condition is shown: there are brain differences between gay men and heterosexual men, there are genetic and perinatal factors associated to malehomosexuality, there are cognitive and behavioral differences between gayand heterosexual men, there are animal models for studying homosexuality;finally, there are negative findings concerning the psychosocial factorsassociated to male homosexuality.

Efectos mnemónicos maternos prenatales sobre el sexo psíquico humano: insuficiencia del mecanismo inmunitario: nueva propuesta desde la tolerancia-rechazo materno-fetal / Prenatal maternal mnemonic effects on the human neuro-psychic sex: a new proposition from fetus-maternal tolerance-rejection

In approximately 15 percent of homosexual men, their phenotype is associated to the fraternal birth order. Older biological brothers induce in their mothers anti-male factors (antibodies) that interfere the brain maleness development ofyounger fetuses. This effect is seldom seen in non-right-handed men and is not seen in women. The influence of older siblings is seen in their sex ratio (SR). In contradiction with previous hypothesis, significant heterogeneities of SR have been found among older siblings of males or females, right or non-right-handed and homo or heterosexual individuáis. This can only be understood as if the ñndings found among homosexuals were part of a general mechanism of fetus-maternal tolerance-rejection processes of placental mammals. We found, in relation to ABO and Rh systems and sex, that embryos with genes different from those of their mothers, induced better pregnancies and maternal tolerance than embryos similar to their mothers. Assuming that homo or heterosexuality and right or non-right-handedness behave similar to ABO or Rh alíeles, the author provides a speculative interpretation ofthese results. Homosexual women (¡esbians) and especially if they are non-right-handed, are preceded by siblings with a high SR (maternal environment with anti-female or pro-male factors); then lesbianism or non-right-handedness may induce tolerance to be a woman in such anti-female environment. Non-right-handedness could induce tolerance for anti-male factors of mothers, thus preventing the production ofgays in a pro-male maternal environment, but leading to the production of non-right-handed gays in anti-male maternal environments. Several new hypotheses and interpretations merge from this newproposition. Also, complete sexual orientation could be acquired after birth.

Excess of counterclockwise scalp hair-whorl rotation in homosexual men.

While most men prefer women as their sexual partners, some are bisexual and others are homosexuals. It has been debated for a long time whether a person's sexual preference is innate, learned, or due to a combination of both causes. It was recently discovered that the human right-versus-left-hand use preference and the direction of scalp hair-whorl rotation develop from a common genetic mechanism. Such a mechanism controls functional specialization of brain hemispheres. Whether the same mechanism specifying mental makeup influences sexual preference was determined here by comparing hair-whorl rotation in groups enriched with homosexual men with that in males at large. Only a minority of 8.2% (n = 207) unselected 'control' group of males had counterclockwise rotation. In contrast, all three samples enriched with homosexual men exhibited highly significant (P < 0.0001), 3.6-fold excess (29.8%, n = 272) counterclockwise rotation. These results suggest that sexual preference may be influenced in a significant proportion of homosexual men by a biological/genetic factor that also controls direction of hair-whorl rotation.