Male Homosexuality: Side Effect of Female Evolution?

So I personally love evolution, it was one of the first scientific concepts that fascinated me as a kid and it still intrigues me just as much to this day. There was one thing about the theory and human behavior that I never thought added up though, and that was homosexuality. Basically, if Evolution by means of natural selection was the way it all went down, then why wasn't homosexuality just rubbed out of behavior in general earlier on since homosexuals couldn't have kids? I never could answer that question, and it has bugged me and more than likely countless others for the longest time. That is, until I read this article reviewing a recent paper which was published on the matter.

The long and short of it is, male sexuality, at least according to the statistical analysis done in the paper, is linked to female relatives on the mother's side having a larger than average number of children. This is hypothesized to act as a buffer against extinction, since in the event of a dip in the population these women will just let their loins burst with children, possibly because their attraction towards men is stronger than the attraction felt by other women. An apparent byproduct of this is that males who are the offspring of these females will carry the same genetic trait, and thus be more inclined to fancy the boys rather than the gals. Taken from the article:

"...if the authors are correct, we're not really talking about genes for homosexuality. We're talking about genes for "androphilia," i.e., attraction to men. The importance of the genes lies in what they do not to men but to women, by increasing reproductive output so powerfully that these women compensate for the reduced output among their male relatives. You can't isolate gay men as a puzzle or problem anymore. You have to see them as part of a bigger, stronger, enduring phenomenon."

I love the fact that the whole experiment is based on analysis of breeding data that was already there for anyone to look at and the primary investigator just took a fresh approach to it. It actually kind of reminds me of Mendel's peas, you know that little experiment which is widely accepted as the forerunner to all of genetics? It makes me feel good that the model that he began is still being used to this day, albeit with slightly more advanced statistical techniques, but still, ya gotta love Mendel. Anywho, read the article, it's nice and it clears up (at least in my mind) the debate whether Homosexuality is genetic or cultural.


Sexual Antagonism - A genetic theory of homosexuality.