No scientific evidence that people are born gay, lesbian or transgender, researchers conclude

Johns Hopkins University scholars said there is no definitive scientific evidence that gay, lesbian and transgender people are born with a fixed gender identity or sexual orientation.

This was the main argument of a three-part 143-page report published by The New Atlantis.

The report was written by written by Dr. Lawrence S. Mayer and Dr. Paul R. McHugh. Both doctors took on the claims that sexual orientation and gender dysphoria are caused by natural traits. The report was written to improve the public's understanding of the issue.

The report stated that studies conducted on the brains of homosexual and heterosexual individuals have found some characteristic differences. However, differences are found not to be inborn but rather differences that are results of environmental factors that had an influence on both psychological and neurobiological traits. The study found that the experience of childhood sexual abuse, which is said to contribute to the higher probability rates, is one environmental factor that is most likely correlated with non-heterosexuality.

 "The idea there that sexual orientation is fluid, that people change as people grow. There are probably some people that identify as heterosexual then later on identified as homosexual, so it goes both ways. The importance there is the fluidity and flexibility that these things change in time," Mayer told The Christian Post in an interview.

The report analyzed 3,826 identical and fraternal same-sex twin pairs and found that there is no concrete scientific evidence that sexual orientation is a result of a person's genetic makeup. However, evidence that genetic makeup has a role in influencing sexual orientation was conclusive.

The report read: "So the question 'Are gay people born that way?' requires clarification. There is virtually no evidence that anyone, gay or straight, is 'born that way' if that means their sexual orientation was genetically determined. But there is some evidence from the twin studies that certain genetic profiles probably increase the likelihood the person later identifies as gay or engages in same-sex sexual behavior."

Dr. Mayer is an epidemiologist and scholar-in-residence at Johns Hopkins University's psychiatry department. He is also a professor of statistics and biostatistics at Arizona State University. On the other hand, Dr. McHugh is said to be the most important American psychiatrist of the last half-century is a professor of psychiatry and behavioral sciences at Johns Hopkins.