There’s more to the story I wrote about in my column last Sunday. One of the Oregon Health and Science University researchers, Jim Newman, emailed me to clarify:
Of course we realize that your article is based on a recent Sunday Times news story. While your piece was much more thoughtful than the Times, It was based on an article literally filled with errors. The source of many of these untruths is PETA – the animal rights group. Six months ago PETA started the campaign against this 5-year-old research. Here’s a link to one of PETA’s initial false postings for the research. PETA crossed the line and accused our scientists of being homophobes. They did this by making baseless assertions.
See here and here for more. Here are some more errors in the original news story:
– The Times article repeatedly states that the research is being done to cure homosexuality in either animals or humans. This is not true. The universities have never tried to turn a "gay" sheep straight. The researchers were interested in learning whether hormones played a role in the development of partner preference. They blocked hormone action (testosterone) in pregnant sheep to test this hypothesis. However the research was inconclusive. However the research was inconclusive. If it had provided conclusive results, the sheep would have preferred a same-sex partner, not an opposite sex partner as stated by the Times. NOTE: Also, human sexuality is much more complex than that of rams so we don’t refer to the animals as gay. That reference was created by the press.
– Based on this former point, the Times assertion which you repeated, that we have had "success" is wrong. The paper incorrectly reported the opposite of what was studied and the study was to test of a hypothesis. It was not a search for a "cure," a truly offensive suggestion that is not backed up by the facts.
– The Times article says the research is being conducted to improve the productivity of herds. This is not true. It is a basic science study merely aimed at understanding the role of brain structure and chemicals involved in partner preference. The National Institutes of Health funded the study. It is not being done for farming purposes.
I am hopeful that based on this information, which is all verifiable and based on documented fact; you will assist in clearing our name. We also ask that you join us in telling PETA to stop hijacking science and distorting it for their own political reasons.
I’m glad to post the scientists’ self-defense. It both allays some of the obvious worries but also confirms the gist of my column: that we should not fear such research but encourage more of it. As for PETA, I’m a defender of animal rights – but not their tactics in raising awareness.
The Dish 