I take a more libertarian view. I am also concerned about possible abuses, but I don't think that legal restrictions are either a practical or an ethical way to prevent them. On the contrary, I believe that we can only prevent such abuses by creating a society in which gays and lesbians are valued as individuals and as a group of people who make a unique contribution to society.
But beyond the possibility of abuses, there's another, more positive side to "queer science." The biological findings reinforce what most gays and lesbians feel about themselves--that their sexual orientation is something given, an attribute that helps define their core identity and not a mere set of behaviors that a person chooses to engage in or not as whim or morality may dictate.
To members of the Harvard community, this may not seem like a surprising assertion. But according to national polls, about half the population of the United States believes homosexuality to be "something one chooses to be." And it is with this half of the population that the strongest anti-gay sentiment is lodged.
How does one respond to such an attitude? Often, I want to say "Forget about science, forget about reasons, just treat us as human beings, as your neighbors, as your children." But in the meantime, before such changes of attitude occur, people need reasons.
One man who I interviewed for the television documentary, "Born That Way?" (The Learning Channel) put it very explicitly. An Arizona journalist who had been writing anti-gay editorials for many years, he changed his mind after reading some scientific articles about homosexuality.
"I became persuaded it was not...something voluntary," he said, "not something you embraced, it was the way you were born. If it's the way you were born then it ceases to be a sin, and then one's whole theological and moral perspective shifts, and then you begin to view the problem entirely differently, and that's what happened to me."
He retracted his earlier views and urged the city of Phoenix to pass a gay-rights ordinance, something that actually came to pass soon afterward.
Science, I believe, has a significant role to play in helping create a more gay-friendly world. But meanwhile, watch out for zombie-like Leviticans with holes in their heads.
Simon LeVay, Ph.D. is the author of several books, including "Queer Science: The Use and Abuse of Research into Homosexuality."