From: rodney@cub.math.oxy.edu. (Rodney Hoffman)
Subject: Symposium: Biological Research on Sexual Orientation
Date: 8 Feb 1994 18:27:42 GMT

The National Organization of Gay and Lesbian Scientists and 
Technical Professionals (NOGLSTP) will be sponsoring a special 
symposium at the 1994 annual meeting of the American Association 
for the Advancement of Science (AAAS) entitled, "Social, Ethical, 
and Scientific Perspectives of Biological Research on Sexual 
Orientation."  The event takes place in San Francisco on Feb. 21,
from 2:30 - 5:30 pm.  

Watch for news coverage!  NOGLSTP's previous AAAS symposium, in
1985 on "Homophobia and Social Attitudes:  Their Impact on AIDS 
Research" was widely featured in the press.

The symposium features an all-star scientific panel:

  * "Genes, sexual orientation, and ethics"  
      Dean Hamer 
      Laboratory of Biochemistry, National  Cancer  Institute, 
      National Institutes of Health

  * "Historical politics of biobehavioral research"
      Daniel J. Kevles
      Division of Humanities, Caltech

  * "Anatomical and physiological correlates of sexual orientation"
      Laura  S. Allen   
      Department of Anatomy, UCLA

  * "Nature vs nurture: biological and environmental factors in 
    sexual orientation" 
      Pepper Schwartz  
      Department of Sociology, University of Washington; 
      President of the Society for the Scientific Study of Sex

  * "Bioethics and policy formulation - privacy vs politics" 
      Donald L. Gabard 
      Department of Physical Therapy, Chapman College


Here's a summary overview of the entire event:

Recent scientific research has identified possible biological and 
genetic correlates of male homosexuality.  While no study to date 
has  conclusively shown that sexual orientation is  heritable  or 
determined solely by biological diversity, the available data  do 
indicate that at least part of human sexual orientation may  have 
an  immutable component.  As with all biological research,  along 
with  the  potential to help comes the potential to  harm.   This 
session will critically examine the existing data on the biologi-
cal  correlates  of homosexuality. Further, it will  address  the 
social,  psychological,  and ethical implications  of  these  and 
future findings.  It is important that issues involving  informa-
tion gained from such research be discussed openly and allow  for 
the  evolution  of  sound policy to progress  as  the  scientific 
research  progresses.

Rodney Hoffman
rodney@oxy.edu