At first read, their findings seem like a string of unlinked, esoteric observations. Statistically, for instance, gay men and lesbians have about a 50 percent greater chance of being left-handed or ambidextrous than straight men or women. The relative lengths of our fingers offer another hint: The index fingers of most straight men are shorter than their ring fingers, while for most women they are closer in length, or even reversed in ratio. But some researchers have noted that gay men are likely to have finger-length ratios more in line with those of straight women, and a study of self-described “butch” lesbians showed significantly masculinized ratios. The same goes for the way we hear, the way we process spatial reasoning, and even the ring of our voices. One study, involving tape-recordings of gay and straight men, found that 75 percent of gay men sounded gay to a general audience. It’s unclear what the listeners responded to, whether there is a recognized gay “accent” or vocal quality. And there is no hint as to whether this idiosyncrasy is owed to biology or cultural influences—only that it’s unmistakable. What is there in Rufus Wainwright’s “uninhibited, yearning, ugly-duckling voice,” as the Los Angeles Times wrote a few weeks ago, that we recognize as uniquely gay? Does biology account for Rosie O’Donnell’s crisp trumpet and Charles Nelson Reilly’s gnyuck-gnyuck-gnyuck?

That's crazy! Wow! My fingers are just like that (om the right). I never knew this... (although I am not left-handed, but I *am* somewhat ambidextrous.)

ATLANTA, Georgia (CNN) -- Can you tell whether someone's gay just by the way he or she walks?

I, alas, am afflicted with 'het-fingers.'

Ah, but what of your walking?

Naturally, I tested France's findings on myself.

Since there's a bald spot where my hair "whorl" is, I couldn't tell what direction it grows in. And as for the ridges on my fingertips, if I could see those I wouldn't need to use The Force to hook up.

But my index finger is longer than my ring finger. That would explain my affinity for dick.

Still, subtle genetic hints serve no purpose on Davie St. If I'm looking at a man's hands it's not to determine whether or not he's gay, and by the time I'm staring at the back of his head, we've pretty much established he's a bottom.

So much for science. Thanks for nothing, Einstein.

If science has proved anything, it's that there's no such thing as a sure thing. Unless Apple invents the iHomo, I'll just have to learn not to get embarrassed when I occasionally cruise the odd straight guy.

Self explanatory.

Cock size percentages per capita of the overall male population.

Ummm... whose "measuring stick" are you using in that first graph, Rain?

I do gather from the punctuation marks in the second survey that it was a European study. After all, Americans and Canadians generally use the period as the decimal marker, Europeans prefer the comma. So maybe...and this is just my guess...those sizes are typically European.

Europeans use metric measures. Thus, whoever sponsored the research, the researchers themselves were not from continental Europe...

[..] but my experience with Europe suggests that continental cock is bigger and nicer looking than British cock.

Male And Female Disconnect In Preferred Online Dating Websites
Matchmaking Websites eHarmony and Love Access Attract the Most Women

NEW YORK, February 14, 2007 – Hitwise, the world's leading online competitive intelligence service, announced today that while the gender profile of visitors to the Hitwise online dating category was nearly equal, at 50.8 percent male and 49.2 percent female, many sites within the category exhibit an imbalance of male and female visitors.

An examination of the top 100 websites in the Hitwise Lifestyle – Dating Category by gender reveals that the website with the largest percentage of female visitors for the week ending February 10, 2007 was Love Access (www.loveaccess.com), which comprised 87.4 percent female visitors. Other websites that were comprised of more than 70 percent female visitors in that period were SeniorPeopleMeet.com, proving that older women are adopting online dating faster than older men, CatholicMatch.com, a website for connecting Catholics, and Don't Date Him Girl! (www.dontdatehimgirl.com), a website where women can post warnings about bad experiences with men they met online. EHarmony.com also showed a large female visitor base of 68.6 percent and received the largest market share of visits for the week ending February 10, 2007.

The top 100 dating websites with the largest portion of male visitors for the week ending February 10, 2007 were Gay online dating websites including ManHunt.com, Adam4Adam.com, and Gay.com. Also ranking high among male visitors were websites focused on matching American men with foreign brides, such as AnastasiaWeb.com and FilipinaHeart.com and Globaladies.com.

Statistically relevant experience [i.e. sample ~ 1,000 p.]?

File this one under "DUH!"...LOL

The top 100 dating websites with the largest portion of male visitors for the week ending February 10, 2007 were Gay online dating websites including ManHunt.com, Adam4Adam.com, and Gay.com.

We should start a section just for lobotomized research studies, factoids, non sequiturs, and just plain ole "you gotta be shittin me!"

Mierow stumbled upon a chance to help prove that hunch at the Northalsted Market Days festival four years ago. Spotting a banner reading, “Wanted! Gay Men with a Gay Brother,” he stopped by the booth and volunteered for what he thought would be little more than a survey.

Instead, Mierow found himself part of the Molecular Genetic Study of Sexual Orientation—the most extensive study yet to search for a genetic basis for homosexuality—embarked upon by a team of Chicago researchers from local universities.

The scientists hope that by gathering DNA samples from 1,000 sets of gay brothers like the Mierows they will be able to find genetic linkages smaller studies failed to detect. They’ll be recruiting brothers again at the Halsted Street festival this weekend.

The results may ignite controversy, the researchers acknowledge, both by providing ammunition in the raging cultural war over homosexuality and by raising fears about ethically questionable applications like genetic profiling and prenatal testing.

But, they argue, the research is essential to our biological understanding of sexual behavior.

“If there are genetic contributions to sexual orientation, they will not remain hidden forever—the march of genetic science can’t be stopped,” said Timothy F. Murphy, bioethicist adviser to the study. “It’s not a question of whether we should or should not do this research, it’s that we make sure we’re prepared to protect people from insidious uses of this science.”

[...]

“In complex gene scenarios, people figured out that you need a larger sample size in order to get reasonable statistical power,” said Dr. Alan Sanders, a psychiatrist at Evanston Northwestern Healthcare and the leader of the current study.

To increase the chances of finding genetic areas associated with homosexuality, Sanders proposed assembling almost 10 times the sibling pairs of previous studies. The project received funding in 2001 and began recruiting subjects at gay pride festivals, through gay-oriented publications and on the Internet.

So far the Chicago researchers have obtained blood or saliva DNA samples and survey data from more than 600 brother sets, with several hundred other volunteers in the process of submitting one or the other. Sanders hopes to publish his findings from the first wave of DNA samples in a scientific journal sometime next year.

Sanders cautioned a linkage study can single out only regions of the genetic code, not individual genes.

“One of the advantages of linkage studies is that we don’t have to know those things ahead of time,” Sanders said. “It’s a big advantage here because we don’t know about the biology of sexual orientation yet, so we can find the genes first and then study the biology.”

At this point, the researchers do not know what types of genes they may find; they could be related to hormones, sexual development or a completely unexpected system.

[...]

Study volunteer Jason Palmer of Chicago said he hopes evidence of a biological source for homosexuality would change people’s opinions on sexual orientation. “Our strongest opponents are the religious right, many of whom feel that God does not make mistakes,” Palmer said. “So if it’s a genetic factor and proven, perhaps many of them will find an acceptance for homosexuals.”

But some outside observers worry about how proof of a genetic component to homosexuality might be used politically and even medically. “If you do research on any human behaviors that would allow us either to treat the behavior or to prevent it altogether by prenatal testing, you have got to ask yourself serious questions about societal context in which this type of research takes place,” said Udo Schuklenk, a professor of philosophy at Queen’s University in Kingston, Ontario.

Critics fear identifying a biological component will lead to prenatal testing and perhaps even treatments for homosexuality. While both Sanders and Bailey expressed doubt about the scientific feasibility or public demand for such applications, Schuklenk suggested they were not considering the worldwide implications.

“I understand why U.S. gays want to know why gay people are gay and understand where they are coming from—there are legal reasons, and the agenda is progressive within the context of the U.S.,” said Schuklenk. “What worries me is that they show a complete disregard of repercussions of research on the international scale, for gay people in societies where civil rights are not as well-protected.”