Re: Not the Onion

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Low T means they are naturally gay/trans, so mandatory dismissal from the military.

That's probably how Hegseth sees it, but that is a false premise.

From Gemini:

**No**, adult gay men do not have lower testosterone levels than heterosexual men.

The scientific and medical consensus is that adult circulating hormone levels (including testosterone) do not differ based on sexual orientation.

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### Understanding the Science

While there is a persistent myth that a man's sexual orientation is tied to his adult testosterone levels, rigorous endocrine research has thoroughly debunked this idea:

* **No Baseline Differences:** Multiple systematic reviews and comparative studies have shown that the baseline levels of testosterone, free testosterone, and luteinizing hormone (LH) in adult gay men are virtually identical to those in heterosexual men.
* **Hormone Function vs. Direction:** In adults, sex hormones like testosterone act as a "volume dial" for sexual drive and motivation (libido), but they do not act as a "steering wheel" to determine the direction of attraction. Increasing or decreasing an adult's testosterone levels can affect their level of desire, but it does not alter their sexual orientation.
* **The Prenatal Distinction:** While *adult* circulating hormones do not differ, some neurobiological theories suggest that prenatal hormone exposure (exposure to varying levels of testosterone or hormone sensitivity in the womb during critical stages of fetal brain development) may play a role in organizing sexual orientation. However, once a person reaches adulthood, their circulating testosterone levels stabilize independently of their sexual preference.

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### Why the Misconception Exists

The belief that gay men have lower testosterone levels often stems from outdated or misinterpreted research:

* **Flawed Early Studies:** In the 1970s and 1980s, a few small-scale studies reported slightly lower testosterone levels in gay subjects. However, these studies had major methodological flaws, such as incredibly small sample sizes (often fewer than 30 people) and selection bias (such as recruiting participants from psychiatric or fertility clinics).
* **Contradictory Findings:** Even during that era of research, results were highly inconsistent; several other contemporary studies actually found that gay men had *higher* average testosterone levels than heterosexual controls, while the majority found no statistical difference.
* **Modern Verification:** Subsequent, higher-quality scientific studies with better controls and larger cohorts have consistently shown that [adult endocrine profiles do not correlate with sexual orientation](https://academic.oup.com/jsm/article/22/4/636/8015...).

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