An open letter to Representative Gruenhagen

Dear Representative Gruenhagen,

You are an idiot who knows nothing about DNA, chromosomes, genetics, or human sexuality. Your statements about the homosexual community are wrong, they are inaccurate,and they are ignorant.

You are demonstrating the classic extreme conservative's typical ignorance in your pseudo-scientific statements about homosexuality. The reality is that mapping the genome only identifies what genes tend to do what things - like create gender and sexual identity. It is how a gene's action is turned on and off that controls how it works in individual practice.  There are over 1,500 species besides human animals that have been identified as engaging in same sex behavior - and some of those, like dogs, have also been genome-mapped.  There is no 'gay' gene, OR 'straight' gene, either; there are however genes which control our gender and sexuality that are affected by influences in utero that we are only beginning to understand, that masculinize and feminize, and shape our sexual orientation.  Human beings and other species no more choose to be homosexual than you chose to be heterosexual.

You are no doubt one of those ignorant anti-science right wing nuts who believes that when animals are cloned, creating identical offspring to the single parent, that they will look exactly like that genetically identical parent.

Not so. As just one example, cloned kittens and puppies can be genetically identical to their parent, but have different colored and patterned fur, depending on when the genes for coat color and coat pattern turned on and off during their development.

In the case of humans with same sex orientation, there are also numerous physical differences which argue that your assumptions about same sex oriented individuals is wrong, and which indicate a pattern of changes in the embryonic and fetal stages of development.

You've made stupid statements before, Mr. Gruenhagen, statements which displayed your ignorance, and in the process embarrassed the entire state for having such a stupid right wing nut serving in elected office.

So, please, in future, shut the fuck up when you don't know what you are talking about; because you are annoying the rest of us who are better educated and better informed, you ignorant homophobic bigot.

It's bad enough that Michele Bachmann has made public ignorance her career. We don't want it from her; we don't need or want it from you.