
                         THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
                 Copyright (c) 1994, Landmark Communications, Inc.

DATE: WEDNESDAY, June 15, 1994                    TAG: 9406150687 
SECTION: FRONT                     PAGE: A7    EDITION: FINAL  
SOURCE: ORANGE COUNTY REGISTER 
DATELINE: 940615                                 LENGTH: SANTA ANA, CALIF.

STUDY SUGGESTS THAT LESBIANISM CAUSED BY EXCESS MALE HORMONE

{LEAD} Lesbianism in some women may be an inherited trait - not a lifestyle choice - according to a paper presented at the 76th Annual Endocrine Society meeting in Anaheim today.

``We cannot assume that homosexuality is psychological,'' said Dr. Robert Blizzard.

{REST} ``At least in some instances I would say it is probable that it is an inborn trait.''

Blizzard, a retired University of Virginia professor, worked for 40 years with hundreds of patients with an adrenal-gland disorder that causes fetuses to produce too much male hormone, called androgen.

He and other experts have observed that women born with the condition are more likely than most to be lesbians as adults.

Studies have also shown that by injecting rodents with androgens, ``you can take a chromosomally normal female and change sexual preference,'' Blizzard said.

He theorizes that overexposure to androgen in human fetuses has the same effect.

The theory fits with recent studies on possible biological causes of homosexuality.

One, published in 1992 by Dr. Laura Allen, a researcher at the University of California-Los Angeles, found that a bundle of nerves connecting the left and right sides of the brain is larger on average in gay men than in straight men.

``It's probable that androgens are influencing the entire development of the brain,'' Allen said.

A 1991 study by Los Angeles neuroscientist Simon LeVay found that a group of cells in the hypothalamus was smaller on average in gay men.

``These physical differences in the hypothalamus could well be influenced by androgen levels'' or by the brain's ability to absorb hormones, LeVay said Tuesday.

Critics say studies that find differences in the brains of homosexuals and heterosexuals are inconclusive.

But Blizzard said further study - especially of patients with disorders that cause overproduction of androgen - could eventually shed more certain light on the question of whether homosexuality is biologically determined.

{KEYWORDS} STUDY HOMOSEXUALS GAYS LESBIANS by CNB