Thanks for an excellent summary. the role of biology in gender identity and sexual orientation is of course critical to truly understanding what is going on.

But I think our social constructs will always matter more. “Gay penguins” are not gay, obviously, in the same sense that gay men are gay.

Nor is a gay man today much like a man who 2,000 years ago might have been biologically wired to be attracted mostly or only to other men.

How we intellectually respond to biological stimuli and how we fit in with the culture we have created matters to us humans much more than it could ever matter to penguins or seahorses.

And so we work to create social structures to advance fulfillment and happiness, also concepts that don’t mean much to penguins or seahorses.