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Constructing the ‘Gay Gene’ in the News: Optimism and Skepticism in the US and British Press

Brandeis University & Temple University, USAconrad{at}brandeis.edu

Susan Markens

Brandeis University & Temple University, USA

In the 1990s the discovery of a ‘gay gene’ was widely reported in the news media, often as front-page stories. Focusing on the print media presentation of Dean Hamer’s 1993 and 1995 scientific papers reporting finding a genetic marker for homosexuality, we examine how these studies were framed in a selected sample of US and British newspapers and news magazines. We found disparate constructions of the ‘gay gene’ in each press culture. The US press reported Hamer’s study as good science and treated it with ‘cautious optimism’ while the British press reported the research as ‘the perils of the gay gene.’ We discuss how these studies received such widespread attention and the sources and implications of the variant images of the ‘gay gene’ in the news.

Key Words: gay gene • homosexuality • public understanding of genetics • science reporting • US and British pressw

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