
A hundred years ago biology was mobilized to explain why women and African Americans could not enter higher education, politics or any other field that demanded rational thought. Those arguments were built on misconceptions that we’re still busy refuting today. Now biology is being used to demand rights for gays and lesbians, and often trans persons as well. Perhaps this time we can learn our lesson — that traits that may seem obviously hardwired can be deceptively fluid — before we tread too far down the damned-by-genetics path.