Sri Lanka, Oct. 13 -- Following last week's discussion on India's LGBTQA+ tourism, I wanted to explore the deeper question many readers raised: what does science tell us about sexual orientation itself?

Sexual orientation is not a choice. It's a natural part of who someone is-like being left-handed or having a particular eye colour. Throughout history and across all cultures, a small but significant number of people have been attracted to others of the same sex. Modern science helps us understand why.

What Science Tells Us

Our bodies produce two main types of hormones: testosterone (primarily in males) and estrogen (primarily in females). Everyone has both, just in different amounts. These hormones do more than shape our physical featu...