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A debate among many people of a more conservative, traditionalist bent is that being gay and being transgender are mental disorders. Despite the protestations by pediatricians and psychologists that they aren't, they insist that the pediatricians and psychologists are being political and not disinterestedly seeking the Truth.

However, there is a way to settle this question. Are there any gay or transgender hunter-gatherers?

It is known among anthropologists that mental disorders simply do not exist among hunter-gatherer tribes. Not schizophrenia, not bipolar disorder, not PTSD, etc.... Therefore, if hunter-gatherers do not have gay or transgender members, then that would be a slam-dunk proof that being gay and transgender are mental disorders. And if hunter-gatherers do have gay or transgender members, then that would be a slam-dunk proof that being gay and transgender are not mental disorders.

What is the verdict among anthropologists?

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    $\begingroup$ "It is known among anthropologists that mental disorders simply do not exist among hunter-gatherer tribes" - Oh really? It is known? Based on what, exactly? $\endgroup$
    – Bryan Krause ♦
    Feb 7 at 4:05
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    $\begingroup$ "[.......]then that would be a slam-dunk proof that being gay and transgender are mental disorders. And if hunter-gatherers do have gay or transgender members, then that would be a slam-dunk proof that being gay and transgender are not mental disorders." This seems very black and white to you. Why do you chose to ignore more complex possible alternative explanations? $\endgroup$
    – Jiminy Cricket.
    Feb 7 at 4:50
  • $\begingroup$ @JiminyCricket Because, according to the Catholic Church, salvation depends on having the correct beliefs: "Whoever desires to be saved should above all hold to the catholic faith. Anyone who does not keep it whole and unbroken will doubtless perish eternally." - Creed of Athanasius (which most historians believe was not literally written by St. Athanasius of Alexandria) $\endgroup$
    – Amatsuki
    Feb 7 at 5:43
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    $\begingroup$ @AmatsukiLove That sounds like a problem for the Catholic Church, not a tool for understanding psychology. $\endgroup$
    – Bryan Krause ♦
    Feb 7 at 16:10
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    $\begingroup$ @AmatsukiLove Okay, well, you're not in a Catholic seminary, you're on a Q&A site about Psychology and Neuroscience. Neither psychology nor neuroscience depends on what Catholics (16% of people) think of either. That said, there is very little record of God saying much at all, the vast majority of Catholic doctrine has been laid down by men choosing to interpret vague writings however they wish, and notably those men, especially very devout ones, have frequently disagreed with each other and disagree with each other today - doesn't seem like a productive way to find Truth. $\endgroup$
    – Bryan Krause ♦
    Feb 7 at 16:23

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Yes, there are many known hunter-gatherer communities that include transgender and/or gay individuals. See for instance this research paper: https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/24091924/ (Please be aware that the researchers use terminology that is deemed unacceptable in most scientific and social settings nowadays. For instance: they indicate transgender women as 'transgendered males').

Similarly, this paper discusses the presence (and absence) of homosexuality across many different societies and over time: https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC4534200/

Other research has found that homosexuality is less prevalent in hunter-gatherer societies than in agropastoral societies, but prevalent nonetheless. The author presents theory as to why this difference exists: https://www.researchgate.net/publication/311913894_Is_Homosexuality_more_Prevalent_in_Agropastoral_than_in_Hunting_and_Gathering_Societies_Evidence_from_the_Standard_Cross-Cultural_Sample

Based on these sources, you can conclude that homosexuality and transgender identities are present throughout many cultures. You can also use Google to find more studies with similar results.

Lastly, your premise is faulty. Mental illnesses do occur in hunter gatherer societies. See for instance these papers: https://doi.org/10.14989/68393 (Free PDF & https://link.springer.com/chapter/10.1007/978-3-030-71346-1_6 & https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/S0277953600000125, or read chapter 5 of this book: https://books.google.nl/books?id=PdCIEAAAQBAJ&lpg=PA64&ots=OoYQKDwVze&dq=mental%20disorders%20hunter%20gatherer&lr&pg=PA64#v=onepage&q&f=false

Perhaps a more important question is why you would ask this. Especially in the context of psychology and neuroscience, it is strange to follow the (faulty) argumentation of conservatives, instead of following leading psychological and medical expert organizations like the APA (see for instance: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Homosexuality_in_the_DSM#). I.e., saying homosexuality and transgenderism are mental illnesses is unscientific.

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  • $\begingroup$ Even if conservatives have faulty logic, they generally speaking possess the twin virtues of being precise in their thinking and their writings are easy to understand. Academic research is generally speaking distant and hard to understand. Oftentimes it is difficult to find out what point they are making and their papers always leave me with more questions than conclusions. That's partially because "generate more questions" is one of the goals of academic publishing. $\endgroup$
    – Amatsuki
    Feb 7 at 23:02
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    $\begingroup$ +1 for a great answer. I have edited to add a doi link to the PDF article because you can never be sure a PDF is accessible to partially blind or blind people who use screen readers unless you use a screen reader yourself. $\endgroup$
    – Chris Rogers
    Feb 9 at 6:46

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