"There is absolutely no evidence that this is the case." "It's a very long way from saying chemicals in the water are changing people's DNA and changing their sexuality," adds Stuart Haylock, a biochemist at Imperial College London. "I'm not suggesting this type of water pollution is harmless, but I am saying it's not the holy grail of gay water it's being made out to be." Due to their natural sex-swapping characteristics, it's likely some fish and frogs are very susceptible to the actions of these pollutants, but there's still no evidence they can influence the development of sexuality," he adds. "Fish are not humans, and humans don't spend their lives living in and breathing water. While he admits it's true that such compounds have been shown to alter the physical sex of fish and frogs, "frogs and many species of fish – notably Nemo – can spontaneously change their sex anyway". BUT DID THE WATER MAKE THEM GAY? (Photo: Flickr user K-1000) If they make their way into the environment, these and other waste chemicals can build up over time." Compounds that either mimic or disrupt the functions of hormones are known to be produced as waste products in the production of plastics and other industrial products. "Environmental pollution has a whole host of negative effects on human health, but suggesting that water-borne pollutants are altering people's sexuality is taking it a step too far. "Regarding Ms King's comments, I'd start by suggesting she stays away from the 'expert scientific reporting' of the likes of the Daily Mail," Matt Young, a neuroscientist from the University of Nottingham tells me.
"Atrazine has caused a hormonal imbalance that has made them develop into the wrong sex, in terms of their genetic constitution."In the week that's passed following King's somewhat whacky outburst, I've been speaking to experts, scientists and others in the know myself, determined to find out if we've all been laughing at her unfairly. "Atrazine, one of the most commonly used and controversial weedkillers, can turn male frogs into females," researchers claimed, according to Reuters.
However, the only research the "gay water" theorists regularly cite is a University of California Berkeley study from 2010. The mayor of a small Peruvian town agrees with them, as do a bunch of weird bloggers. You're ready to put lipstick on." (I think he means it'll make you bent.) You're ready to go, you know, put together a, you know, garden of roses or something. "After you're done drinking your little juices, well, I mean, you're ready to go out and have a baby," he added, which seemed somewhat contradictory. In fact, every gay man I can think of has drunk water in their lifetime, too. Firstly, there's still no scientific explanation as to why some people are gay and some people aren't. So hold on: everything Susan King – who is standing for the Lib Dems in the West Midlands constituency of Telford – said during that online Q&A was based on science, and not a product of your bog standard religious guff? Maybe she's onto something? Got to give her the benefit of the doubt people said Einstein was a moron in his day. "I've done a lot of research connected with water quality, and that is where I gained my political and media experience." "There are a lot of feminising hormones getting into the environment and that has to be taken into consideration it's affecting people's sexuality, basically," Susan King said in a web chat with the Shropshire Star last week.
It might be 2017, but homophobia – both explicit and batshit – is still very much A Thing in British politics.
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