Habitat Population Control

On Saturday 11 October 2003 02:16, Michael wrote:
(...)
> Population control on a space settlement or in a confined surface habitat
> is a null issue if all the inhabitants are gay. Perhaps all space settlers
> should be gay or lesbian, then there is no worry about population control
> or passing on genes mutated from cosmic radiation.

First, as we have already discussed endlessly here, mutations caused by cosmic
radiation will not be much likelier to happen in a space habitat than they
are on Earth, for there exists something called "radiation shielding".

Second, theoretically a gay/lesbian population would still reproduce if they
want to. Lesbian couples having children is very close to reality (there is a
technique for injecting the genes into the egg without sperms, see
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/connected/main.jhtml?xml=/connected/2001/07/12/ecnbab12.xml);
gay men having children would be more tricky, but I would not deem it
impossible. But I concede that any reproduction occurring in a gay/lesbian
colony would be assisted, and therefore much more controllable.

Aside from the reproduction aspect, however, I guess than once space
colonization is bootstrapped gay/lesbian colonies will naturally appear, in
the same way that we have gay cruises, gay districts and gay islands
(Mikonos?) in our present-day reality.

(...)
> Michael
(...)

Lucio Coelho