Study Suggests Gaydar May Be Real

(CBS News) Can you judge someone's sexual orientation just by looking at their face? According to a new scientific study, both men and women may have this inherent "gaydar" ability.

The research, published in the May 16 issue of PLoS One, showed that both men and women correctly judged a person's sexual orientation by simply looking at the person's picture more frequently than they would by chance. Participants were able to pick a woman's sexual orientation in over two-thirds of the cases, the study showed.

It's interesting but the numbers are far from conclusive.  However, there is enough to suggest that in some cases we can read beyond skin deep to learn about people.  We process so much information behind the scenes that it is plausible that we are able in some cases to identify sexual preference from subtle data.

A recent article suggests babies develop racist behaviors as early as nine months old, which demonstrates how much children pick up mom and dad's social cues.  Couple this knowledge with how we process faces, and we may finally make some real progress in identifying race and other traits, and how we perceive them.  Unlocking that may lead us to a better understanding of ourselves and of sexual orientation.  Considering the tensions on all sides of the issue, understanding and scientific advancement can only be a good thing.