For most of us, I'd venture to say reading about the size of the INAH-3 area of the hypothalamus and the Xq28 marker on the X chromosome is a little intimidating. In Gayle Pitman's Backdrop, we learn (or refresh our memories of) some landmark sexual-orientation studies and the researchers behind them—what propelled them to conduct their research, the obstacles they encountered, and the resulting political impact on their lives. We also learn what their own sexual orientation was.

Pitman is a clinical psychologist and professor of psychology at Sacramento City College who has conducted her own research on the physical and mental health of lesbians.

She believes the context of the researcher's background is essential to fully understand and appreciate the research itself and presents their stories in an engaging manner. Take Evelyn Hooker. She overcame bias against women attending college (1920s). (She was denied both admission to the Ph.D. program at Yale and a teaching position at UCLA because she was female.) Hooker overcame all this to go on to establish that homosexuality is within the normal range of human behavior. Her research led to removing homosexuality as an illness from the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders. She was awarded the 1991 Award for Distinguished Contributions to Psychology in the Public Interest by the American Psychological Association.

Then there's J. Michael Bailey. A straight man, Bailey is best known for his studies of identical male twins, which found there was a 52-percent chance that if one twin was gay, the other would be, too. Bailey has been vilified by both gay and anti-gay activists for his findings, including his support of homosexual eugenics—"the selection of specific genes to ensure heterosexuality and discourage homosexuality." His argument is that parents have the right to raise their children as they wish. Pitman counters by asking, "Do we really have the right to engage in the population control of an oppressed group of people, even if it's just at the level of a personal decision?" Where Pitman stands on this issue is clear, yet she strives to present a fair representation of Bailey's thinking on the subject for a balanced perspective.

Other researchers profiled in Backdrop include Simon LeVay, who studied brain structure; Dean Hamer, who looked at the "gay gene;" and Lisa Diamond, who investigated the "outlier" experiences of women and bisexuals.

Pitman concludes the book with a section on "activist researchers" and their work, and a discussion of significant historical and current LGBT public policy issues, including "don't ask, don't tell," sodomy laws, and marriage equality rights. Finally, she profiles three groups—the pro-gay researchers who advocate for gay rights, the anti-gay religious groups, and what Pitman characterizes as the "shadow characters" (radical lesbian feminists and the polyamory community).

Pitman raises prickly questions about scientific objectivity. She makes an argument that the human side matters. She contends that the context of the researcher's background is essential, "at least with respect to psychological research." She touches on the power of fear that pervades the scientific community, often stifling important research efforts.

Backdrop takes us behind the curtain of sexual orientation research and sensitizes us to the sometimes shaky grounds on which scientific research perches. A book that makes you think is always a good thing. With Backdrop, we can muse about the truth behind scientific research and what we, as a society, are obliged to do with the truth once it's out there.

Follow Pitman on her blog, backdropbook.wordpress.com .