Why straight women and gay men are often so close

Contents:

• HOW MANY PEOPLE ARE LBIAN, GAY, BISEXUAL, AND TRANSGENR?
• IS MY HBAND GAY? SIGNS OF A GAY HBAND
• WHY ARE THERE GAY WOMEN?
• GAY MEN HAVG SEX WH WOMEN?
• WHY STRAIGHT WOMEN AND GAY MEN ARE OFTEN SO CLOSE
• LBIAN, GAY, BISEXUAL, TRANSGENR, QUEER, & INTERSEX LIFE
• UNRSTANDG GAY & LBIAN INTI
• WHY ARE THERE GAY MEN?

HOW MANY PEOPLE ARE LBIAN, GAY, BISEXUAL, AND TRANSGENR?

Sexual orientatn refers to the endurg physil, romantic and/or emotnal attractn to members of the same and/or other genrs, cludg lbian, gay, bisexual and straight orientatns. (See Answers to Your Qutns: For a Better Unrstandg of Sexual Orientatn and Homosexualy for more rmatn on sexual orientatn. For example, a transgenr woman, or a person who is assigned male at birth and transns to female, who is attracted to other women would be intified as a lbian or gay woman.

Likewise, a transgenr man, or a person who is assigned female at birth and transns to male, who is attracted to other men would be intified as a gay man. The Natnal Center for Transgenr Equaly and the Natnal Gay and Lbian Task Force released a report 2011 entled Injtice at Every Turn, which nfirmed the pervasive and severe discrimatn faced by transgenr people.

IS MY HBAND GAY? SIGNS OF A GAY HBAND

Increasg numbers of populatn-based surveys the Uned Stat and across the world clu qutns that allow for an timate of the size of the lbian, gay, bisexual, and transgenr (LGBT) populatn.

Unrstandg the size of the lbian, gay, bisexual, and transgenr (LGBT) populatn is a cril first step to rmg a host of public policy and rearch topics. In measurg sexual orientatn, lbian, gay, and bisexual dividuals may be intified strictly based on their self-inty or may be possible to nsir same-sex sexual behavr or sexual attractn.

Fdgs shown Figure 1 nsir timat of the percentage of adults who self-intify as lbian, gay, or bisexual across ne surveys nducted wh the past seven years. While the surveys show a fairly wi variatn the overall percentage of adults who intify as LGB, the proportn who intify as lbian/gay vers bisexual is somewhat more nsistent (see Figure 2). The Natnal Survey of Fay Growth found rults that were sentially the oppose of the UK survey wh only 38% intifyg as lbian or gay pared to 62% intifyg as bisexual.

WHY ARE THERE GAY WOMEN?

The Natnal Survey of Sexual Health and Behavr and the Atralian Longudal Study of Health and Relatnships both found a majory of rponnts (55% and 59%, rpectively) intifyg as surveys show even greater nsistency differenc between men and women associated wh lbian/gay vers bisexual inty. Wh the surveys, a larger actn of adults report same-sex attractns and behavrs than self-intify as lbian, gay, or bisexual (see Figure 4). Sometim a woman may have been a heterosexual relatnship for years and yet feel somethg is somehow "off;" and she may fd herself askg, "Is my hband gay?

GAY MEN HAVG SEX WH WOMEN?

" Many women fd this qutn unthkable but acrdg to Bonnie Kaye,, an expert women married to gay men, is timated that 4 ln women have been, or are, married to gay men. Unfortunately, is timated that 50% of gay hbands hi their homosexualy om their wiv and don't reach this place of honty on their own.

In many s, is the wife, who after spectg that somethg is wrong, mt nont the gay hband wh the evince, and only then n hontly be achieved.

WHY STRAIGHT WOMEN AND GAY MEN ARE OFTEN SO CLOSE

If turns out that a hband is, fact, gay, the fallout n be difficult to al wh, particularly for the straight partner. What's important to remember is that the hband's homosexualy is entirely his rponsibily and has nothg to do wh the wife.

So, terms of evolutn, they would seem to have a better chance of passg on their gen, while at the same time would seem that the gen that make women gay would quickly vanish om the gene pool. While scientists have a theory for how male homosexualy propagat om one generatn to the next, no one has yet produced a viable explanatn for how the gen that promote lbianism might do the same. A study by Dutch psychologists published the March issue of the Journal of Sexual Medice reported that 10 to 12 percent of male and female children who feel disfort wh their genr go on to intify as gay or lbian as adults.

LBIAN, GAY, BISEXUAL, TRANSGENR, QUEER, & INTERSEX LIFE

Meanwhile, jt 1 or 2 percent of children who are fortable wh their genr inty turn out to be gay or to the nfn about what lbianism is the slippers of female sexualy self. " Plenty of women exist at both extrem of the straight-gay spectm, but is the formatn of this slippery spectm self that most needs explag. To answer your qutn plaly wh the rmatn that you’ve shared, ’s likely that some gay men do have sexual relatnships wh women to hi their te orientatn, due to fear of g out.

UNRSTANDG GAY & LBIAN INTI

Ined, there are gay men who feel prsured to mask their sexualy bee of cultural, faial, relig, or personal beliefs that beg gay is wrong. And, although scientific studi this field are rare, sexual aroal to women has been measured groups of men wh several different sexual orientatns, cludg those who intify as gay. Archiv, sexual orientatn is ually prised of several parts: attractn, how one acts on that attractn, and how one intifi (gay, straight, bisexual, etc).

WHY ARE THERE GAY MEN?

People often thk about beg straight, gay, bisexual, or other inti as both a person's romantic and sexual attractns. A cisgenr man may experience romantic attractn towards other men, sexual attractn towards men and women, but he choos to intify as gay. Surveys among high school stunts found differenc between inty and sexual behavrs, wh many of the self-intified gay or lbian stunts mentng that they engage sexual activi wh those of other genrs.