Is a Lbian, Gay or Bisexual Inty More Common Today? | Psychology Today

Contents:

• IS A LBIAN, GAY OR BISEXUAL INTY MORE COMMON TODAY?
• HOW MANY PEOPLE ARE LBIAN, GAY, BISEXUAL, AND TRANSGENR?
• LBIANS MORE ACCEPTED THAN GAY MEN AROUND THE WORLD, STUDY FDS
• BISEXUAL ADULTS ARE FAR LS LIKELY THAN GAY MEN AND LBIANS TO BE ‘OUT’ TO THE PEOPLE THEIR LIV
• THE NEW STEM GAP: STUDY CONFIRMS GAY MEN ARE LS LIKELY THAN STRAIGHT MEN TO BE IN STEM FIELDS

IS A LBIAN, GAY OR BISEXUAL INTY MORE COMMON TODAY?

Recent survey data the US and the UK revealed that the proportn of the populatn who intifi as lbian, gay, or bisexual has risen slightly and that this trend is particularly salient among the youngt generatn: Generatn Z. In the UK, only a slight majory of Gen Z members dite that they have an exclively heterosexual attractn, while the US, a Gallup poll dit that roughly 15% of Gen Z intifi as lbian, gay, or bisexual – pared to 7.

9% of the Baby Boomers surveyed the US dited they were not heterosexual, many more may have still had same-sex experienc throughout their lifpan, but they simply do not firmly intify as lbian, gay, or bisexual. There is, however, also a much darker explanatn for why we see fewer dividuals om past generatns intifyg as lbian, gay, or bisexual today than we do om the younger generatns. Gay and bisexual men om the Baby Boomer generatn were between 16 and 34 years of age at the peak of the HIV/AIDS epimic North Ameri.

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

While is impossible to ever have accurate populatn statistics on a hidn populatn, is timated that at least 10% of gay men the Uned Stat between the ag of 25 and 44 had died by 1995. Th, any attempt to “unt” the number of gay men the Baby Boomer or Gen X generatns needs to nsir the number of people who are simply no longer alive to answer the qutn.

In the US data, the percentage of dividuals intifyg as lbian or gay has creased, but not nearly as much as the percentage of those intifyg as bisexual (. Addnally, bisexuals have always faced somewhat a tch-22 which they are both rejected by the heterosexual muny for beg a sexual mory and om the lbian and gay muny for not que beg “gay enough. 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.

LBIANS MORE ACCEPTED THAN GAY MEN AROUND THE WORLD, STUDY FDS

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. 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).

BISEXUAL ADULTS ARE FAR LS LIKELY THAN GAY MEN AND LBIANS TO BE ‘OUT’ TO THE PEOPLE THEIR LIV

One of the most persuasive arguments that homosexual activists e to support their agenda is the assertn that 10% of all people are “gay. ” If homosexuals n nvce people that they make up a much larger portn of the populatn than they actually reprent, they are much more likely to garner support for their agenda. The homosexual movement has even named some of their anizatns “One-n-Ten, ” “The Ten Percent Foundatn, ” “Project Ten, ” and the “One Ten Club.

After years of our tg those who rm the public and make s laws, the ncept that 10 percent of the populatn is gay has bee a generally accepted “fact. His most famo claim held that ten percent of the male populatn is “more or ls exclively homosexual for at least three years between the ag of 16 and 55.

” Ksey also claimed that 4% of all mal are exclively homosexual throughout their entire liv and alleged that an credible 37% of men have had homosexual experienc durg their liv. 4 The rults are not only the basis of the homosexual-rights “ten percent” myth, but also serve as a rnerstone of the prehensive sex tn class tght the Wtern world today.

THE NEW STEM GAP: STUDY CONFIRMS GAY MEN ARE LS LIKELY THAN STRAIGHT MEN TO BE IN STEM FIELDS

Next, to achieve the sired rults, Ksey foced only on groups that he knew had a very high percentage of homosexuals relative to the general populatn. ”9 Forty-four percent of all of the prisoners the Ksey male sample had had homosexual experience prison, acrdg to John Gagnon, a Ksey rearcher.

Ksey himself nclud that members of the prison populatn were more than four tim more likely to be homosexuals than the general populatn. 11 Sce studi show that the actual percentage of homosexuals the general populatn is om 1 – 2%, this factor alone was enough to guarantee that Ksey would get the “ten percent” figure he sired. So if 300 male prostut were terviewed for the Ksey study, this factor alone would add about a (300/5, 000) = 6% rate of homosexualy to the fal ncln.