(Actual figures from 4 different studies
below...)
That 10% figure came from interpretations of the
original Kinsey study. Kinsey actually reported higher than the 10% we
hear: 13% for men and 8% for women. He asked his study participants vague
questions such as, "Have you ever had a sexual encounter with a person of your
own gender?" and "Have you ever had any sexual thoughts about a person of your
own gender?" and anyone who answered in the affirmative, he put in the
"homosexual" category, no matter what they considered their own sexual
orientation. So included in the figures were people who had "experimented"
or merely fantasized. It's been mentioned often that Kinsey, a closet
homosexual, had an ax to grind. It's been additionally suggested that
Kinsey inflated the number of gay subjects in his studies.
In the textbook I used a couple of years ago for a
Gender course, Linda Brannon writes:
"A biography of Kinsey (Jones, 1998) contended that
Kinsey's figures were biased by his personal interest and participation in
sexual activity with men and his desire to portray these sexual activities as
common. He therefore chose to question a disproportionate number of gay
men, inflating the figures for this type of sexual activity."
(Gender: Psychological Perspectives,
3rd ed., Allyn & Bacon, 2002.)
My gay students are always surprised to hear the
more accurate figures which emerged from Masters and Johnson and other
studies. It's unfortunate, for the sake of truth, that that 10%
figure continues to lurk out there. Of course it could be argued that
a higher rate makes homosexuality seem more "normative," as Jones suggested,and
thus might help with acceptance for homosexuals in society. But I don't
think that seems to be the case. There certainly doesn't seem to be a lot
of acceptance when I open my newspaper every day and see articles about the
protests against gay marriage.
Here's an interesting discussion on the subject
that I've saved, though it's a bit old:
Here are statistics from different studies (listed
in Brannon's text):
Kinsey et al.
Men:
13% Women: 7%
Janus and Janus, 1993: Men: 4%
Women 2%
Laumann et al.,
1995: Men: 2.8% Women
1.4%
(Note: Laumann
included many different categories, including desires or experiences, "done
anything sexual with same-gender," "same-gender since puberty," "same gender in
past year" "attracted to same gender" [this figure came to 7.7% for men and 7.5%
for women)
Sell, Wells and Wypij (1995):
(Note that this study also differentiated
between "attraction" and "activity." I'll put the "attraction only"
figures in italics below, after the activity numbers)
US: Men:
6.2% Women 3.6% Men: 8.7%,
Women: 11.1%
UK:
Men: 4.5%
Women 2.1% Men: 7.9%, Women:
8.6%
France:
Men: 10.7% Women: 3.3%
Men: 8.5%, Women: 11.7%
Smith (National Opinion Research Center),
1992:
Men:
2% Women .7%
Can't put my finger on Masters and Johnson
statistics, but I'm still looking.
Beth Benoit
University System of New Hampshire
----- Original Message -----
From: "James Guinee" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>
To: "Teaching in the Psychological Sciences"
<[EMAIL PROTECTED]>
Sent: Tuesday, March 23, 2004 10:08 AM
Subject: Statistics on being gay
Recently I participated in an internet discussion on
the true percentage of people in America (and to a lesser extent worldwide) who identify themselves as gay.
Granted there is no way of knowing, but it led to a discussion
about the most common figure * 10 percent * and if that is
accurate or not.
Some in the discussion claimed it was lower, some higher.
Does anyone have some recent, reliable data that gives
us a realistic picture?
Thanks very much!
Jim G
************************************************************************
Jim Guinee, Ph.D.
Director of Training & Adjunct Professor
University of Central Arkansas Counseling Center
313 Bernard Hall Conway, AR 72035 USA
"Too many of us have a Christian vocabulary rather than a
Christian experience. We think we are doing our duty when
we're only talking about it." ... Charles F. Banning
E-mail is not a secure means to transmit confidential
information. The UCA Counseling Center staff does not
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not maintain 24-hour access to their e-mail accounts.
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