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More adults are having gay sex: Activity has doubled since the 1990s as modern US culture embraces equality
Published: 17:01, 1 June 2016 | Updated: 17:02, 1 June 2016
Less than one year since gay marriage was legalised across the whole of the US, a new study reflects our rapidly-changing attitudes towards sexuality.
It found the percentage of adults having gay sex has doubled since the 1990s, perhaps because Americans are not dampening their own desires to conform to societal pressures.
The study also revealed that acceptance of same-sex sexuality has quadrupled, suggesting the cultural change of the last few decades goes beyond tolerance.
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The percentage of Americans who are supportive of gay relationships has risen, according to the study
Researchers from San Diego State University, Florida Atlantic University and Widener University in Pennsylvania, analysed data from the General Social Survey - a nationally representative survey of more than 30,000 adults that has asked Americans about their attitudes toward same-sex sexual behaviour since 1973 and about sexual partners since 1989.
They found that between 1990 and 2014, the percentage of men who reported having had sex with at least one man increased from 4.5 per cent to 8.2 per cent.
In the same time-frame, the number of women reporting having had sex with at least one woman increased from 3.6 per cent to 8.7 per cent.
The percentage of 33,728 adult participants reporting having had sex with both men and women rose from 3.1 per cent to 7.7 per cent.
The increases in same-sex experiences were largest among whites and in the South and Midwest.
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Same-sex marriage supporters gathered for a rally celebrating the US Supreme Court decision legalizing same-sex marriage, in West Hollywood, California on June 26, 2015
Among Millennials - adults between the ages of 18 and 29 during the 2010s – 7.5 per cent of men and 12.2 per cent of women reported having had a same-sex experience.
The experts said that while lesbian experiences are more likely to occur when women are young, youth doesn’t seem to be a factor for encounters between men.
As well as a reported increase in the number of people having same-sex experiences, the percentage of Americans who are tolerant or supportive of gay relationships has risen, according to the study, published in the journal Archives of Sexual Behavior.
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The US Supreme Court recently declared that same-sex couples have a right to marry anywhere in the country (stock image)
Between 1973 and 1990, the percentage of adults who believed ‘sexual relations between two adults of the same sex [was] not wrong at all’ hardly changed, rising from 11 per cent to 13 per cent.
Since then, however, acceptance has risen to 49 per cent of all adults and 63 per cent of Millennials in 2014.
Remarkably, acceptance in this younger age group quadrupled from 15 per cent in 1990 to 63 per cent two years ago.
‘These large shifts in both attitudes and behaviour occurred over just 25 years, suggesting rapid cultural change,’ said Jean Twenge, professor of psychology at San Diego State.
She attributes this to Americans caring less about social norms and more about their own desires.
‘These trends are another piece of evidence that American culture has become more individualistic and more focused on the self and on equality,’ she said.
'Without the strict social rules common in the past, Americans now feel more free to have sexual experiences they desire.’
Ryne Sherman, Professor of Psychology at Florida Atlantic University’s Charles E. Schmidt College of Science added: ‘Millennials are markedly more accepting of same-sex behaviour than GenX'ers were at the same age - but then, so are most adults.
‘The change is primarily one of time period, where all adults shifted in their attitudes.’
The researchers say estimates of same-sex sexual behaviour are important to assess the impact of discrimination as well as health trends.
'OVERWHELMING' EVIDENCE THE SEX OF PARENTS DOESN'T MATTER
Last year, a study led by the University of Oregon came to the same conclusion - that children raised by same-sex couples are no worse off than children raised by parents of the opposite sex.
The research looked at 19,000 studies and articles related to same-sex parenting from 1977 to 2013.
'Consensus is overwhelming in terms of there being no difference in children who are raised by same-sex or different- sex parents,' University of Oregon sociology professor Ryan Light said.
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In 2013, a study led by the University of Oregon said children raised by same-sex couples (stock image) are no worse off than children raised by parents of the opposite sex
He explained that there was some disagreement among scientists on the outcome of same-sex parenting in the 1980s but it largely subsided in the 1990s, and a clear consensus had formed by 2000 that there is no difference between same-sex and different-sex parenting in the psychological, behavioral or educational outcomes of children.
'Across the board we find the iterative suggests there's no significant differences,' Light said.
'To our knowledge this is the most comprehensive analysis of this type on this issue.
- Experts used a survey of 30,000 US adults’ sexual activity and attitudes
- The percentage of adults having gay sex has doubled since the 1990s
- Also shows acceptance has quadrupled among youngest age group
Published: 17:01, 1 June 2016 | Updated: 17:02, 1 June 2016
Less than one year since gay marriage was legalised across the whole of the US, a new study reflects our rapidly-changing attitudes towards sexuality.
It found the percentage of adults having gay sex has doubled since the 1990s, perhaps because Americans are not dampening their own desires to conform to societal pressures.
The study also revealed that acceptance of same-sex sexuality has quadrupled, suggesting the cultural change of the last few decades goes beyond tolerance.
+4
The percentage of Americans who are supportive of gay relationships has risen, according to the study
Researchers from San Diego State University, Florida Atlantic University and Widener University in Pennsylvania, analysed data from the General Social Survey - a nationally representative survey of more than 30,000 adults that has asked Americans about their attitudes toward same-sex sexual behaviour since 1973 and about sexual partners since 1989.
They found that between 1990 and 2014, the percentage of men who reported having had sex with at least one man increased from 4.5 per cent to 8.2 per cent.
In the same time-frame, the number of women reporting having had sex with at least one woman increased from 3.6 per cent to 8.7 per cent.
The percentage of 33,728 adult participants reporting having had sex with both men and women rose from 3.1 per cent to 7.7 per cent.
The increases in same-sex experiences were largest among whites and in the South and Midwest.
+4
Same-sex marriage supporters gathered for a rally celebrating the US Supreme Court decision legalizing same-sex marriage, in West Hollywood, California on June 26, 2015
Among Millennials - adults between the ages of 18 and 29 during the 2010s – 7.5 per cent of men and 12.2 per cent of women reported having had a same-sex experience.
The experts said that while lesbian experiences are more likely to occur when women are young, youth doesn’t seem to be a factor for encounters between men.
As well as a reported increase in the number of people having same-sex experiences, the percentage of Americans who are tolerant or supportive of gay relationships has risen, according to the study, published in the journal Archives of Sexual Behavior.
+4
The US Supreme Court recently declared that same-sex couples have a right to marry anywhere in the country (stock image)
Between 1973 and 1990, the percentage of adults who believed ‘sexual relations between two adults of the same sex [was] not wrong at all’ hardly changed, rising from 11 per cent to 13 per cent.
Since then, however, acceptance has risen to 49 per cent of all adults and 63 per cent of Millennials in 2014.
Remarkably, acceptance in this younger age group quadrupled from 15 per cent in 1990 to 63 per cent two years ago.
‘These large shifts in both attitudes and behaviour occurred over just 25 years, suggesting rapid cultural change,’ said Jean Twenge, professor of psychology at San Diego State.
She attributes this to Americans caring less about social norms and more about their own desires.
‘These trends are another piece of evidence that American culture has become more individualistic and more focused on the self and on equality,’ she said.
'Without the strict social rules common in the past, Americans now feel more free to have sexual experiences they desire.’
Ryne Sherman, Professor of Psychology at Florida Atlantic University’s Charles E. Schmidt College of Science added: ‘Millennials are markedly more accepting of same-sex behaviour than GenX'ers were at the same age - but then, so are most adults.
‘The change is primarily one of time period, where all adults shifted in their attitudes.’
The researchers say estimates of same-sex sexual behaviour are important to assess the impact of discrimination as well as health trends.
'OVERWHELMING' EVIDENCE THE SEX OF PARENTS DOESN'T MATTER
Last year, a study led by the University of Oregon came to the same conclusion - that children raised by same-sex couples are no worse off than children raised by parents of the opposite sex.
The research looked at 19,000 studies and articles related to same-sex parenting from 1977 to 2013.
'Consensus is overwhelming in terms of there being no difference in children who are raised by same-sex or different- sex parents,' University of Oregon sociology professor Ryan Light said.
+4
In 2013, a study led by the University of Oregon said children raised by same-sex couples (stock image) are no worse off than children raised by parents of the opposite sex
He explained that there was some disagreement among scientists on the outcome of same-sex parenting in the 1980s but it largely subsided in the 1990s, and a clear consensus had formed by 2000 that there is no difference between same-sex and different-sex parenting in the psychological, behavioral or educational outcomes of children.
'Across the board we find the iterative suggests there's no significant differences,' Light said.
'To our knowledge this is the most comprehensive analysis of this type on this issue.
