The Emergence of Lesbian Sexuality and Identity Cross-Culturally: Brazil, Peru, the Philippines, and the United States

Questionnaire data were collected from 205 lesbians and 224 heterosexual women in Brazil, Peru, the Philippines, and the United States between 1981 and 1988. Items include direction of childhood sexual interests, age of first awareness of sexual attraction, cross-attractions, age of first sexual contact, sex of partner in first sexual contact, age of awareness that sexual attractions were serious, and age of realization of adult sexual orientation. In general, similarities in the development of lesbian sexuality and differences between lesbians and heterosexual women were found, regardless of culture. Findings include: Lesbians were more sexually active as children and displayed more sexual interest in girls than heterosexuals did in boys; lesbians tended to become aware of their attractions to women later than heterosexuals realized attractions to men; lesbians reported considerably more early attraction to men than heterosexuals did to women; lesbians reported earlier sexual contact than did heterosexual women; the sex of the partner of first sexual contact for lesbians was split roughly equally between males and females whereas heterosexuals reported contact with males almost exclusively; childhood awareness that sexual attractions were serious were similar in lesbians and heterosexuals; lesbians defined themselves as homosexual later than heterosexuals defined themselves as heterosexual. We conclude that norms for heterosexual behavior impact the development of lesbian sexuality and identity, impeding, but not obliterating,their development. Lesbian sexualityand identityeventuallyemerge regardless of culture.     

Sexual Orientation in United States and Canadian College Students

Based on a sample of nearly 8,000 college students, this study was undertaken to determine the prevalence of non-heterosexuality using four different measures of sexual orientation: a self-identity measure, an attraction measure, a fantasy measure, and an experiential measure. Over 97% of both males and females labeled themselves as heterosexual, with the proportion of homosexuals and bisexuals combined constituting nearly 3% of the male sample and about 2% of the female sample. Roughly 80–85% of both sexes would be classified as exclusively heterosexual, with about 10% of both sexes having at least half of their sexual fantasies involving same-sex partners. In terms of sexual experiences, about 5% of non-virgin males and 0.5% of non-virgin females reported that all of their experiences had involved same-sex partners. After examining each of the sexual orientation measures separately, we compared them to one another. These comparisons revealed an unsettling number of apparent contradictions in the responses given by individual participants (e.g., participants who stated that they were homosexual but that all of their fantasies involved members of the opposite sex). By eliminating participants who provided these apparent contradictory responses, a post-hoc refined self-identified measure of sexual orientation was created. This refinement had essentially no effect on our estimates of the proportion of college students who were identified as heterosexual or homosexual, thus suggesting that the inconsistencies were largely due to random response error. Boosting our confidence in the post-hoc refined measure, we found that it exhibited slightly stronger links with several established childhood correlates of sexual orientation (such as the enjoyment of collecting dolls and playing dress-up) than was true for the original self-identified sexual orientation.     

Birth order and sibling sex ratio in two samples of Dutch gender-dysphoric homosexual males

Two studies were undertaken to confirm the previous findings that homosexual men in general tend to have a later than expected birth order and that extremely feminine homosexual men also tend to have a higher than expected proportion of brothers (i.e. a highersibling sex ratio). Subjects in Study 1 were Dutch, adult and adolescent, biological male patients with gender dysphoria (persistent and recurrent desires to belong to the opposite sex), who were undergoing treatment with feminizing hormones. These comprised 83 patients who reported sexual attraction to other males (the homosexual group) and 58 who reported sexual attraction to females or equal attraction to males and females (the nonhomosexual group). Subjects in Study 2 were Dutch adolescent male patients at another hospital. The homosexual group consisted of 21 gender-dysphoric homosexual teenagers referred to a gender identity clinic for children and adolescents. The control group were 21 adolescent males referred to the child psychiatry department of the same hospital for reasons other than gender identity disorder, homosexuality, or transvestism. These were individually matched to the homosexual subjects on age and sibship size. In both studies, the homosexual group had a significantly later average birth order than the comparison group. In Study 1, the homosexual group had a significantly elevated sibling sex ratio; this was not tested in Study 2 because of its small sample size. These studies add to the mounting evidence that late birth orders are common to all homosexual samples and that elevated sibling sex ratios are an additional characteristic of extremely feminine ones.     

Fraternal Birth Order and Sexual Orientation in Pedophiles

Whether homosexual pedophiles have more older brothers (a higher fraternal birth order) than do heterosexual pedophiles was investigated. Subjects were 260 sex offenders (against children age 14 or younger) and 260 matched volunteer controls. The subject's relative attraction to male and female children was assessed by phallometric testing in one analysis, and by his offense history in another. Both methods showed that fraternal birth order correlates with homosexuality in pedophiles, just as it does in men attracted to physically mature partners. Results suggest that fraternal birth order (or the underlying variable it represents) may prove the first identified universal factor in homosexual development. Results also argue against a previous explanation of the high prevalence of homosexuality in pedophiles (25% in this study), namely, that the factors that determine sexual preference in pedophiles are different from those that determine sexual preference in men attracted to adults. An alternative explanation in terms of canalization of development is suggested.     

Can Some Gay Men and Lesbians Change Their Sexual Orientation? 200 Participants Reporting a Change from Homosexual to Heterosexual Orientation

Position statements of the major mental health organizations in the United States state that there is no scientific evidence that a homosexual sexual orientation can be changed by psychotherapy, often referred to as reparative therapy. This study tested the hypothesis that some individuals whose sexual orientation is predominantly homosexual can, with some form of reparative therapy, become predominantly heterosexual. The participants were 200 self-selected individuals (143 males, 57 females) who reported at least some minimal change from homosexual to heterosexual orientation that lasted at least 5 years. They were interviewed by telephone, using a structured interview that assessed same sex attraction, fantasy, yearning, and overt homosexual behavior. On all measures, the year prior to the therapy was compared to the year before the interview. The majority of participants gave reports of change from a predominantly or exclusively homosexual orientation before therapy to a predominantly or exclusively heterosexual orientation in the past year. Reports of complete change were uncommon. Female participants reported significantly more change than did male participants. Either some gay men and lesbians, following reparative therapy, actually change their predominantly homosexual orientation to a predominantly heterosexual orientation or some gay men and women construct elaborate self-deceptive narratives (or even lie) in which they claim to have changed their sexual orientation, or both. For many reasons, it is concluded that the participants' self-reports were, by-and-large, credible and that few elaborated self-deceptive narratives or lied. Thus, there is evidence that change in sexual orientation following some form of reparative therapy does occur in some gay men and lesbians.     

Childhood cross-gender behavior of homosexual females in Brazil,Peru, the Philippines,and the United States

Heterosexual and homosexual females were interviewed with regard to childhood cross-gender behavior in Brazil, Peru, the Philippines, and the United States. Nine items were used to examine childhood behavior differences between heterosexual and homosexual females. Six of these items (playing with boys' toys, playing with girls' toys, dressing up in men's clothes, dressing up in women's clothes, paying attention to women's fashions, and being considered a tomboy) revealed statistically significant differences between the heterosexual and homosexual females. These differences demonstrated significant cross-cultural consistency, despite cultural variations among the societies examined. Rejection of certain gender-typical activities and interests, as well as involvement in cross-gendered activities and interests, seem to be consistent precursors of adult sexual orientation regardless of the cultural context in which these behaviors emerge.     

Cultural factors affecting urban Mexican male homosexual behavior

Some aspects of the mestizoized urban culture in Mexico are linked to male homosexuality in support of the theory that cultural factors play an important role in the kind of life styles and sex practices of males involved in homosexual behavior. The following factors are considered relevant: the sharp dichotomization of gender roles, dual categorization of females as good or bad, separate social networks maintained by males before and after marriage, proportion of unmarried males, and distribution of income. One result of the sharp dichotomization of male and female gender roles is the widely held belief that effeminate males generally prefer to play the female role rather than the male. Effeminacy and homosexuality are also linked by the belief that as a result of this role preference effeminate males are sexually interested only in masculine males with whom they play the passive sex role. The participation of masculine males in homosexual encounters is related in part to a relatively high level of sexual awareness in combination with the lack of stigmatization of the insertor sex role and in part to the restraints placed on alternative sexual outlets by available income and/or marital status. Males involved in homosexual behavior in Mexico operate in a sociocultural environment which gives rise to expectations that they should play either the insertee or insertor sex role but not both and that they should obtain ultimate sexual satisfaction with anal intercourse rather than fellatio. In spite of cultural imperatives, however, individual preferences stemming from other variables such as personality needs, sexual gratification, desires of wanted partners, and amount of involvement may override the imperatives with resulting variations in sexual behavior patterns.Presented to Symposium on Homosexuality in Crosscultural Perspective, 73rd Annual Meeting of the American Anthropological Association, Mexico City, November 23, 1974.     

“Sex-role preference” as an explanatory variable in homosexual behavior

Sex-role preference is an important neglected variable in statistically controlled studies of homosexual behavior. This variable must accompany controls for degree of psychopathology of respondents and degree of heterosexual and homosexual behavior experienced by respondents. Cross-cultural differences exist. Mexican males have rigidly defined insertor-insertee roles, with earlier life events serving as predictors of these sex-role preferences. Greece is comparable to Mexico. In Turkey, stigmatization accompanies passive homosexuality. Role playing may be age graded, as in the Southwest Pacific. In lower socioeconomic classes of the United States, sex roles for homosexual males are more stereotypically and unequivocably defined. Chicanos generally have strong sex-role preferences when involved in homosexual encounters; their attitude is similar to that found in Mexico. Among middle-class Anglo-American males, few or no sex-role feelings are associated with types of sex acts by most homosexually behaving males. This may be related to a focus on oral-genital rather than anal sex acts. The sharply dichotomized gender roles and the cultural formulation linking effeminacy and homosexuality appear to provide the necessary conditions for the development of sex-role preferences in many societies.Presented to Symposium on Ethnosexuality, Annual Meeting of the Southwestern Anthropological Association, San Francisco, April 1976.     

Attitudes of the aged toward nontraditional sexual behavior

Age as a correlate of attitudes toward nontraditional sexual behavior is explored. The data were drawn from a United States national probability sample. Subgroup comparisons were made between two age cohorts — respondents over and under 65. Sexual attitudes were measured toward premarital sexual relations, extramarital sexual relations, and homosexuality. Older respondents held the most conservative sexual attitudes. However, the background variables of sex, social status, church attendance, marital status, and parenthood were predictors of sexual attitudes for both age strata. The findings indicate individual variations among the aged with the likelihood of a greater range of differences in the future.     

The relationship between suicide risk and sexual orientation: results of a population-based study.

OBJECTIVES: This study examined the relationship between sexual orientation and suicide risk in a population-based sample of adolescents. METHODS: Participants were selected from a cross-sectional, statewide survey of junior and senior public high school students. All males (n = 212) and females (n = 182) who described themselves as bisexual/homosexual were compared with 336 gender-matched heterosexual respondents on three outcome measures: suicidal ideation, intent, and self-reported attempts. Logistic regression analyses were used to examine the association between sexual orientation and outcome measures with adjustment for demographic characteristics. RESULTS: Suicide attempts were reported by 28. 1 % of bisexual/homosexual males, 20.5% of bisexual/homosexual females, 14.5% of heterosexual females, and 4.2% of heterosexual males. For males, but not females, bisexual/homosexual orientation was associated with suicidal intent (odds ratio [OR] = 3.61 95% confidence interval [CI = 1.40, 9.36) and attempts (OR=7.10; 95% CI=3.05, 16.53). CONCLUSIONS: There is evidence of a strong association between suicide risk and bisexuality or homosexuality in males.     

Adult sexual orientation and attraction to underage persons

A random sample of 175 males convicted of sexual assault against children was screened with reference to their adult sexual orientation and the sex of their victims. The sample divided fairly evenly into two groups based on whether they were sexually fixated exclusively on children or had regressed from peer relationships. Female children were victimized nearly twice as often as male children. All regressed offenders, whether their victims were male or female children, were heterosexual in their adult orientation. There were no examples of regression to child victims among peer-oriented, homosexual males. The possibility emerges that homosexuality and homosexual pedophilia may be mutually exclusive and that the adult heterosexual male constitutes a greater risk to the underage child than does the adult homosexual male.     

Psychosocial development of heterosexual,bisexual, and homosexual behavior

Relationships with overt adult Kinsey Scale scores (K) indicate that early sexual experiences are most closely related to K, followed in order by gender related and familial variables. A developmental model emphasizing social learning is presented. Interviewees were 7669 American white males and females.Elevated K (more homosexual scores) was found for females who had few girl companions at age 10 and few male companions at 16, had learned to masturbate by being masturbated by a female, had intense prepubertal sexual contact with boys or men, found thought or sight of females, but not males, arousing by age 18, had homosexual contact by age 18, higher K at 17, and higher first-year homosexual behavior frequency.Elevated K (more homosexual scores) was found for males who reported poorer teenage relationships with their fathers, had more girl companions at age 10, fewer male companions at 10 and 16, avoided sports participation, learned of homosexuality by experience, learned to masturbate by being masturbated by a male, had intense prepubertal sexual contact with boys or men, had neither heterosexual contact nor petting to orgasm by age 18, found thought or sight of males, but not females, arousing by age 18, had homosexual contact by age 18, higher K at ages 16 and 17, and had higher first-year homosexual behavior frequency.Behavioral bisexuals, those scoring between 2.0 and 4.0 on the K scale on the basis of overt behavior (0.7% of females, 1.2% of males), reported more arousal to heterosexual stimuli than did exclusive heterosexuals.     

Sibling sex ratio and male homosexuality

As an explanation for the increased sex ratio observed in the sibships of male homosexuals, Slater has hypothesized that the increase, itself, may be a causative factor in predisposing a male to homosexual behavior. As a test of this hypothesis, an additive and a multiplicative risk model relating male homosexuality to the sexual configuration of the homosexual's sibship were formulated and tested against published data. Both models were found to predict a curvilinear decrease in sibling sex ratio as sibship size increased, and both models were found to fit the observed sibship size sex ratio data closely. The analysis suggests that approximately 10% of the variance in male homosexual behavior can be accounted for by the sexual configuration of the homosexual's sibship.This work was supported in part by USPHS grants MH31302 and MH14677.     

Pubertal Onset and Sexual Orientation in an Adolescent National Probability Sample

Using 6-year longitudinal data from the National Longitudinal Survey of Adolescent Health (Add Health) and multiple measures of puberty as it occurs and of sexual orientation (romantic attraction, sexual identity), the present study attempted to replicate previous research which reported that homosexuals and heterosexuals differed in their age of pubertal onset. The study hypotheses were not confirmed for either males or females: on most pubertal measures, same-sex oriented groupings did not differ from heterosexuals. The only significant findings regarding homosexual males indicated that they were more likely to report having a later rather than an earlier onset of puberty, and the significant findings regarding homosexual females were contradictory—they tended to have an earlier onset of puberty. These findings are attributed to methodological improvements in the present study that reduced retrospective bias, used multiple indicators of sexual orientation and puberty timing, and assessed less eroticized measures of puberty.     

Sexual behavior and selected health measures: men and women 15-44 years of age, United States, 2002

OBJECTIVE: This report presents national estimates of several measures of sexual behavior among males and females 15-44 years of age in the United States in 2002, as collected in the 2002 National Survey of Family Growth (NSFG). These data are relevant to demographic and public health concerns, including fertility and sexually transmitted diseases among teenagers and adults. Data from the 2002 NSFG are compared with previous national surveys. METHODS: The 2002 NSFG was conducted by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention's (CDC) National Center for Health Statistics (NCHS) and is based on in-person, face-to-face interviews with a national sample of 12,571 males and females in the household population of the United States. The measures of sexual behavior presented in this report were collected using Audio Computer-Assisted Self-Interviewing (ACASI), in which the respondent enters his or her own answers into a laptop computer without telling them to an interviewer. RESULTS: Among adults 25-44 years of age, 97 percent of men and 98 percent of women have had vaginal intercourse; 90 percent of men and 88 percent of women have had oral sex with an opposite-sex partner; and 40 percent of men and 35 percent of women have had anal sex with an opposite-sex partner. About 6.5 percent of men 25-44 years of age have had oral or anal sex with another man. Based on a differently worded question, 11 percent of women 25-44 years of age reported having had a sexual experience with another woman. The public health significance of the findings is described.     

Sexual orientation as a continuous variable: A comparison between the sexes

Sexual orientation was measured as a continuous variable based upon reported percentage of sexual fantasies and percentage of sexual experiences involving members of the same sex. In the present sample (which probably somewhat overrepresented the homosexual end of the continuum) about one-third of both males and females reported at least occasionally fantasizing about sexually interacting with members of the same sex. The survey indicated about one-third of males also reported having had at least one intimate sexual experience with the same sex, whereas only 10% of females did so. Also, virtually all females who sexually fantasized about the same sex only did so occasionally, whereas most of the males who fantasized about the same sex did so much more exclusively. Although these results cannot be considered representative of the distribution of sexual orientation in any natural population, they suggest that there are advantages in measuring sexual orientation as a continuous variable instead of as one with only a few discrete categories. The results also support other studies that have concluded that when deviations from exclusive heterosexuality are present, they are likely to be much more extreme among males than among females.     

Sex hormones and male homosexuality in comparative perspective

Animal research has demonstrated the modifiability of sex-dimorphic mating behavior by hormone and brain manipulation, especially in subprimate mammals, and has led to radical attempts at treating human homosexuality by psychosurgery and to the suggestion of preventing homosexuality by prenatal hormone manipulation. This article reviews psychoendocrine studies of human homosexuality — the effects of hormone treatments on sexual orientation, the association of clinical endocrine syndromes with homosexuality, sex hormone measurements in homosexual subjects, and the issue of prenatal endocrine influences on human sexual orientation. The available studies, often deficient in methodology, have produced conflicting and largely negative results as to a hormonal theory of human homosexuality. Unfortunately, there is hardly any overlap between psychoendocrine studies on sexual orientation in man and on sex-dimorphic mating behavior in subhuman mammals that would allow systematic comparisons. A major alternate theory of human homosexuality has been derived from learning theory, and this position has been strengthened by the recent development of partially successful behavior therapy approaches to the change of sexual orientation. There is currently a lack of animal experimentation that could assist in formulating a learning-based etiological theory of human homosexuality. Since the influence of hormones relative to learning on sexual behavior appears to diminish along the evolutionary scale, animal models need to include manipulation of both hormonal and learning conditions.     

Sex in Australia: homosexual experience and recent homosexual encounters

OBJECTIVE: To describe the prevalence and features of homosexual experience and recent homosexual encounters among a representative sample of Australian adults. METHODS: Computer-assisted telephone interviews were completed by a representative sample of 10,173 men and 9,134 women aged 16-59 years from all States and Territories. The overall response rate was 73.1% (69.4% among men and 77.6% among women). RESULTS: Overall, 8.6% of women and 5.9% of men reported some homosexual sexual experience in their lives (p<0.001); these figures fell to 5.7% and 5.0% respectively (p=0.106) when non-genital sexual experience was excluded. 1.9% of men and 1.5% of women reported homosexual experience in the past year. Men who reported homosexual experience reported more same-sex partners than did women (means 31.6 and 3.2, p<0.001), and men and women who identified as homosexual or bisexual reported more sexual partners in total than those who identified as heterosexual. Respondents reporting homosexual experience were significantly more likely to be from an English-speaking background, have higher levels of education, live in a major city, and report a white-collar or managerial/professional occupation. Women who reported homosexual experience were less likely to have a middle or high income. In the most recent homosexual encounter, genital touching was the most commonly reported practice, and oral sex was reported much more frequently than in heterosexual encounters. CONCLUSION: Homosexually and bisexually identified men and women had higher total numbers of partners than heterosexuals. Improved societal attitudes towards homosexuality are likely to lead to further increases in estimates of the prevalence of homosexual experience in the community.     

Sex Ratio of Older Siblings in Heterosexual and Homosexual,Right-Handed and Non-Right-Handed Men

This study investigated why older brothers, which increase the odds of homosexuality in later-born males who are right-handed, have no effect or the opposite effect on later-born males who are non-right-handed. The specific question was whether the different results for the non-right-handed men have to do with the heterosexual non-right-handers or the homosexual non-right-handers. The human sex ratio at birth (106 males per 100 females) was used as a gold standard for determining which groups differ from the general population and in which direction. All usable data from previous studies were combined to obtain the largest possible sample (N = 8,201). The observed ratio of older brothers to older sisters was 105 for the heterosexual right-handers, 128 for the homosexual right-handers, 127 for the heterosexual non-right-handers, and 96 for the homosexual non-right-handers. The ratios for the homosexual right-handers and the heterosexual non-right-handers differed significantly from the expected value. These results suggest that both heterosexual and homosexual non-right-handers contribute to the older brothers × handedness × sexual orientation interaction.     

Unresolved Issues in Scientific Sexology

A number of unresolved issues in sexologyresearch and practice are reviewed. Penile volumeassessment of sexual arousal has consistently provedmore sensitive than penile circumference assessment andrequires much shorter exposure to the erotic stimulieliciting the arousal, reducing the subjects' ability tomodify their responses. Failure to acknowledge this hasallowed acceptance of evidence based on penile circumference assessment that behavioraltreatments such as directed masturbation can increasethe ability of sex offenders to be heterosexuallyaroused and aversive therapy can reduce their devianturges whereas penile volume assessment indicatesthese procedures are ineffective. A randomizedcontrolled trial of relapse prevention versus notreatment for sex offenders found more treated thanuntreated subjects reoffended after a mean follow-up period of 4years. Researchers and therapists accepted that a posthoc statistical manipulation of the results providedevidence of a treatment effect. Subsequently it has been recommended that randomized controlledevaluations of treatments of sex offenders be abandoned.Meta-analysis of outcome studies has been useduncritically. The majority of men and women who report homosexual feelings and/or behavior reportpredominant heterosexual feelings and behavior and donot identify as homosexual. These consistent findingsremain ignored. Studies of the etiology and development of homosexuality and heterosexuality treat themas distributed categorically rather than dimensionallyand investigate only self-identified homosexuals andheterosexuals. With this methodology the predominantly heterosexual majority are excluded ormisclassified. The belief that the European concept ofthe homosexual is a late 19th-century invention is basedon an inadequate reading of literature. Limitations of the DSM classification of sexual and genderidentity disorders are pointed out. The validity ofself-report of sexual behavior has been questioned onthe basis that men report a markedly higher average number of sexual partners than women. Possiblesex differences in reporting the number of partners whoare of the same sex, casual, or perpetrators or victimsof sexual coercion and child abuse have not been taken into account. Failure of sexology toprogress due to lack of resolution of conflicting issuesmay contribute to the low impact factor of itsjournals.