2000 Survey Results Preview


Indicators of Same-gender Orientation
We wanted to take a closer look at some important, and some defining, characteristics of being queer. The attributes we believed would be particularly informative were the Kinsey scale, a gender expression scale, the age at which they were aware they were queer, the ages at which they first had sex and first had sex with someone of the same gender, and the gender of the people in their sexual fantasies. These turn out to have a high corrleation with their sexual orientation, and are discussed in greater detail.

  • Sexual orientation: Respondents were asked to self-identify where their attractions lay using the Kinsey Scale, which places individuals on a seven-point continuum from 0 to 6, with someone who is a "0" describing themselves as "Exclusively attracted to members of the opposite gender, and never to those of the same gender", and those indicating "6" as "Exclusively attracted to members of the same gender, and never to those of the opposite gender".

    As might be expected, those individuals indicating that they were either gay or lesbian (Mg, Fl) were very close to a 6 and those who identify as bisexual (Fb, Mb) in the middle of the scale. Questioning youth (Fq, Mq) also place themselves mid-scale, although it's possible this changes over time, as their sexual identities solidify.


Fq
 Fb
 Mq
 Mb
 Fl
 Mg
Opposite Gender Attraction KINSEY SEXUAL ORIENTATION SCALE Same Gender Attraction


  • Gender expression: We developed a scale for gender (Kryzan Scale of Gender Expression) which is a bidirectional, seven-point continuum from -6 (called F6), to +6 (called M6), much in the same manner of the Kinsey scale, but doubled. Someone who is an F6 would describe themself as "Very Feminine", someone at 0 (the midpoint) would be "Both Feminine and Masculine" or "Neither Feminine nor Masculine, but Androgynous", and someone who rated themself as an M6 would be "Very Masculine".

    Lesbians (Fl) and gay males (Mg) fell closest towards the middle of the scale, identifying themselves as expressing more characteristics of the opposite gender than either those who were bisexual (Fb, Mb) or questioning (Fq, Mq). Although males tended to cluster, it's interesting to observe that lesbian females are notably displaced from other females.


Fq
 Fb
 Fl
 Mg
 Mq
 Mb
Feminine GENDER SCALE Masculine


  • Sexual fantasies: We developed an index for the nature of sexual fantasies (Kryzan Sexual Fantasy Indicator of Sexual Orientation) which is a continuum from 0 to 6, much in the same manner of the Kinsey scale. Someone who is a "0" would describe their sexual fantasies as featuring "Exclusively the opposite gender", those at 3 would include both males and females, and those with a 6 would feature "Exclusively the same gender".

    The stimulus for creating such an index was a large base of anecdotal, clinical data collected by the author which suggests that individuals with a same-gender sexual orientation had masturbation fantasies which featured primarily others of the same gender, and that, therefore, the nature of one's sexual fantasies might serve as an indicator of one's sexual orientation.

    As expected, lesbians (Fl) and gay males (Mg) fell closest towards the same-gender end of the scale, with bisexual and questioning individuals falling more towards the middle of the range. Echoing the fluidity seen elsewhere, females fell much closer to the middle than males, however. It is also worth noting that the mean responses for each group of individuals were above the midpoint.


Fq
 Fb
 Mb
 Mq
 Fl
 Mg
Opposite Gender SEXUAL FANTASY INDICATOR Same Gender


  • Age of awareness: The age at which respondents typically became aware of their sexual orientation places them at the middle school level. Lesbians (Fl) and gay males (Mg) became aware of their identity significantly earlier than those identifying as bisexual (Fb, Mb), and both of those groups much earlier than for questioning youth (Fq, Mq). Interestingly, males in all categories seemed to become aware of their orientation up to a year earlier than their female counterparts.


Mg
 Mb
 Fl
 Mq
 Fb
 Fq
11 12 13 14 15 16


  • Age at first sexual experience: Lesbians (Fl) and gay males (Mg) typically have their first sexual experience much later after becoming aware of their sexual orientation than either those identifying as bisexual (Fb, Mb) or questioning (Fq, Mq), and males up to nine months earlier than their female counterparts. It is notable, we believe that bisexual youth become sexually active much earlier than those identifying as gay or lesbian, although it is uncertain what phenomenon is at work.


Mb
 Mq
 Fb
 Mg
 Fq
 Fl
11 12 13 14 15 16


  • Age at first same-gender sexual experience: Lots is going on here that merits further research. For gay males (Mg), unlike with lesbians (Fl), or any of the female youth, in fact, their first sexual experience is typically with the same gender. Bisexual males (Mb) have sex with someone of the same gender far earlier than questioning youth of either gender (Fq, Mq), perhaps because for many gay male youth bisexuality is a step along the way to accepting a gay male identity (this phenomenon, explored elsewhere, does not appear to be the case for bisexual females (Fb), who retain their bisexual identity for a much longer time, if not throughout their life).


Mg
 Mb
 Mq
 Fq
 Fb
 Fl
11 12 13 14 15 16



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