new study from GB

[goldenfinger]

http://www.statistics.gov.uk/articles/nojournal/measuring-sexual-identity-report.pdf

have yet to read all of it.

[tenni]

"An initial analysis of the characteristics of those identifying as lesbian, gay or bisexual shows that the LGB population have a younger age distribution than heterosexuals. Those who identified as gay or lesbian were more likely to be men whereas those who identified as bisexual were more likely to be women. Those who identify as gay or lesbian were more likely to be in managerial or professional classifications, employed and qualified to a higher degree. Similar proportions of those who identify as LGB and heterosexuals were in perceived good health although the former were more likely to smoke, or have smoked in the past."
(The above is from the conclusion section.)
.................................................. .................................................. .......
Box 1: The different aspects of sexual orientation
Sexual attraction
This refers to a sexual interest in another person based on a combination of factors including a person’s looks, movement, voice, smell etc that are appealing to the person attracted. Sexual attraction can also be defined as having sexual feelings towards someone.
Sexual behaviour
Refers to how people behave sexually. That is whether they have sexual partners of the same sex or not. Sexual behaviour does not necessarily form a basis for a person’s sexual identity.
Sexual identity
How individuals think of themselves. This does not necessarily match their sexual behaviour or attraction and can change over time.
Sexual orientation
One’s sexual orientation can be derived from any of the above.
While
(from page 4)

.................................................. .................................................. ...
"Key findings
• In April 2009 to March 2010, people (aged 16 and over) who identified as LGB had a younger age distribution than heterosexuals – 64.9 per cent were aged under 45 compared with 48.6 per cent of people who identify as heterosexual
• A higher proportion of men than women identified as LGB (54.6 per cent compared with 45.4 per cent). However, women were much more likely to identify themselves as bisexual than gay/lesbian. Of those who identified themselves as gay/lesbian, only one-third were women (33.8 per cent) and two-thirds were men (66.2 per cent), whereas more than two-thirds (68.2 per cent) of bisexuals were women, and one-third (31.8 per cent) who were men.
• People who identified as LGB were less likely to identify with a religion than heterosexuals. One-third (33.5 per cent) of LGB respondents, said that they did not identify with a religion. This compares with one-fifth (20.4 per cent) of heterosexual or straight respondents."
(from page 16)

[Long Duck Dong]

Those who identified as gay or lesbian were more likely to be men whereas those who identified as bisexual were more likely to be women. ?????????

when a study id's lesbians as more likely to be men..... I immediately question who was doing the study and who was doing the drinking

[AidanS57]

I don't pay a lot of attention to statistics gathered by anyone. I have found through the years that if you pick the group you have hand picked the answers and the study will say whatever agenda you are pushing for funding at the time.

[Realist]

I agree Aidan, When I was in college, we did a study about a series of business relationship issues. I remember that, afterwards, we wrote reports that answered a series of questions about what a company had done to improve communications with prospective customers.

During a critique of our responses, our professor said that most of us wrote things we thought the company would want to hear. Basically, we were mostly prospective "YES" men/women!

Only two people in the class got a passing grade, because they found things that should have been done, but had been over-looked, or ignored.

Sadly, I wasn't one of them! It was a good lesson, though.

[slipnslide]

Those who identified as gay or lesbian were more likely to be men whereas those who identified as bisexual were more likely to be women. ?????????

when a study id's lesbians as more likely to be men..... I immediately question who was doing the study and who was doing the drinking

It is awkward wording but if you create a set called homosexual that contains gay and lesbian, then what they're saying is that men are more likely to label themselves homosexual than women.

[softfruit]

So that's 1 in 200 (http://bimedia.org/1185/one-in-two-hundred/) people being bi.

Well, considering this is label identity, to a stranger on the doorstep or phone, and how marginalised the B word is compared to other identities, that's not too bad a result! :flag4:

The interesting demographics so far as I can tell are the higher rate of identifying as bi for women than for men (and I'm sure I don't need to go in to how there are both nature and nurture possibilities there) and the higher rate of LGB identities in people as you move down the age ranges. Older people have spent more of their lives living under a cloud of homophobia and illegality, so it's not surprising if they are less inclined to identify with a word that they were brought up to think of as a bad thing.

It's also the first run out of this survey, and all the evidence is that the more times you conduct things like this the more people grow to trust the questioning and you get more accurate figures. So I suspect in ten years time that 0.5% will have risen a bit.

[DuckiesDarling]

It's not the first run though, Soft. It's based on the same survey they did a few years ago and the results were much the same. What I found interesting is that out of XXX number of people only X qualified. That seems to me to bear out what some have said, that you can manipulate the results of a study just by picking and choosing the subjects surveyed.

[darkeyes]

It's not the first run though, Soft. It's based on the same survey they did a few years ago and the results were much the same. What I found interesting is that out of XXX number of people only X qualified. That seems to me to bear out what some have said, that you can manipulate the results of a study just by picking and choosing the subjects surveyed.

When I read about this daft survey Darlin darlin I laughed out loud. It bears no relation to the actuality and havent got a clue how they have come up with those figures. The figure of about 5% for gay and lesbian does concur with other studies but takes no account of the many who, because of society's remaining stigma toward homosexuality have kept quiet or lied with their answer. The arguably even greater stigma of bisexuality has in my view artifically depressed the figures to an even greater degree, because the figure of a quarter million bisexuals is just unebelievable. In my opinon, there are more bisexual people than are gay by some distance, basing it on my own personal experience. I say this about women particularly for that is my experience especially having for most of my life considered myself one.

I don't know how we will ever get an accurate view of actual numbers, at least not until the stigma which remains toward both homo and bisexuality is eroded so as to make no difference. Even allowing for much more relaxed attitudes in British society it is surprising that so many still feel unable to open up even when guaranteed confidentiality. But it doesn't matter a jot does it..? None of it. What matters is who we are.. and what we find in our own life experience, and how we deal with it.

[softfruit]

It's not the first run though, Soft. It's based on the same survey they did a few years ago

I'd say that I'm now confused, but that would just be playing up to bi stereotype :P as the line in the introduction "This report evaluates the sexual identity question after its first year on the IHS" seems to disagree with that?

[dafydd]

Um i guess it would be fair to say that people don't like discussing their sexuality to total strangers. if they did I guess the results would be very different. 1%, 5%, 7%? what does it matter? we're still a minority, but a significant minority.

d