From mills@al.noaa.gov Tue Sep 6 16:51:33 1994 Study: Many Have Gay Stirrings WASHINGTON (AP) -- A survey indicating that nearly one in five Americans has been attracted to someone of the same sex at some time since age 15 illustrates that sexual orientation isn't a simple question of gay or straight, one of its authors says. "I think in most individuals there is some sort of range," said David Wypij, a Harvard University statistician and co-author of the study. "You may be more heterosexual, you may be more homosexual." The research, conducted at the Harvard School of Public Health and the Center for Health Policy Studies in Washington, has been criticized by some statisticians but touted by gay rights activists. The study found that between 6.2 percent and 20.8 percent of American men and 3.3 percent and 17.8 percent of American women could be considered ``incidentally homosexual.'' The lower estimates are based on reported same-sex sexual behavior during the previous five years. The higher numbers are based on reported homosexual behavior or attraction since age 15. "Our perspective is that sexual orientation isn't just a yes-no, heterosexual-homosexual (question)," Wypij said. Research that might help define the size of the homosexual community plays directly into the debate over extending civil rights protections to this minority. Congress is considering legislation that would outlaw job discrimination based on sexual orientation. Opponents have cited research that they say shows only 1 percent of the population is gay, suggesting that gay people have little political clout. The study, which was presented at the Joint Statistical Meetings in Toronto in August and is being published in the Archives of Sexual Behavior, is the first national survey to look at the question of homosexual attraction. Interviewers spoke with 1,288 American men and 674 women, ages 16 to 50, and asked them each to complete questionnaires. The study said 1,200 men completed face-to-face interviews, which included 100 questions, and 1,130 answered 68 questions in the written survey. A total of 634 women completed the interviews and 588 finished the written portion. Other studies that have examined sexual attraction -- such as those published by Alfred J. Kinsey in 1948 and 1953 -- were not based on samples that could be extrapolated to the population as a whole. More recent national surveys have focused on behavior, not same-sex attraction. Randall Sell, lead author of the study and a doctoral candidate at Harvard, said he hopes the research will help elucidate the complexity of sexual orientation. "It's more than just behavior; that's only one measure," he said. Tom W. Smith, a statistician at the National Opinion Research Center at the University of Chicago, called the study useful, but warned that the question on attraction was imprecise. "They basically asked whether you were ever attracted to a member of the same sex at any time since you were age 15 -- which can mean one very fleeting, very trivial sensation or feeling," Smith said. Despite such caveats, the National Gay and Lesbian Task Force immediately seized on the report, noting the figures are much higher than those last year from the Battelle Human Affairs Research Center, which reported 2 percent of the men surveyed had engaged in same-sex sexual behavior and 1 percent identified themselves as exclusively gay. That report has been used by religious conservatives to argue that homosexuals are a far smaller minority than previously believed. =-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-= Study Tracks Homosexual Stirs WASHINGTON (AP) -- Almost one-fifth of Americans have been attracted to someone of the same sex at some time since age 15, according to a new study that has been criticized by some statisticians but touted by gay rights activists. The study, conducted by researchers at the Harvard School of Public Health and the Center for Health Policy Studies in Washington, found that between 6.2 percent and 20.8 percent of American men and 3.3 percent and 17.8 percent of American women could be considered "incidentally homosexual." The higher numbers are based on reported homosexual behavior or attraction since age 15. The lower estimates are based on reported same-sex sexual behavior during the previous five years. "Our perspective is that sexual orientation isn't just a yes-no, heterosexual-homosexual (question)," said David Wypij (pronounced "wippy"), a Harvard statistician and a co-author of the study. "I think in most individuals there is some sort of range. You may be more heterosexual, you may be more homosexual." Research that might help define the size of the homosexual community plays directly into the debate over extending civil rights protections to this minority. Congress is currently considering legislation that would outlaw job discrimination based on sexual orientation. Opponents have cited research that they say shows only 1 percent of the population is gay, suggesting that gay people have little political clout. The study, which was presented at the Joint Statistical Meetings in Toronto in August and is being published in the Archives of Sexual Behavior, is the first national study to look at the question of homosexual attraction. Other studies that have examined sexual attraction -- such as those published by Alfred J. Kinsey 1948 and 1953 -- were not based on samples that could be extrapolated to the population as a whole. And recent national surveys that have attempted to measure the prevalence of homosexual behavior, primarily in an effort to understand AIDS transmission, have not asked about same-sex attraction. Randall Sell, lead author of the study and a doctoral candidate at Harvard, said he is hoping the research will help elucidate the complexity of sexual orientation. "It's more than just behavior; that's only one measure," he said. Tom W. Smith, a statistician at the National Opinion Research Center at the University of Chicago, called the study useful, but warned that the question on attraction was imprecise. "They basically asked whether you were ever attracted to a member of the same sex at any time since you were age 15 -- which can mean one very fleeting, very trivial sensation or feeling which ... may have never been acted upon and may never even been felt again in the next 30 or 40 years of your life," Smith said. "The idea of covering arousal or attraction independent of behavior and independent of self-definition is a good one," he added. "But this is not a terribly strong way of trying to implement it because it is such a long period and does not talk about the strength of or the nature of the attraction or whether it's an enduring attraction." Wypij agreed that the question was imperfect but said he and his colleagues are hoping the study "gets people thinking about this a little more, not only the public at large but researchers on social behavior, social survey statisticians, to really think about homosexuality as not just behavior but really taking into account psychological components." Despite such caveats, the National Gay and Lesbian Task Force immediately seized on the report, issuing a news release noting "these figures are significantly higher than last year's study by researchers at the Battelle Human Affairs Research Center that reported only 2 percent of men surveyed had ever engaged in same-sex sexual behavior, and 1 percent identified themselves as exclusively gay." That report, which garnered widespread media attention, has been used by the religious right to argue that homosexuals are a far smaller minority than previously believed. Robin Kane, spokeswoman for the task force, said the percentage of gay people "is not a pressing issue facing our community. ... Whether gay and lesbian people are 2 percent of the people or 20 percent, discrimination and violence against us is unjust and must end." Wypij said the study was not intended to be political in any way. "It sounds like the NGLTF is trying to normalize homosexual behavior or attraction by having it be in larger proportion," he said. "In terms of anybody using the numbers one way or the other, I don't think there is one number about what is homosexual or what is heterosexual." Added Sell: "I don't care how many homosexuals there are, I really don't."