01/21 1531  British sex study finds fewer homosexuals than expected

LONDON (Jan. 21) UPI - A study on British sexual behavior has found that the
number of homosexuals is far lower than previously thought, The Daily Mail
newspaper reported Friday.
   The survey, from a book entitled "Sexual Behavior in Britain" scheduled to be
published next week, said only 1.1 percent of British men had a homosexual
partner during the previous year.
   Only 1.4 percent of those questioned said they had a homosexual partner in
the five years up to survey, conducted in 1990 and 1991.
   The study said 3.5 percent of men had had a male partner at some stage of
their lives and 6.1 percent reported having some sort of  "homosexual
experience," a loosely defined term that includes touching.
   The numbers were substantially lower than the one-in-10 figure that has been
frequently cited since the 1948 Kinsey Report on sexual behavior in the United
States.
   The study reportedly found that for many young people, homosexuality is only
a passing phase at a time when males are unsure of their sexual orientation.
   The results have ignited fresh debate over whether the age of consent for
homosexuals in Britain should be lowered from 21 to 16.
   Conservative Party politician David Shaw, who is against lowering the age of
consent for British homosexuals when the issue goes to the vote in the House of
Commons before the end of the month, said the sex study made it clear that there
should be no law changes.
   "The homosexual lobby is out of all proportion to the numbers involved," Shaw
told the Daily Mail. "It is a very dangerous lobby and I don't think it does
homosexuals themselves any good. It will end up backfiring on them."
   Homosexual rights activists challenged the findings of the survey, which was
carried in 1990-91 and involved interviews with 18,876 people.
   David Smith, editor of Gay Times magazine, said the one-in-10 figure had
become part of the mythology surrounding sexual statistics.
   "If people are asked in their homes whether they are homosexual, they are
likely to say 'no,"' said.