Date: Fri, 21 Jan 1994 16:46:00 EDT From: Song Weaver Subject: British sex study finds fewer homosexuals than expected LONDON (UPI) -- A study on British sexual behavior has found 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 are homosexuals, far lower than the one-in-10 figure cited since the 1948 Kinsey Report on sexual behavior in the United States. The results have ignited fresh debate over whether the age of consent for homosexuals in Britain should be lowered from 21 to 16, an issue up for vote in the House of Commons in Janaury. Conservative Party politician David Shaw, who is against lowering the age of consent said the sex study made it clear there should be no changes in the law. "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." Homosexual rights activists challenged the findings of the 1990-91 survey, which involved interviews with 18,876 people. "If people are asked in their homes whether they are homosexual, they are likely to say no," said David Smith, editor of Gay Times magazine.