Comparing to this Gallup poll of adult Gen Zers (18-25 year olds):
High schoolers: 26% LGBTQ; 12% bisexual, 11% questioning/other, 3% gay/lesbian
Gen Z adults: 21% LGBTQ; 15% bisexual, 3% questioning/other, 4.5% gay/lesbian
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They also found that, among all high schoolers that have had a sexual experience, 1 in 5 have had a same-sex experience (20%; 14% with both genders, 6% only with the same gender). Assuming that number will probably go up for them as they have more experiences.
And I feel like that’s pretty interesting to note, because there’s an annoying stereotype going around that most bi people, especially bi women, will only fall into opposite-sex experiences because they’re a 1 or 2 the Kinsey scale. Obviously those people are valid too, but I don’t think they represent the majority of bi people, and there’s often some invalidation coming when people say that. I saw this study posted on Reddit, and people were like “it’s probably just 99% straight kids looking for attention and trying to feel unique.” That just isn’t true.
Some anecdotal talk: I go to a progressive-ish college, and from my uni experience so far, I’d say like 1/4 of the people I became friends with at random (mostly guys) have ending up telling me they’re LGBT in some form or another. And yeah, most of those people are bi.
Most bi people I know don’t seem to have a preference at all, actually, a good chunk of them (including me) seem to have a preference for the same gender. I think I know one bi guy that says he only likes very feminine guys and enbies, so he’s only been with girls so far. But other than that, all the bi people I know have either been with both main genders or only the same-gender! I had a talk with my straight friends actually, a lot of them said they have maybe a 5% same-sex attraction, but wouldn’t identify as anything but straight because they can’t see themselves with the same gender. I mean they could if they wanted to, that’s probably an even much larger chunk of the population, but I’m assuming most people like that will keep identifying as straight.
I honestly think only a plurality of people are cisgender heterosexual heteroromantic. It could be as low as 30% if we account for demigenders/demisexuals/demiromantics.
For selfish reasons I’m kind of sad this wasn’t a thing a couple of decades ago. It sucked coming of age being bi and being afraid that people would find out.
Lots of things sucks about the world today but this is one of the things that gives me hope. The kids are alright.
yeah it’s kind of nuts how quick the culture shifted. a decade ago i went to a small high school in a liberal area and i didn’t know a single queer classmate.
Yeah it’s changed a lot but it’s worth noting the statistic isn’t all out and open people. Mostly? Probably yeah, but the survey makes it clear it’s designed for anonymity/ protects all your identifying information when you take it, so some kids might not identify as straight on the test but’ll be deep in the closet irl, especially in conservative hellscapes. At least until they graduate and get the hell out of there.
I will say my cousin goes to a school in a small lib town and says it’s very queer and that there were two prom kings his freshman year, two prom queens his sophomore year (he’s going into junior year now)
Also, for the longst tome people were highly dismissive of the Kinsey scale bexause “there are more gay people than bi people”. But it turns out that probably most bi people on the mostly straight side of the scale just never came out. Which isn’t a shocking outcome.
I was in high school in the late 90s. Granted, this was a in conservative Midwestern US suburb so YMMV… but in my high school of -2,000 students not a single one was openly LGBTQ (or at least they were extremely low key about it). There was one teacher who didn’t explicitly say it but did everything but spell it out for you. Things really have changed since then.
When I was in highschool, basically no one was out as gay or bi and I didn’t even know being trans or non-binary was even a thing. I’m in university now in my early 30s and basically everyone here is LGBTQ (okay, being in the philosophy department probably skews the numbers a bit compared to if I was in the business department or something, but still). Even the people who aren’t are like fine with it. It’s so normal now. Like shit is still fucked but it’s crazy how much has changed in a short time. Like there is a huge attack on trans people right now and I don’t want to minimize that. But the reason that is even happening is because so much has changed. They would never have needed to do something like that 20 years ago because being anti-trans was just the accepted completely dominant position.
28 and even just 10 years ago I was terrified of classmates knowing that I was trans. I remember one kid who was openly gay and decently accepted but anti trans jokes were still the norm if the topic came up.
I think a big part of this is the area, rural south is still rough for LGBT youth even now after all. But it’s gotten a lot better extremely fast at least.
Hell even just a bit before that when I was in mid teens one of tge psychiatrists was trying to convince my parents it was just a fetish. I think I got unlucky cause he was an old old dude but still, I don’t see that happening as often anymore unless you seek out a conservative on purpose.
Yeah I’m only 20 and grew up in a small town that definintely had it’s homophobia, so I was closeted for all of HS. But seeing it so widely accepted in college even among frat boy types, who have a lot of queer members themselves, definintely helped me accept myself more. So far every straight guy I’ve talked to told me they have a bi or gay friend when I told them I’m bi. Some of them even acted as wingmen without asking and that’s how I had my first two gay kisses.
Being with other masculine guys also kinda defied heteronormative expectations in my head where I figured I had to be “the man of the relationship” in a gay relationship or whatever. Kinda realized that that can be both of our jobs. I mean, this super cute guy tried to teach me how to play the guitar by moving my fingers, wrote me an original song, and bought me real AND lego flowers, had me kicking my feet in the air like a teenage girl lmao
I’m also in uni and have had a similar experience meeting queer people everywhere on campus, but most guys (and girls) I’ve talked to have only been interested in hook ups or situationships, never anything serious 😭 though I must admit I don’t really put myself out there much in the first place
what do those numbers mean?
26% lgbtq 12% bisexual… so thats included in the first number, right? you know. the “b” i just dont know how to read these results surely they didnt word the questionaire this way
In the bigger picture I think it means that in nature (I.E. without social constructs) human sexuality tends a lot more bisexual than most would have you believe. Hopefully this eventually leads to even further proof that the social constructs that keep people from expressing their sexuality are actively harming them.
I’m not about to look it up, but IIRC this data tracks with sexuality in other great apes, too. Big “Duh-doy!” moment, really.
oh yes of course sexuality is all over the place i have a theory that by giving names to certain sexualities we actually pidgeon hole ourselves into classifying ourselfs into those categories rather just being like “whatever i fuck who im attracted to who also wants to fuck me”
I’ve always thought that bisexuality is way, way more common than people realize. Maybe even to the extent of “perfectly straight” and “perfectly gay” people basically not existing. Like everything else, it’s a spectrum. And it’s not even a spectrum that can be easily measured, because it’s made up of so many factors that can’t be easily categorized. What do you call a guy who is attracted to feminine people regardless of their sex? Bisexual, sure, but surely he’s a little more “straight” than someone who is attracted to masculine people regardless of their sex, who is also more straight than someone who is attracted only to men regardless of their gender expression. But now you’ve got a situation where the guy who likes femboys (the third guy) is gayer than the guy who likes big daddy bears (the second guy). I feel like all my logic makes sense in its context but the conclusion ends up being complete nonsense.
I’ve always thought that bisexuality is way, way more common than people realize
This is where our friend Karl Marx comes in! The base informs the superstructure, and part of the superstructure is how we conceive of the past. We tend to assume the way things are now are the way things have always been. For example, consider the number of people who think capitalism has basically always existed universally. But this goes beyond just economics. The past gets demolished and rebuilt in the image of the current age. Bisexuality was a lot more common. But then came Victorian morality (itself a product of capitalism) and eventually people started believing this heteronormativity was just “human nature” and the way things always have been.
Maybe even to the extent of “perfectly straight” and “perfectly gay” people basically not existing.
I think this is the logical conclusion of the conception of gender as whatever the fuck you want it to be. I know some people won’t like me saying this, and I can definitely see why, it can feel like it’s invalidating one’s sexuality, and especially for “perfectly gay” people be kinda reminiscent of people who will maliciously try to “make them straight”. I also think it’s totally fair to level the criticism that even if this is technically the case, in society as it exists right now, it’s pretty much just extreme edge cases and the language we use to describe sexuality now is still useful within this context, but if being a man doesn’t inherently imply anything about someone, and being a woman doesn’t inherently imply anything about anyone, absolute attraction to exclusively one or the other would merely be attraction to a word, which I don’t think is how sexuality works.
26% lgbtq 12% bisexual… so thats included in the first number, right?
Yeah
surely they didnt word the questionaire this way
The question was basically “what do you identify as, straight, bisexual, gay, lesbian, questioning, or other?” 74% answered straight, 12% answered bisexual, 11% questioning/other, 3% gay/lesbian. So they added all the non-straight answers together and got 26%.
Was thinking about this deeply today
I grew up thinking that I was supposed to behave in a certain way, otherwise I would be ostracized by my family and friends. So I behaved in ways I deemed safe.
You can be raised and you can be indoctrinated. Glad to see the next generation thinking for themselves this early
