Supporting Materials

This page documents materials that supplement the information in the book. Some of the listings may not make much sense if the reader has not read the book first.

List of Sections Supplemented So Far: (1.0 & 1.2), 2.1, 2.3, 2.8, 2.9, 3.0, 7.1 (see the Chapter 7 link to the right), 11.5, and 12.6.


Chapter 1 (Sections 1.0, 1,2): In 1990, a random, population-based sample of people in British (English, Welsh, and Scottish) households were interviewed and provided a supplementary questionnaire to complete. The acceptance rate was 71.5%. The response to questions concerning homosexual behavior and same-sex attraction is provided in Table 1 below; the significance of the hypothetical data will be explained shortly.

Table 1: Sexual Attractions and Sexual Behaviors in a Random Sample of People (8,778 men and 10,758 women; 16-59 years old) Living in British Households (1990 British Natsal Survey).(1)
Type of attraction/behavior Actual Data Hypothetical Data Hypothetical Data
homosexual interests multiplied by 2 homosexual interests multiplied by 3
Men Women Men Women Men Women
Attracted to... only females, never to males 7,554 (94.27%) 29 (0.28%) 88.56% 0.56% 82.84% 0.84%
more often to females, at least once to a male 323 (4.03%) 2 (0.02%) 8.06% 0.04% 12.09% 0.06%
about equally often to males and females 48 (0.60%) 24 (0.23%) 1.20% 0.46% 1.80% 0.69%
more often to males, and at least once to a female 46 (0.57%) 409 (3.87%) 1.14% 7.74% 1.71% 11.61%
only males, never to females 42 (0.52%) 10,062 (95.27%) 1.04% 91.2% 1.56% 86.8%
Sexual experience... only with females (or a female), never with a male 7,480 (94.58%) 14 (0.13%) 89.16% 0.26% 83.74% 0.39%
more often with females, and at least once with a male 318 (4.02%) 21 (0.20%) 8.04% 0.40% 12.06% 0.60%
about equally often with females and with males 26 (0.33%) 13 (0.12%) 0.66% 0.24% 0.99% 0.36%
more often with males, and at least once with a female 49 (0.62%) 248 (2.35%) 1.24% 4.7% 1.86% 7.05%
only with males (or a male), never with a female 36 (0.46%) 10,238 (97.19%) 0.92% 94.38% 1.38% 91.57%

The yellow boxes list the percentages of individuals reporting (and the corresponding hypothetical data) exclusively homosexual behaviors or exclusive same-sex attraction. Only 0.28% of women and 0.52% of men reported exclusive same-sex attraction. Only 0.13% of women and 0.46% of men reported engaging in homosexual but not heterosexual behavior. These data suggest a low prevalence of exclusive homosexuality. If we were to also add those mostly but not exclusively inclined toward homosexual behavior/same-sex attraction to the exclusive types and label these individuals homosexual, then only 0.30% of women and 1.09% of men could be labeled homosexual on the basis of same-sex attraction and only 0.33% of women and 1.08% of men could be labeled homosexual on the basis of homosexual behavior. These figures are only a fraction of the claim that 10% of the population is homosexual. The percentage of people who self-identify as homosexual usually lies in the 1-2% range and not all of these self-identified homosexuals are exclusively homosexual with respect to attractions or behavior (see several random population-based studies described in the book).

One concern with the data above is that stigma against homosexuality could have resulted in the underreporting of homosexual behavior and same-sex attraction. Let us assume that because of stigma against homosexuality, only 1 in 3 individuals engaging in homosexual behavior or experiencing same-sex attraction reported these experiences. Even if this assumption were correct, only 0.84% of women and 1.56% of men would be experiencing exclusive same-sex attraction and only 0.39% of women and 1.38% of men would be engaging in homosexual but not heterosexual behavior in this sample; these figures assume that the tendency to underreport is equally distributed across all categories of assessment, an assumption that is easily justified thus: exclusively heterosexual individuals that find homosexual behavior or same-sex attraction disgusting do not find bisexuals, even bisexuals mostly inclined toward heterosexuality, any more acceptable than homosexuals; besides, such heterosexuals would never accept self-identified heterosexuals who experience slight same-sex attraction or engage in sporadic homosexual behaviors as heterosexual, and this should be obvious to nonheterosexuals, i.e., one cannot assume that exclusive same-sex attraction or exclusively homosexual behaviors are much more likely to be underreported than various forms of bisexual behavior or bisexual attraction.

As before, if we add those mostly but not exclusively inclined toward homosexual behavior/same-sex attraction to the exclusive types and label these individuals homosexual and assume that only 1 in 3 individuals engaging in homosexual behavior or experiencing same-sex attraction reported these experiences, then only 0.90% of women and 3.27% of men could be labeled homosexual on the basis of same-sex attraction and only 0.99% of women and 3.24% of men could be labeled homosexual on the basis of homosexual behavior; note that these figures are still not close to the 10% alleged figure.

Assuming that that only 1 in 3 individuals engaging in homosexual behavior or experiencing same-sex attraction reported these experiences and given that the correlation between reported same-sex attraction and reported homosexual behavior was 0.605 for men and 0.533 for women [both figures are statistically significant; p < 0.001], the proportion of the sample that would have either experienced same-sex attraction or [voluntary] homosexual behavior would easily exceed one in three. If this were true, then a strong dislike of homosexuality/homosexual behavior would be much less prevalent than what it is, and for the following reasons: 1) few individuals who have experienced some same-sex attraction or [voluntary] homosexual activity would be expected to find homosexuality disgusting, 2) some heterosexuals experience unusual sexual interests (e.g., paraphilias) and can be expected to be more understanding of individuals with unusual sexual interests (e.g., homosexuals) they themselves do not experience, and 3) some heterosexuals relish anal sex and rimming (oral stimulation of the anus), thereby having fewer reasons to find homosexual activity disgusting than heterosexuals who find anal sex and rimming disgusting; i.e., it is a stretch to believe that only 1 in 3 individuals (or less) engaging in homosexual behavior or experiencing same-sex attraction in this survey reported these experiences.

Besides, does one expect a large number of nonheterosexual respondents in an anonymous survey in the West to not report their homosexual interests/experiences? The data from this survey agree with the data from several others that have employed anonymous paper-based self-administered questionnaires (even Scandinavian surveys; note that there is less stigma against homosexuality in Scandinavia) as described in the book. As the book notes, computer-assisted self-interviewing has been shown to increase reporting of sensitive behaviors such as homosexual behaviors on the part of adolescent males, but not only does the increased reporting match retrospective reports of adolescent homosexual behaviors on the part of adult males but also computer-assisted self-interviewing has not been shown to consistently increase reporting of sensitive sexual behaviors (no overall increase compared to a paper-based self-administered questionnaire in a random sample of the British).

The respondents included 8,778 men and 10,758 women. 8,013 men and 10,562 women answered the question about sexual attractions above; 7,909 men and 10,534 women answered the question about sexual behavior above. Nonheterosexuals can be expected to be relatively underrepresented among those that skipped these questions given that the sexually conservative are usually the most likely to feel uncomfortable with sexuality questionnaires and not answer questions about their sexual interests/experiences.

Some of the homosexual interests/experiences described in Table 1.0 are former interests/experiences that are no longer ongoing. Besides, some of the homosexual experiences reported by the respondents did not involve genital contact.

Therefore, in summary, anyway one looks at it, the claim that 10% of the population is homosexual is a vast exaggeration.

References:

  1. A. M. Johnson, J. Wadsworth, K. Wellings, J. Field, Sexual Attitudes and Lifestyles. (Blackwell Scientific Publications, Oxford, 1995).

Chapter 2: Plenty of supporting materials:


Chapter 3 (Section 3.0): Download the Just the Facts About Sexual Orientation & Youth: A Primer for Principals, Educators & School Personnel report.


Chapter 11 (Section 11.5): Download the Safe Place to Learn report.


Chapter 12 (Section 12.6): If the studies claiming to argue that homosexuals are more likely to be mentally ill than heterosexuals suffered from at least one of the following flaws, the APA (American Psychological Association) would readily dismiss them: "unclear hypotheses and research designs; missing or inadequate comparison groups; missing or inadequate statistical analysis; self-constructed, unreliable and invalid measurements; non-random samples, including participants who recruit other participants; and samples too small to yield meaningful results." One or more of these shortcomings characterize the studies that the APA uses to support parenting by homosexuals; see a 1995 article cited by the APA, and should this link not work, you can download this article (saved Oct 19, 2004). The shortcomings mentioned above were documented by researchers at the Marriage Law Project; you can download its 2001 report, No basis: what the studies don’t tell us about same-sex parenting.


Transgenderism: Information on transgenderism and its correlates is scattered throughout the book. Those looking for a good deal of this information in one place should see this page (this page does not address the association of transgenderism with religion as described in Sections 9.3 and 9.4 in the book).