Only 8% of HS students identify as bisexual or gay, does this seem right to you?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:The survey was two years ago. I think there has been an uptick over the past couple years of girls saying they are lesbian or bi. I don't know if it's because I live in a liberal area so it's more prevalent, but it is a lot more than a few years ago, and a lot more than when I was a teen. I don't know if this is true for the rest of the country.

It’s not just in liberal areas. I live in a slightly right of center county, and I would say that by senior year most girls consider themselves to be some sort of variety of bisexual. This was not the case a few years ago.

This really sucks for young men. Yeah, I know bi includes an interest in them but not exclusively. How is that going to work when the population is about 50/50 male/female? We are going in the wrong direction as a society. I wonder what will come along to redirect the path. Nature has a way of righting itself.

Maybe men should make themselves more of a catch. When I watch my peers, I've seen more than one woman divorce a man and get involved with a woman, saying she's never going to deal with men again. I'm not heteroflexible, but I can see the attraction of having a woman for a life partner instead of a man.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I know it's being called trendy but there is scientific evidence that women have an arousal response to a much wider range of images than men do (it's also been found that women are much less aware of their own arousal). It does not shock me at all that in a more sexually conscious age that is also more accepting of female than male bisexuality, that a lot of girls now identify as bisexual.

Exactly what she said. This is the most accurate response here.

[Anonymous]

I saw a study a few years ago (can't find it now). They asked teens at 15, 17, 19, 21 and 23 about their sexual orientation.

The % identifying as not straight was highest at 15 and 17. Many of those teens by age 21 identified as straight. A few teens who identified as straight at 15 onward identified as non straight by their early twenties. There was only a slight change between 19 and 21 and even less change between 21 and 23. Most of the changes where between 15 and 19.

There was also a high percentage who did not change at all from 15-23.

So basically they concluded that whatever you identify as being your sexual identity at 21 is likely to be who you are.
That there are some kids who just know for sure there SO very early on but that for a significant group of teens, they experiment and find themselves between 15 and 19.

[Anonymous]

in the 2016 American College Health Association survey - 19.6% (22% females, 16% males) of college students identified as not straight.

https://www.acha.org/documents/ncha/NCHA-II%20SPRING%202016%20US%20REFERENCE%20GROUP%20DATA%20REPORT.pdf

See question 48 on page 60.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote: I think in conservative parts of America-places like the bible belt it is much lower because people are too afraid to admit or even face it, but in more liberal areas-higher because kids feel more free to be who they are.

BS. Even those in more conservative areas eventually come out. no one stays closeted their whole life.

That’s just not true.

There are plenty of grown closer cases. Many in the GOP.

[Anonymous]

I think 8% is accurate for those who identify as gay or bisexual but not accurate for how many people are actually gay or bisexual.

I think a lot more people fall on the bisexual realm but do to societal factors they end up in heterosexual relationships. Much easier that way.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:https://qz.com/1014142/a-teen-health-survey-crucial-to-us-public-policy-is-finally-asking-kids-about-their-sexual-orientation/

The above link is an article regarding a survey that the CDC did in 2016, where they tried to determine the % of HS students who are gay or bisexual. They first asked what they consider their orientation to be, then asked the gender of the person they were dating. The survey determined that 8% of HS students are bisexual or gay. For those of you with kids in HS, does this seem right to you? I can believe this might be true just of males, but it seems now that very few HS females identify as straight. I'm wondering if things have changed that much since 2016, or if the 8% is inaccurate.

That is probably HIGH by global standards.

Perhaps you have reason to believe Americans come from a wholly different gene pool...Martians?

[Anonymous]

I think that is a high %. I see nothing wrong it making sure... you know, HS and college being the age to try.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote: I think in conservative parts of America-places like the bible belt it is much lower because people are too afraid to admit or even face it, but in more liberal areas-higher because kids feel more free to be who they are.

BS. Even those in more conservative areas eventually come out. no one stays closeted their whole life.

I'm gay. I have two close queer friends who are in their 30s and 40s still closeted to their families. One comes from a conservative Republican family (dad was in politics, siblings in local politics) and as far as they are concerned, she's just a lonely Republican spinster. The other one comes from a Mormon family and is out to their siblings but not their parents. They know 100% their parents wouldn't approve of their homosexuality. They are from UT and live in DC now and their parents don't fly, so they don't have to worry about surprise visits. They live in DC with their partner of 3 years and refer to the partner as their roommate to their parents. It still happens.

On two separate occasions I've been out at a gay bar/club and ran into "straight" people from work. Straight married people. Straight married people with kids. And they definitely were not just there with a friend or there because they had "no idea this was a gay bar!"

[Anonymous]

Perhaps there is still a large difference in social norms among artsy cliques vs athletic cliques. My DC's artsy group has a HUGE number of LBGT folks. So many girls identifying as non-binary, even if they still dress like traditional girls and date boys. On the other hand, the male athletes seem to all be identifying as heterosexual. The female athletes also seem to be mainly identifying as heterosexual. There are some exceptions on the softball team. I'm noticed that many female basketball players (WNBA) and ice hockey players also identify as homosexual.

So, it could be the case that the dominant, athletic culture in HS is still heterosexual, but the minority artsy culture has an abundance of LGBT and non-binary kids. Hence the different perceptions and peer influences.

[Anonymous]

"I've noticed..." Sorry.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:The survey was two years ago. I think there has been an uptick over the past couple years of girls saying they are lesbian or bi. I don't know if it's because I live in a liberal area so it's more prevalent, but it is a lot more than a few years ago, and a lot more than when I was a teen. I don't know if this is true for the rest of the country.

It’s not just in liberal areas. I live in a slightly right of center county, and I would say that by senior year most girls consider themselves to be some sort of variety of bisexual. This was not the case a few years ago.

This really sucks for young men. Yeah, I know bi includes an interest in them but not exclusively. How is that going to work when the population is about 50/50 male/female? We are going in the wrong direction as a society. I wonder what will come along to redirect the path. Nature has a way of righting itself.

If society "rights itself" by becoming less patriarchal, this will solve itself. Men will become more appealing for women to be around if they are more respectful of women. Men will also become more accepting of bisexuality in men.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I saw a study a few years ago (can't find it now). They asked teens at 15, 17, 19, 21 and 23 about their sexual orientation.

The % identifying as not straight was highest at 15 and 17. Many of those teens by age 21 identified as straight. A few teens who identified as straight at 15 onward identified as non straight by their early twenties. There was only a slight change between 19 and 21 and even less change between 21 and 23. Most of the changes where between 15 and 19.

There was also a high percentage who did not change at all from 15-23.

So basically they concluded that whatever you identify as being your sexual identity at 21 is likely to be who you are.
That there are some kids who just know for sure there SO very early on but that for a significant group of teens, they experiment and find themselves between 15 and 19.

This survey checks out with my experience in education.

[Anonymous]

Actually seems high

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:The survey was two years ago. I think there has been an uptick over the past couple years of girls saying they are lesbian or bi. I don't know if it's because I live in a liberal area so it's more prevalent, but it is a lot more than a few years ago, and a lot more than when I was a teen. I don't know if this is true for the rest of the country.

It’s not just in liberal areas. I live in a slightly right of center county, and I would say that by senior year most girls consider themselves to be some sort of variety of bisexual. This was not the case a few years ago.

This really sucks for young men. Yeah, I know bi includes an interest in them but not exclusively. How is that going to work when the population is about 50/50 male/female? We are going in the wrong direction as a society. I wonder what will come along to redirect the path. Nature has a way of righting itself.

Maybe men should make themselves more of a catch. When I watch my peers, I've seen more than one woman divorce a man and get involved with a woman, saying she's never going to deal with men again. I'm not heteroflexible, but I can see the attraction of having a woman for a life partner instead of a man.

LOL so you believe sexual preference is a choice?