Survey implies gay sexual identity 'fluid'

SALT LAKE CITY — Only 1.4 percent of Americans self identify as gay according to a study by the Centers for Disease Control's National Center for Health Statistics and Prevention. This a "much smaller number of 'gays, lesbians and homosexuals' than generally reported by the news media," said Michael Medved, a conservative columnist and radio host, in a column in USA Today. He said the percentage is lower than the "pop-culture" figure of 1 in 10.

The smaller percentage, however, should not come as a surprise because the 10 percent number has long been discredited, said Clifford Rosky, a professor of law at University of Utah and a member of the board of directors of Equality Utah. The percentage is often attributed to Alfred Kinsey, who pioneered research on human sexuality. "First of all, Kinsey never said '1 in 10' really, and second of all it's widely been known for a very long time that Kinsey was wrong and the number of lesbian, gay and bisexual people was somewhere lower than 6 percent and higher than 3 percent depending on how you define it," Rosky said.

For Medved, the interesting part of the report was how among those who described themselves as homosexual or bisexual, 81 percent said they have had sex with partners of the opposite sex.

Of those who called themselves heterosexual, however, only six percent said they ever engaged in any type of physical intimacy with a member of the same sex. Medved said this "suggests a far more fluid, varied life experience for those who acknowledge same-sex attraction" and that "choice and change play larger roles in sexual identity than commonly assumed."

Medved said that "gay pride advocates applaud the courage of those who … (discover) their true nature as homosexual after many years of heterosexual experience." On the other hand, Medved said, a change in the other direction is derided as "phony and self-deluding."

Although Rosky didn't agree with some of Medved's analysis, he did agree with what he called Medved's main points. "I think the overall message of the column is very clear," Rosky said. "Gay people should be respected regardless of how many people are gay.… A person's dignity doesn't depend upon whether he is a member of the minority or the majority."

Rosky also said that respect should not be dependent upon what causes sexual orientation. "Whether it is a product of nature or nurture or, more likely, some complex interaction of biological and environmental forces, it doesn't tell you anything about whether it should be respected. I agree with that too."

Medved however, thinks the complex mix of nature or nurture also includes an element of choice or that at least people should be allowed to argue for that position. He pointed to how the percentage of Jews (Rosky also pointed to the percentage of Mormons) in the U.S. is also below 2 percent, but that small percentage doesn't mean they should be dismissed.

"Religious identity arises from birth, upbringing, instinct, even destiny, but the fact that it almost always includes some element of choice doesn't entitle the believer to less respect," Medved said. "By the same token, it's no sign of hostility or homophobia to point to recent data suggesting that life experience and personal decisions play roles alongside inborn inclination in the complex, sometimes inconclusive, emergence of the gay and lesbian identity."

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