Have you found your bedroom batting average on an upswing lately? It’s not just you–researchers have found that more Americans are having gay and bisexual sex than ever before. Hooray!
The findings appear in the journal Archives of Sexual Behavior. Researchers studied surveys about sexual behavior from 30,000 people, spanning from the 1973 to 2014.
Related: Straight Men Are A Lot More Bisexual Than You Might Think
From 1990 to 2014, both men and women doubled the rates at which they had sex with someone of the same sex. Men rose from 4.5 percent for men to 8.2 percent. For women, it went from 3.6 percent to 8.7 percent. Notably, the percentage of people who reported having sex with both men and women went from 3.1 percent to 7.7 percent.
It’s getting harder and harder to believe that bisexuals don’t exist. Maybe soon, we’ll drop the G and L and we’ll just all be B.
It is believed that a lot of this change was driven by more sexual liberation in the Midwest and South, where religion and conservative attitudes kept people from experiencing the full range of fulfilling relationships.
Welcome to the 21st century, Minnesota and Mississippi.
Related: 4 Things Everyone Should Know About The Science Of Bisexuality
Americans have grown significantly more accepting of gay sex during that period. In 1990, only 13 percent of people thought that there was no problem with such activities. Now, that’s at 49 percent, and 63 percent among young people.
(Side note: What is wrong with those 37 percent of millennials? They must the the most repressed of repressed 20-somethings.)
Ultimately, what we’re seeing are the death throes of dumb old taboos that once shamed and controlled our bodies. Everyone’s starting to figure out that life’s a lot more fun when you take off your clothes with whoever you like. So if you happen to run into one of the scientists who worked on that study, consider giving them a little hand job of thanks.
Related: On The DL: Straight-Identifying Men Speak Candidly About Their Sexual Relationships With Other Men
Billy Budd
Bisexuality IS the future. Bisexuality is awesome.
Paul Nadolski
I’m guessing there is more repression in Mississippi than Minnesota, although a friend of mine from Minneapolis-St. Paul says there’s a lot of hooking up NOT happening in the Cities…
Paco
“It’s getting harder and harder to believe that bisexuals don’t exist. Maybe soon, we’ll drop the G and L and we’ll just all be B.”
—–
Yeah umm no. 100% gay here and it isn’t a choice for me. I’ll never choose to have sex with a gender I am not attracted to.
etseq
Yawn more of Queerty’s obsession with “straight” men they want to have sex with! Where are all the Queerty posts pushing gay men to have sex with women? If we are all going to be bisexual, that must mean gay men will have to screw women right? Sounds more like going back into the closet – no thank you and keep the self-loathing….
Paco
@etseq: Imagine the uproar if some straight site started running non-stop articles about gay men discovering the joys of vagina or cheating on their boyfriends to sleep with women just to get off.
Funny how “straight” guys are so wonderfully open to just getting off with their gay buddy, but you never hear much about how gay men are so open to just getting off with women. I guess it must be all those years of having to convince everyone our sexuality wasn’t a choice. Now some of us are busy trying to convince others that their sexuality is a choice.
Marky
@Paco: There’s some Canadian show that is exploring it. And they say how you’re more emotionally connected etc. All I’m thinking is… yeah, we’re like that with men automatically because we’re gay, but I guess if you brainwash yourself long enough like in ex gay therapy, you can be just like the straight people and be emotionally connected to the opposite sex too!
Laughable.
mz.sam
@Paco: Dude, you definitely got that shit right.
Nera_Bellum
honestly,bisexuality is damn common and the stigma needs to be removed from both the straight and gay side
Kangol
If you’re a gay man and you’re into cis gay men and trans men, does that make you bi or poly? Or 150% gay? LOL
Brian
All men are capable of male-male sexual interactions. They don’t advertise it because they are not rewarded for it.
On the other hand, women are rewarded for saying they are into women. It’s a form of female prostitution, however.
Women tend to prevent straight-identifying men from saying they are into men. Women fear it enormously because it destroys her power over men.
TravisLopez
“Maybe soon, we’ll drop the G and L and we’ll just all be B.”
Oh, why bother legalizing gay marriage? we basically have a choice, if that’s what you’re saying…This is nearly as close as saying; homosexuality doesn’t actually exist, and all we’ve gone through is for nothing. Pathetic.
Bisexuality is very common, even for a conservative country like where I live. People are just afraid of admitting.
bottom250
I have been with so many married me. I give these men what they want.
mcbrion1
I would imagine younger guys – and women – are more open to sex with each other.
ErikO
No they’re not. If a man is hetero/straight he’s not going to have sex with other men. These men are bisexual.
Wanderlust
I have had sex with other males as a teen that were straight, but circumstances made them let their collective guards down. Personally, I am most definitely bisexual. If I see naked men, I get aroused. If I see naked women, I get equally aroused.
Currently I see a guy who identifies as straight, but he really is bisexual. My view on it is that bisexuality really IS a thing, and that I am very happy being bisexual.