How Many?

[new day]

The best thing on this site are the forum posts. I've gotten a lot on insight from some of you who post regularly and show a lot of common sense. One of the things that's surprised me is how many bi and curious people there are. It's a much bigger percentage of the population than I would have ever imagined.

With that in mind, I'd like to hear some thoughts on what percentage of the population are bi or curious. What percentage of men and women have same sex fantasies? Of those people, how many of them will follow through and have a same sex experience? Is there a difference in how many women and how many men engage in same sex fantasies and experiences? Do they do it at different times in life? I see a lot of comment on men turning to other men later in life. I've never seen this topic covered in the forum posts, so I thought I'd invite some comment. It can be statistical comments if there is any research or it can be just your gut feeling.

Thanks.

[dan.woodlawn]

There is some science behind this and some guesswork.

Self surveys indicate that between 3-10% of the population are bisexual. It can be greater when you bring in Gay only. https://williamsinstitute.law.ucla.e...T-Apr-2011.pdf

BUT, most surveys are a snapshot of that moment, not lifetime ANNNNDD because people change over time, the number grows. Most commonly, your sexual appetites expand over time, not shink....even if you arent having sex (e.g. you watch expanding porn options, or masterbate to wider array of imagery).

LASTLY, hetro people are bi-flexible but still declare themselves as hetro despite having same sex interactions. This survey has a very small sample size, but 100 "straight men" were asked about their same sex interactions and they rationalize them as having to make do...
In these cases, going to prison, in a submarine, an all boys school, girl friend is not available, wife went shopping, walking the dog, ....these are all signs of availability and the lack of women, yields a selection of men.
Then, because they WONT do everything (no kissing, no hugging, no anal) but will perform other acts (give/get oral) and there is no emotional component, they certainly are not bi. The article describes Straight men think of bisexual as equally dating 1 man, then 1 woman, then 1 man, etc....rather than 99% straight 1% gay. A big disagreement is if you are straight and allow a guy to blow you, but you dont touch them beyond oral, are you in fact bi? I think yes, but many others disagree.

https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/10....63460716678561

when you factor sexuality over a lifetime and include straightish people, you could yield as much as 50-75% bi.

So the short answer is between 3% self declared and 50%.

[xdoorb]

Based on my experience in life, I don't think there are very many women or men who are truly 100% straight. A few drinks will often tell the tale.

[csreef]

I think that there s a greater population of Bisexual people than we will ever know about.

[KDaddy23]

The person who figures this out is gonna be famous; might even win some kind of prize. There's a "new bisexual" born every day - no, not talking about babies, well, not until they grow up anyway. At a level of thought that doesn't give me headaches, there probably isn't a moment at any given time, any given day, that someone is discovering that they're bisexual or they knew it and are taking the plunge for the first time... all across the world. I see stuff written trying to put a number to how many bisexuals there really are - or may be - and, I don't see how that's even possible since in order to get an accurate accounting, you'd have to get every bisexual to "officially" admit to being bisexual... but then, you'd have to figure out who is bisexual in the first place. And that doesn't even account for all the millions of people who think they may be bisexual. How many? A lot and more are appearing every day and everywhere. One piece I read some time ago now suggested that there are more bisexuals than straight and gay folks combined - there's no way to prove it.

[zbi73]

I also subscribe to the notion that most are a little bit bisexual even if they don't realise or accept it. To me, hetero/homoflexible and mostly straight/gay is bisexual and bicurious is splitting hairs as curiosity means there must be some sort of same sex desire present in the individual. As mentioned, even the staunchest can partake given a situation. They call them situational bisexuals and they tend to be in prison or armed services where opposite sex interaction is limited or non-existent but if they were truly 100% straight they would not even entertain the notion. If asked, they would say they were straight. Then we have sexualities like pansexual, ambisexual and queer, all of which exhibit bisexual behaviour but they don't strictly identify as bisexual.

None of this takes in to account the individuals who may have experimented earlier in their life and entered in to a heterosexual relationship and no longer actively partake. Most may identify as straight now but once had same sex encounters. Sexuality is often about the here and now and not over a lifetime.

Religion shoulders most of the blame here in my opinion. No religion may mean more feel free to act on their impulses or desires as I feel all the stigma and laws stem from this. I doubt this will ever happen though, we're a very long way off acceptance for all, regardless of our differences and that's not just sexuality based. We don't embrace our differences like we should. One day in the future being straight will be different. I'll be long gone though :P

[new day]

Thanks for all the feedback. The forum section here allows me to get a more complete view of all subjects sexual.

[cbb83]

In the state I live, my estimates (based on conversation and experience) are as follows:

Gay: 4%
Lesbian: 5%
Bi: 10%

I also believe that probably 20% of the population is bicurious, but how that would fall out after exposure I can't claim to know.

I also lumped Pans in with Bis because when you get right down to it one is just a trendier more socially woke version of the other designed to shine a light on gender issues. When you get to the biology, you're still only hetero, asexual, or bisexual. Until such time as we evolve a third sex.

Bonus:

Asexual: 0.5-1%, but this number does seem to be growing. I'm assuming that's due to growing awareness of asexuality being a thing rather than some side effect of mental illness.

[FullSpectrum]

Dr. Kinsey studied this question a long time ago. He found that going from 100% straight to 100% gay, people fall into a bell curve. The vast majority have some same-sex interests.

[sysper]

oh shit don't let the religious homophobes know that, they might say science has been taken over by the gay agenda

Dr. Kinsey studied this question a long time ago. He found that going from 100% straight to 100% gay, people fall into a bell curve. The vast majority have some same-sex interests.

[Sundazzled]

I believe relatively few people are devoutly heterosexual or exclusively homosexual, and that most people fall somewhere along a continuum between the two ends of the scale. Some, like me, are predominantly heterosexual but incidentally homosexual, while others may be more predisposed to homosexual relationships but open to occasional heterosexual experiences. Moreover, I think most people are somewhat gender fluid. That is to say, they may, for a variety of reasons, tend more toward the bisexual middle of the scale today and more toward the heterosexual end a week or a month from now. It is my firm belief that almost anyone could, given the right circumstances, the proper motivation, and the availability of a suitable partner, stray occasionally across the gender line.

[RisingBi]

Wow, the answers that have been given are so good and thoughtful. I can barely add anything more. I think we would need quite an extensive study, done in a sound statistical and scientific way, with quite a large and diverse sample size, an extensive and just the right set of questions, etc. And then as others have said it may still just be a snapshot in time, although you can mitigate that with the right questions, and even do a long-term study over perhaps 30 years with the same subjects. You need to differentiate between so many different things, such as childhood experimentation vs. later teenage and adulthood thoughts, feelings, and behaviour; bicuriosity in just thoughts vs. porn vs. trying it out, anonymously vs. non-anonymously, and liking just the genitals and/or ass or other aspects of the same sex person's body and mind; how you identify yourself vs. what excites you vs. your actual behavior; fantasy vs. reality; etc. etc. etc. Sexuality is so complicated. And like others have said, so fluid.


I can't really say how I feel about how the numbers will pan out. In my personal life, I don't know about others' sexuality, not truly. I don't have conversations with them, since I'm in the closet (except with my therapists and ex-girlfriend, and a couple more people who now know through her), and everyone else I know potentially are in the closet too (except for the guys I've had sex with), and I'm scared and shy to talk about such matters anyway. The only person I know for sure is my ex-girlfriend, who has told me about her experiences and her thoughts and feelings: and I'm sure that she is 100% heterosexual. Of course, the guys I've actually hooked up with, which most being anonymously, I know that they are at LEAST bicurious. The guys I've hooked up in a more personal, non-anonymous, way have told me a little bit more, like how they identify themselves, but still, I don't know truly. And a lot of them probably don't even know themselves. Countless bisexuals are in denial is my feeling, especially men.


In the end, I suppose, it doesn't really matter, though I suppose I really can only speak for myself. For me, whatever the numbers are, I just have my own sexuality to figure out within me. In my 57 years, I've identified as straight, bicurious, bi-confused, and now bisexual (with a little bit more confusion sprinkled in there lately). I've gone from loving women in all aspects, but just loving cock and nothing else about the guy I was naked with, to loving more about a guy when I started anal play with men, which was when I discovered there might be something deep within me that has just been resisting my bisexuality, and I might be able to love not just the genitals but also an ass of a man, but, more importantly, perhaps more about him too. Time will tell as I start to get back out there, now that I've broken up with my girlfriend, and get together with men, at least at first for non-anonymous sex in each other's homes. The bottom line is that for me my own sexuality is confusing enough without thinking about others' sexuality, lol.


All the best,
Jack

[Tnstr8sucker]

Dr. Kinsey studied this question a long time ago. He found that going from 100% straight to 100% gay, people fall into a bell curve. The vast majority have some same-sex interests.

This has been my experience. Growing up I fooled around with almost all of my male friends. Most of the guys I play with now identify as straight and lead straight lives. Many are straight but come to me for bjs. Which means you must be at least a small percentage bi.

Also even as an adult, whenever I have a straight regular friend and if the topic comes out and I end up revealing that im bi or have bi experience, it's almost guaranteed that they're going to be curious. I never push or even suggest but I know how the scenario will play out.
They'll want to come over and hang out and usually have a few drinks. Then they'll beat around the bush kind of asking questions and such. Then they'll purposely get drunk or pretend to be. Then somehow dicks come out.

So while straight people probably exist. I've rarely encountered any when "tested"

[KDaddy23]

What makes the numbers hard to pin down is that a lot of people look past the labeling - straight, bi, gay, whatever - and just see it as having sex. Many people find out that it's okay to give in to the urge to suck a dick or eat a pussy and that it really doesn't change their perception of themselves - that thing where a straight guy can admit to loving oral sex with another guy - but he's still straight. Sound crazy but it's a bottom-line kind of thing: It's sex, plain and simple. There are an untold number of people who have had same-sex experiences and even more who have had thoughts about it - and how do you qualify/quantify this? You can't since it's not likely that any number crunchers are ever gonna find out.

Lots of studies about teens and 20-somethings who have embraced bisexuality just as easily as, say, my generation embraced boy/girl sex - it's just sex to them and they don't understand what all the fuss is about. As the stigma slowly fades away, more and more people are embracing their feelings in this and even getting out there and doing something about it - and how do you really account for them? Keep in mind that bisexuality isn't just about doing - it's what you think and feel, too. So, at the least, there are two questions to be asked: How many have had a same-sex encounter... and how many have thought about it? Even more confusing are those folks who had a same-sex encounter when they were young but now that they're adults, eh, that doesn't count as far as they're concerned. How many people are like this? You can't count them; it's damned near impossible. I know some shit about statistical analysis and the data are always flawed because you only get a certain number of samples to develop percentages with - you never, ever get everything related to any given thing because there's always something out there that you don't know about or there's no concrete evidence for.

Like, really: How many bisexuals are there? No one knows and despite whatever stats are said to exist. You ask 100 people about their sexuality and you will come up with some numbers... for those 100 people... and there are billions of people walking the earth and that makes the numbers that do exist insignificant enough to be nearly meaningless. Look at some of the polls we have here that ask about being a top or a bottom but there's a group missing: The versatile guys who can go either way. So, at best, the polling results are incomplete and then how many guys see the poll and don't bother to vote at all?

That's why I don't pay much attention to the numbers because I've learned how people can behave and I trust that more than I do numbers. I can go Google sexuality stats for my home state... and I know that they're incomplete before I even see them because there's no way they're gonna account for everyone who has ever had an experience or even a thought about bisexuality. All those numbers will tell me that out of x-amount of people, this percentage is straight, this percentage is bi, this percentage is gay - and this percentage declined to answer. What does that tell me? Nothing, really.

[zbi73]

People lie and that's why you won't get an accurate number until a massive shift on social acceptance happens.

[sysper]

some of those lies are to themselves.

[zbi73]

some of those lies are to themselves.

I think I told more lies to myself than to others

[KevFlynn]

Your question and concerns were a joke, weren’t they? Scientific research? Lol.