UK: Nearly One Out Of Five Aren’t Totally Straight or Gay – Including Almost Half Of Young People
A new poll finds Britons see their sexuality as far more fluid the younger they get.Â
In 2011 NCRM reported on a groundbreaking new survey that found that children – gay and straight – raised in conservative areas were far more likely to attempt suicide than children raised in more liberal areas.Â
Now, a new YouGov study in Great Britain finds “an increasingly open minded approach to sexuality” among young people, and that’s good news.
The survey find nearly one in four people in the UK say they’re not totally straight. One in five say they’re not totally straight or totally gay.
Asked to plot their sexuality on a scale of zero to six, similar to the Kinsey scale, 23 percent of a large sample (1632 people) polled did not choose “zero” (exclusively heterosexual), saying rather that their sexuality falls somewhere between one and six – six being exclusively homosexual. So do nearly half (49 percent) of young people, 18-24 years old.
72 percent identify as completely heterosexual, with far less among those 18-24 years old adopting that label: just 46 percent.
Four percent say they’re exclusively heterosexual, as do six percent of those 18-24 years old.
Calling the results for 18-24 year-olds “particularly striking,” YouGov, which conducted the poll August 13 and 14, notes that with “each generation, people see their sexuality as less fixed in stone.”
Respondents were asked this question: “Please try to place your sexuality on a scale of 0 to 6, where 0 is completely heterosexual and 6 is completely homosexual (i.e. gay or lesbian).”
Also, “Thinking about sexuality, which of the following comes closer to your view?”
27 percent said “There is no middle ground – you are either heterosexual or homosexual,” while 61 percent said, “Sexuality is a scale – it is possible to be somewhere near the middle.”
“Clearly, these figures are not measures of active bisexuality – overall, 89% of the population describes themselves as heterosexual – but putting yourself at level 1 allows for the possibility of homosexual feelings and experiences,” YouGov notes. “More than anything, it indicates an increasingly open minded approach to sexuality.”
To those who say, “what does it matter?,” an “increasingly open minded approach to sexuality” means far less judgment and far less bullying and harassment, especially for children and teens. And that could help save lives.
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Image by philippe leroyer via Flickr and a CC license
Hat tip: JoeMyGod
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