1. This site uses cookies. By continuing to use this site, you are agreeing to our use of cookies. Learn More.

Are younger generations 'more gay' or more aware?

Discussion in 'Sexual Orientation' started by Zerak, May 14, 2019.

  1. Zerak

    Regular Member

    Joined:
    Mar 29, 2019
    Messages:
    54
    Likes Received:
    15
    Location:
    Minnestoa
    Gender:
    Male
    Gender Pronoun:
    He
    Sexual Orientation:
    Straight
    Out Status:
    Out to everyone
    I've been meaning to ask millennial (My own generation) and Gen X have been both been described as 'more' gay than other generations.... but at the same time I feel like that ignores the massive homophobia that was present earlier on so I've been meaning to ask are newer generations honest about it the attractions that do exist, is their some other factor like over estimating existing attractions that explains it, or is it probably a mixture of both.

    Likewise just how accurate is this quote from this article?
    https://www.womenshealthmag.com/sex-and-love/a27454978/sexuality-spectrum/
    Now men not reporting as much actually makes sense, but at the same time not only is the study old but the page it leads to doesn't give much in the way of specifics so it's hard to tell if these differences are only because of actual difference/under reporting for men/over reporting for women/ect does anyone know more about what this is referring too and how it was conducted? The article itself admits that this is old, but is that necessarily the only flaw in it basically?
     
  2. Contented

    Full Member

    Joined:
    Jan 23, 2017
    Messages:
    1,464
    Likes Received:
    2,320
    Location:
    Upstate NY
    Gender:
    Male
    Gender Pronoun:
    He
    Sexual Orientation:
    Gay
    Out Status:
    Out to everyone
    Not a member of that generation however it’s seen in many ways it is gayer or perhaps at least open to the possibility of a same sex relationship. Our LGBTQ center has 2 groups exclusively for teens coming out and both all totally full. The large majority are young male teens. It’s a healthy sign that these teens will hopefully not subject themselves to years of living a lie and be able to freely embrace their homosexuality.
     
  3. johndeere3020

    Full Member

    Joined:
    Sep 20, 2016
    Messages:
    1,104
    Likes Received:
    426
    Location:
    Minnesota
    Gender:
    Male
    Gender Pronoun:
    He
    Sexual Orientation:
    Gay
    Out Status:
    Not out at all
    Zerak, You gotta help me out dude, Are you doing some kind of research?
     
  4. Zerak

    Regular Member

    Joined:
    Mar 29, 2019
    Messages:
    54
    Likes Received:
    15
    Location:
    Minnestoa
    Gender:
    Male
    Gender Pronoun:
    He
    Sexual Orientation:
    Straight
    Out Status:
    Out to everyone
    Not that I could see being of help... I focus on history not human psychology/biology/ect.
     
  5. johndeere3020

    Full Member

    Joined:
    Sep 20, 2016
    Messages:
    1,104
    Likes Received:
    426
    Location:
    Minnesota
    Gender:
    Male
    Gender Pronoun:
    He
    Sexual Orientation:
    Gay
    Out Status:
    Not out at all
    Well, your straight, not lgbt, questioning, curious? If the questions are for a college paper or something of that nature be honest and feel free to ask away. I can tell you all about GEN X.
     
  6. Zerak

    Regular Member

    Joined:
    Mar 29, 2019
    Messages:
    54
    Likes Received:
    15
    Location:
    Minnestoa
    Gender:
    Male
    Gender Pronoun:
    He
    Sexual Orientation:
    Straight
    Out Status:
    Out to everyone
    Ah ok, at the moment it's mostly personal curiosity as well as a desire to know if some of these oddities have decent explanations/reasons, I did find this site due to an OCD induced anxiety fit but I'm doing my best to bounce back from it.

    ie: To explain your first point far as my own orientation is concerned the closest thing I've felt to any sort of sexual attraction outside my norm feels closer to the intrusive thoughts I've had regarding say doing something else that would be wildly out of character for me, I remember this instances better than most of course due to my OCD but I don't get hung up on em so they fade pretty fast. Honestly as I feel now even if I do have some attraction I wouldn't feel comfortable reporting as Bi because I clearly don't feel it enough to have a meaningful relationship with another man,
     
  7. johndeere3020

    Full Member

    Joined:
    Sep 20, 2016
    Messages:
    1,104
    Likes Received:
    426
    Location:
    Minnesota
    Gender:
    Male
    Gender Pronoun:
    He
    Sexual Orientation:
    Gay
    Out Status:
    Not out at all
    Ok, cool. When I first joined the site a few years ago there was someone trying to ask all sorts of weird question for some study. As long as your asking to try and better yourself or understand yourself better I'm cool with that.

    I would be more than happy to try and give you an idea of what it was like to be a gen Xer living in rural Minnesota as a young person. If you have any specific question feel free to ask.

    You will have to give me a couple of days.
    Dean
     
  8. Zerak

    Regular Member

    Joined:
    Mar 29, 2019
    Messages:
    54
    Likes Received:
    15
    Location:
    Minnestoa
    Gender:
    Male
    Gender Pronoun:
    He
    Sexual Orientation:
    Straight
    Out Status:
    Out to everyone
    Ah good old Minnesota the land of incredible passive aggression.

    Anyway I will it's pretty interesting to see how maney attitudes have shifted over the years... and more than a little disappointing how many have not.
     
  9. Reviskova

    Full Member

    Joined:
    Dec 15, 2018
    Messages:
    132
    Likes Received:
    25
    Location:
    Up North
    Gender:
    Androgyne
    Gender Pronoun:
    They
    Sexual Orientation:
    Bisexual
    Out Status:
    Out to everyone
    to be perfectly honest, i do not think the newer generations are more gay. what is happening is with more acceptance and awareness, people are feeling comfortable enough to be open about being gay/bi (or just lgbt in general). and to a degree i think the number of lgbt people has increased, because well... there's just more people. don't get me wrong, thousands of people still hide it and are ashamed, but there have been huge society changes even in the past few decades that have made more and more people "come out of hiding". so i think newer generations are just more honest and open about it, i don't think they are exaggerating/over estimating.

    as for the question about the article, i simply believe it is untrue. i'm guessing it wasn't a very large study, and even if its old, those stats seem a little off to me. im sure even "back then" there was way more... dudes thinking about dudes. (however i do understand men are usually less comfortable identifying as bisexual, or even having the thought that they are. at least in my experience.) since the study was done on heterosexual identifying people, it's hard to say for sure. so i guess... take what i said with a grain of salt?

    (i'm a little out of the audience you asked for, since i am gen z, but i thought i would reply anyway.)
     
  10. Zerak

    Regular Member

    Joined:
    Mar 29, 2019
    Messages:
    54
    Likes Received:
    15
    Location:
    Minnestoa
    Gender:
    Male
    Gender Pronoun:
    He
    Sexual Orientation:
    Straight
    Out Status:
    Out to everyone
    I'm not actually after a specific audience, I'm just curious with relations to the discrepancy.
     
    Reviskova likes this.
  11. MBM4K54

    Regular Member

    Joined:
    Dec 28, 2017
    Messages:
    87
    Likes Received:
    44
    Location:
    Australia
    Gender:
    Male
    Gender Pronoun:
    He
    Sexual Orientation:
    Bisexual
    Out Status:
    Not out at all
    My guess would be that because society is generally more accepting and open minded and far less homophobic, younger people are less likely to be in the closet closet than older people .
     
  12. johndeere3020

    Full Member

    Joined:
    Sep 20, 2016
    Messages:
    1,104
    Likes Received:
    426
    Location:
    Minnesota
    Gender:
    Male
    Gender Pronoun:
    He
    Sexual Orientation:
    Gay
    Out Status:
    Not out at all
    Lets talk a little at a time here because it will most likely bring up some memories for me that are not pleasant.

    First, the times are so different. When I was in school there were several kids that you just knew were different but no one that I know of said anything. You have to remember this was a time before internet, before cell phones, and all the tech that we have today. No GSA clubs, rainbow flags or prides. Now we can communicate around the world on sites like EC. It is so easy to know that you are not alone, that you are not Gods mistake, or all the negative words that people use.

    Some young people now embrace the word queer but I can't, to me it still means a negative.

    Dean
     
    Zerak likes this.
  13. Zerak

    Regular Member

    Joined:
    Mar 29, 2019
    Messages:
    54
    Likes Received:
    15
    Location:
    Minnestoa
    Gender:
    Male
    Gender Pronoun:
    He
    Sexual Orientation:
    Straight
    Out Status:
    Out to everyone
    Naturally.... it also doesn't help that their always appears to be 20 different stories for 20 different thing.

    Even the bit I linked only just says 85% vs 50% in the actual article and doesn't appear to reference much of what the actual study appears to read, at least from what I can tell.
     
    MBM4K54 likes this.
  14. Chip

    Board Member Admin Team Advisor Full Member

    Joined:
    May 9, 2008
    Messages:
    16,551
    Likes Received:
    4,750
    Location:
    northern CA
    Gender:
    Male
    Gender Pronoun:
    He
    Sexual Orientation:
    Gay
    Out Status:
    Out to everyone
    This pretty much encapsulates my thoughts. I don't think that there's a significant increase in the number of gay people out there, but I do think that as it has become more socially acceptable and less stigmatized, and there's more awareness around being gay, it's a lot easier for people to talk about it.

    For example... look at the religious right, where being gay is still deeply stigmatized. Hardly a week goes by that some ultra-conservative gay-hating legislator or preacher or evangelist isn't discovered to be boinking a guy on the side, that no one's supposed to know about. That's pretty much how it was, on the whole, 30 years ago. VP Pence and Marcus Bachmann (husband of crazy former senator Michelle Bachmann, and operator of a "reparative therapy" clinic) are widely thought by many to be closeted poofs.

    But outside of groups that are stigmatized, it isn't a problem; in many circles gay folks are embraced just as openly (sometimes *more* openly) than their hetero counterparts. I think that's what makes the difference in the perception that there are many more gay folks among young people.

    There's also an evolutionary argument (which I don't pass judgment on one way or another) that says that perhaps more gay people are being born as a natural means of population control. An interesting and seemingly plausible idea.
     
    Zerak likes this.
  15. Zerak

    Regular Member

    Joined:
    Mar 29, 2019
    Messages:
    54
    Likes Received:
    15
    Location:
    Minnestoa
    Gender:
    Male
    Gender Pronoun:
    He
    Sexual Orientation:
    Straight
    Out Status:
    Out to everyone
    I.... if I'm honest I'm still shocked that so many people look back at those times with such nastalgia... than again that's probably easy to do when you aren't a minority of some kind or another.

    I've actually heard similar things myself... it's profoundly disappointing but statistically it makes sense that more than a few of these people would have been gay but raised to hate the idea of it.
     
    #15 Zerak, May 17, 2019
    Last edited: May 17, 2019
  16. ladykiki

    Regular Member

    Joined:
    Oct 19, 2016
    Messages:
    66
    Likes Received:
    32
    Location:
    Scotland
    Gender:
    Female
    Gender Pronoun:
    She
    Sexual Orientation:
    Lesbian
    Out Status:
    Out to everyone
    I’m gen x/millennial depending on where you draw the line (‘81) and would say we’re not more gay, but more open and (in most cases) accepting. However, I was a late blooming lesbian in that I came out at the age of 36 because I didn’t recognise I was gay until my mid 20’s through lack of representation (well, Buffy with Willow and Tara is the first I can remember watching with two women).

    If I was growing now I would definitely have realised it and came out sooner and probably not dealt with years of anxiety about it and agonising over my lack of attraction to guys. I even had a very brief asexual phase before realising that attraction to women was a thing. I had a confusing few years of weird relationships with guys where I was distant and not attracted to them unless drunk.

    As for the study and possibility of more women reporting same-sex fantasies than men, if a study isn’t anonymous then men may be reluctant to admit having them.
     
    Zerak likes this.
  17. Zerak

    Regular Member

    Joined:
    Mar 29, 2019
    Messages:
    54
    Likes Received:
    15
    Location:
    Minnestoa
    Gender:
    Male
    Gender Pronoun:
    He
    Sexual Orientation:
    Straight
    Out Status:
    Out to everyone
    Hmm I was born around 1994, but at same time I was raised in a fairly conservative school... it actually wasn't until my own last year of high school that I realized just how many LGBT people their were around. I mean I'm straight so I didn't notice it growing up but I can see a lack of how a lack of representation could lead to major confusion, I mean yes I knew homosexuality existed intellectually but I wouldn't

    In all honestly at this point I'm just flat out confused that the statement in the article doesn't appear to match what the studies actual summery says.

    Than again I could just be reading the stupid thing wrong, and the article itself does mention it's very possible the study is flawed.