HOW MANY PEOPLE ARE GAY?
Alfred Kinsey established the figure of 10% of men and slightly fewer of women are homosexual. Since his work (first published in 1947), a lot of studies have found figures ranging from 2%-15%. The differences in numbers can be mainly accounted for by the difference in definition of “homosexual.” The famous 10% figure includes men who had predominantly homosexual contact for at least three years. Other figures require exclusively homosexual contact, while others allow a wider range of sexual behavior and desires.This difficulty in “counting” homosexual people indicates one of the most important concepts in understanding homosexuality: people are not always exclusively one or the other in their behavior, or even in their attraction. Instead, sexual behavior is a continuum.Kinsey developed a 7-point scale of heterosexuality and homosexuality. People could rank from “exclusively heterosexual” to “exclusively homosexual” to anywhere in between.
