Gay and lesbian sex soaring in US as society becomes more ‘individualistic’, researchers say
by Ian Johnston, Independent:
The percentage of Americans who have had sex with the same gender has doubled in a quarter of a century, according to a new study.
Researchers found 8.7 per cent of women had had sex with at least one woman in 2014, up from 3.6 per cent in 1990. There was a similar rise among men from 4.5 per cent in 1990 to 8.2 per cent in 2014.
Among Millennials — adults aged between the ages of 18 and 29 during the 2010s — 7.5 per cent of men and 12.2 per cent of women reported having had a same-sex experience.
Lesbian sexual experiences were more likely to occur when women are young, but the same was not true for men, the researchers found.
Professor Jean Twenge, a psychologist at San Diego State University who worked on the study, said: “These large shifts in both attitudes and behaviour occurred over just 25 years, suggesting rapid cultural change.
“These trends are another piece of evidence that American culture has become more individualistic and more focused on the self and on equality.
“Without the strict social rules common in the past, Americans now feel more free to have sexual experiences they desire.”
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