Are there more gay people now than ever before in history?

[Used and Abused]

Or are the numbers still pretty much the same? First, please I don't want anyone to take this question the wrong way. It just seems as though every other guy in the town I live in is gay or bisexual. Was it always this way and if not, what factors are causing the change?

ETA: Proportionally speaking :-)

[southernleftylady]

1. hard to prove...

homosexuals were shamed in the past (alot more than now) so the numbers would never be known..

[Dhalgren]

2. Yes there are more gay people now,

because there are more people now. :hi:

[Zing Zing Zingbah]

9. Exactly what I was going to say.

:)

[Willy Lee]

10. Yes, per capita I would guess the numbers haven't changed.

[goodhue]

3. There are more people now than ever before in history.

eom

[kliljedahl]

4. RE:

Of course there are, strictly numberwise. There are more people overall too. Percentagewise, who knows?

[stevedeshazer]

5. There are more people now than ever before in history

It follows that the answer to your question is 'yes'.

[aeolian]

7. Damn! Verbatim!

Great minds obviously think alike.

[Used and Abused]

12. you plagiarized!

His post was made 1 minute before yours! Kidding :-)

[stevedeshazer]

13. Scary

:toast:

[aeolian]

6. There are more PEOPLE now than ever before in history

I doubt there's a signifigantly higher rate of homosexuality, though. Think Sparta.

/End Humble Opinion

[Technowitch]

8. I doubt it.

The difference today is that more people are admitting it.

[beyurslf]

11. Do mean sheer numbers or as a percent of the population?

In sheer numbers, of course.
In percentage terms, not measureable. I think more people are open about it now so it appears there are more.

[swimmernsecretsea]

14. Hmmm. Are they cute?

What town is this? I could visit to see how nice it would be to live there....
Sorry for the impertinence. Hope it came across as funny. I broke up with my BF a couple of months ago, and I'm still a bit weirded out by it.

[saltpoint]

15. Not only are there more gays and lesbians now than ever before --

-- but there will be mandatory same-sex carnality at some point in the very near future. If you plan on dating, plan on same-sex dating or stay home.

This is the homosexual agenda, ladies and gentlemen, and it is long past the planning phase and well into implementation.

Gays and lesbians are taking over the churches, the schools, and government itself. No institution is safe from the encroaching horde.

The secret? Recruiting. Aggressive, never-take-no-for-an-answer recruiting. The armed services would KILL for gay and lesbian recruiting tactics if they hadn't already been infiltrated by gays and lesbians.

Same-sex marriage will very soon be the only option for marriage at all. Those in defiance of this dictum will be shipped off to some Guantanamo-like facility, probably in Utah.

The next thing that gays and lesbians will insist on and then implement will be Harvey Fierstein's excellent suggestion of Gay & Lesbian Parking. The blue handicapped parking places will remain but alongside them will be pink-triangled signs to designate privileged parking for gays and lesbians. If you don't like it, sell your car and walk.

Watch out, you rock'n'rollers.

-----

I think folks are about the same now as they always were. Attitudes differ from one era to another owing to various factors, but human nature seems more or less the same. We're all humans.

[ultraist]

20. LOL! Does that mean we get to keep spongebob?

:bounce:

[saltpoint]

32. Spongebob!? Of course he is to be kept -- and REVERED!

He is the grand marshall of the new martial law!

Dobson was a fool to launch that media attack on Spongebob. Agents are even now casing Dobson's house. He's holed up in the basement, weeping over Leviticus & eating poptarts.

When the poptarts are gone, he'll be apprehended and hauled off to the detention center in Utah.

[jdj]

22. that's really great writing there

do you blog? or write for DU?

[ultraist]

27. I agree! I also thought OC's essay was excellent too! I enjoyed it.

[saltpoint]

34. Hi, jdj. Thank you for the kind words.

No, I'm just a meanderer in cyberspace.

I like to read the blogs and find out what's on everyone's mind. DU is rich in smart, informed, and often funny people. I like it a lot.

And the film and music posts are as good as the politics posts!

[One_Life_To_Give]

16. When male fish grow eggs? Who knows!

I don't think we have enough historical data to know what the gay population was a few hundred years ago. Even today many gay people will not openly admit that they are.

At the same time we know our environmental pollutions are causing changes in wildlife. The effects of these on humans are not fully understood. But if it can make a male fish produce eggs? Then can we ereally say that they can't make embryo's gay.

[Walt Starr]

17. Yes, there are more gay people today than any other time in history

It's a corollary to the fact that there are more PEOPLE today than any other time in history.

[arcos]

18. Probably yes...

I wouldn't be surprised if homosexuality is one of nature's ways to control overpopulation.

[lastknowngood]

19. I could be wrong but I think it's an evolutionary response to

overpopulation. Just natural selection in action.

[ultraist]

21. 1940's study showed 10% of the population is gay

The Riley study was shocking to many in the forties because people didn't want to believe there were that many Gays in the population.

Many still claim that that the 10% IS accurate.

Anti Gay groups claim the percentage is much lower because this disempowers Gay's in the media and in politics.

[annabanana]

23. maybe....

Maybe it's mother natures way of saying "enough's enough!" It's all good.

[meow2u3]

24. No. They're more out in the open

I think the GLBT population was always relatively constant. It's only now that most gays and lesbians admit such.

[wideopen]

25. Hard to say

But I definitely have more gay/les clients,friends,business ass. than I did 10 years ago.

[DARE to HOPE]

26. Well, first, it is likely that gay folks tend to congregate...

...in more urban areas where life can be happier and safer, so that may be one factor, that you live in the city, or even in a particular part of a city.

On the other hand, is it politically incorrect to wonder about the effect of all the xenoestrogens we have in our air, food and water affecting the fetal brain, as much as the airborne mercury does? I mean, the frogs are also having a hard time reproducing.

But it is also true that the closet has been opened only recently.

[ultraist]

28. In utereo exposure to xenoestrogens (changed female hormones)

causes homosexuality? That would mean that there were more Gay men and not more Gays in general. What about physical development? Hormones cause physical differences.

That sounds like a real stretch to me and borders on "Gayness in men is caused by fetal brain damage from exposure to toxins."

Have you seen any studies on this or is this something you've based on the studies that show the possible link between early puberty in females and xenoestrogens?

[DARE to HOPE]

30. Did not mean to offend you...this is just a summary.

http://www.emedicine.com/ped/topic2773.htm


"Theories About Gay, Lesbian, And Bisexual Sexuality"

"No specific biological or psychosocial factors have been identified that determine why some individuals develop sexual attraction toward members of the same sex. For decades, researchers have asked the question of whether biological or social factors play the greater role in development of sexual attraction, without reaching a consensus...."

<snip>

"Biological theories regarding GLB sexuality attempt to link sexual orientation with DNA markers on the X chromosome or to demonstrate that in utero maternal hormones have an effect on sexual orientation. Other theories attempt to show that the brain of the male who is GLB is anatomically different from that of the male who is heterosexual. Studies show a concordance of sexual orientation in male twins who are raised apart, lending support to the idea that biological factors contribute greatly to the development of sexual orientation. Likewise, Bell and colleagues conducted a study of 1500 individuals identified as gay and lesbian through detailed interviews involving various aspects of their childhood environment, including parental relationships. They concluded that adults who are GLB and adults who are heterosexual had almost identical familial and sociological upbringing.

To date, research studies suggest that aspects of homosexuality may be linked to genetic factors."

[ultraist]

31. That study did not mention fetal damage from toxins

It mentioned natural maternal hormones as a possible factor, but only vaguely. Natural maternal hormones also help to determine which sperm gets fertilized but this is not equated to 'damaging the fetus.'

Xenoestrogens are toxins, they are not natural hormones. They are omitted from plastic food containers and artificial hormones injected into animals.

I stand with my original statement. It's a stretch to suggest that someone may be Gay due to in utereo exposure to toxins (thus damaged as a fetus) and this line of thinking is treading on dangerous ground.

[porphyrian]

29. There are more people now than ever in history.

Though there is no reason to believe the percentage of people who are gay has changed much, the actual number of gay people in the world is probably at an all time high.

[Spacejet]

33. Are there more than before?

The answer is generally yes, of course considering the human population as a whole increases constantly.

[ConsAreLiars]

35. More or less proportionally the same. Who cares, so long as

they don't decide on, and have the power to implement, a policy of mass murder in the Middle East or elsewhere.

[donheld]

36. Who can really say?

It's probably easier to be open about it now than at any point in history that we know of. It's really impossible to know the orientation of people in the past.

BTW where are you that "every other guy in town is gay or bisexual?" i'll be right there. :silly: