let’s gooo

  • DirkMcCallahan@lemmy.world
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    10 months ago

    The best explanation I’ve heard is that it’s similar to the stats for left-handed people. Way back in the day, almost no one “identified” as being left-handed. But once the stigma against left-handedness was eliminated, the numbers went up.

    So in other words, yes, it’s a reflection of LGBTQ+ becoming more acceptable, particularly among Gen Z. There could be other factors, but that’s probably the main one.

    • WanderingVentra@lemm.ee
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      10 months ago

      28% seems huge, though. Are there any other animals like that? I’m kind of confused how it’s that high even with acceptance lol.

      • captainlezbian@lemmy.world
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        10 months ago

        It’s mostly bisexuals. You know like Julius Caesar, Alexander of Macedon, and large swaths of people in cultures where same gender romance or sex is acceptable in certain circumstances so long as you also marry and have children.

        • ripcord@lemmy.world
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          10 months ago

          Is there data to back that claim up?

          Not arguing but also something I hadn’t heard before. That there has been an absolutely massive increase in # of people identifying as bi and that that is the majority of LGBTQ+

          • captainlezbian@lemmy.world
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            10 months ago

            I can’t recall any off the top of my head and it’s definitely anecdotally been my experience as someone who came out about a decade ago and has been a geek about queer history for about that long. Like there are definitely more homosexuals and a lot more open trans people (but trans people are estimated at absolute highest to be 1% of the population, and more realistic high end estimates last I checked are .3%-.5%), but bi folks have been coming out of the woodwork.

      • drdiddlybadger@pawb.social
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        10 months ago

        We are the only animal with cultural locks on gender expression. If we didn’t have such hang ups about gender norms we would not really notice someone being LGBT. Paradoxically the more regressive and strict people are about gender roles the more people you have that don’t fit within those gender roles.

      • spaduf@slrpnk.net
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        10 months ago

        Theres long been a camp that argues the vast majority of people are bisexual (myself included). That’s also where pretty much all of the recent growth comes from. Interestingly, most of that comes from bisexual women, while bisexual men consistently self report at levels lower than gay men.

        • andros_rex@lemmy.world
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          10 months ago

          There are lots of men who identify as straight but have sex with other men. So much so that medical literature often uses MSM as a category instead of gay. There’s an entire DL subculture among African American men.

          Anywhere you go you can download Grindr and find oodles of guys who are in heterosexual marriages. The stigma is pretty strong, they probably can’t even internally recognize themselves as somewhat bisexual.

          • spaduf@slrpnk.net
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            10 months ago

            This is particularly relevant as it relates to how silly this topic and its reactions are. We absolutely KNOW that the current number is an undercount, and yet it’s still really hard for people to grasp that the percentage is that high.

        • Syrc@lemmy.world
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          10 months ago

          I mean, sexuality is a spectrum. It’s statistically unlikely that a large part of the population is at the exact borders of the spectrum and not even slightly in between.

          Especially since afaik physical attraction is just a matter of appearance, and there’s very masculine women or very feminine men.