HOMOSEXUALITY

Nike Frans
Graduate Seminar in Human Nutrition
Kansas State University Department of Food, Nutrition, Dietetic, and
Health
July 7, 2016

Overview
What is homosexuality?
Homosexuality acceptance
Measuring homosexuality
Statistics
Theories and evidence regarding sexual orientation
development
Attitudes towards homosexuality

What is Homosexuality?
Homosexuality is romantic attraction, sexual attraction,
or sexual behavior between members of the same sex or
gender.
Homosexuality = Sexual Orientation

Sexual Orientation
Heterosexuality (attraction to members of the opposite sex)
Homosexuality (attraction to members of the same sex)
- Gay
- Lesbian
Bisexuality (attraction to members of either sex)
Pansexuality (attraction to others regardless of their gender)
Asexuality (Have no attraction to others)
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Homosexuality Acceptance
US Context:
In 1965, homosexual behavior is illegal
Source of shame
Most Americans believed that homosexuality is a mental
illness
June 2015: Every state must allow marriages between
same-sex couple
Currently, total of 21 countries have allowed same-sex
marriage

However, in other parts of the world

- 75 countries are proscribing homosexual behavior
- 11 countries are retaining the death penalty as the
possible sanction of homosexual act

Red: countries where homosexuality

How to measure sexual orientation?

Ways to measure sexual orientation

Self-report measures
Kinsey Scale

Genital measures

Penile Plethysmography (PPG)

Vaginal photoplethysmography (VPP)

Other non self-report measures

Viewing image
Implicit attitudes
Pupil Dilatation
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Statistics
Alfred Charles Kinsey (1894 1956); a professor in Indiana
University reported 10% of US population are
homosexual.
A myth?
Method
Volunteer bias

Kinsey Scale from 0 (exclusively heterosexual) to 6 (exclusively

homosexual) is still used until now.
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How prevalent is homosexuality?

A survey by Gates (2011) from the Williams Institute,
UCLA, showed:
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About 3.5% of Americans are LGB

About 0.3% American adults are transgender
Total about 9 million LGBT Americans
From the 3.5% LGB, 1.8 are bisexuals and 1.7 are
homosexuals

Estimates can be vary in every Survey. Why?

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Why the numbers differ

The ambiguity of measuring homosexuality phenomena
(sex behavior, sex identity, and sexual orientation)
The difference of survey methods
The lack of the use of the same questions
Homosexuality remains stigmatized
Even in the most liberal countries

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Understanding Homosexuality:
Theories and Evidence regarding
the sexual orientation development

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Childhood Gender Nonconformity

Childhood gender nonconformity (behaving such other
sex) phenomena in boys and girls has a strong
correlation to adult sexual orientation.
Children who grow up to be homosexual are more gender
nonconforming than those who grow up to be
heterosexual.
Both retrospective studies and prospective studies
suggested the association

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Childhood Gender Nonconformity

Some children who will become homosexual are
marked by the age of 2
The nonconformity is not something taught
The differences between children who will become
homosexual and not are related to the sex-typed
behavior and gender identity

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Onset of Sexual Attraction

Retrospective studies showed that subject were having
a sexual attraction at the age of 10 (hetero and homo)
Homosexual desires preceded the homosexual
experiences
Same-sex attraction were manifested in some ways;
e.g. obsession to be close to the older masculine same-sex
teens or adults

Homosexual are having lack of attraction to the other

sex and increased attraction to the same-sex

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Homosexuality in Animals
Some animals are reported to be routinely having samesex interaction.
Japanese macaques, Mountain gorillas, Bonobos
About 6-10% of rams (domestic sheep) choose to mount
other rams but never ewes

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Other Theories
Hormones
Finger length ratios
Sexually Dimorphic Nucleus of the Preoptic Area (SDNPOA)
Males reassigned as females early in life
Twin Studies
Molecular genetic studies
The fraternal-birth-order effect

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Attitudes towards homosexuality

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Contrasting Views of Homosexuality

1. Positive attitudes towards homosexuality (nature
rather than social nurture)
2. Negative attitudes towards homosexuality (socially
contagious, can be spread)
Scientific evidence supports the first view more strongly

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Is Homosexual Wrong?
National opinion poll in the US
1973 1990: 70-75% of American adults believing that
homosexuality was always wrong
1991: 76% (AIDS epidemic)
1993: 66%
2002: 50% said always wrong; >30% said not wrong at all
Until 2002, majority of American adults did not accept
homosexuality, BUT, the population are more tolerant
Australia, Britain, and Canada are more tolerant than US
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Demographic Variables on Attitudes

(Gender)
Men tend to have more negative attitudes towards
homosexuality than women
Male and female heterosexuals with non-traditional
gender role tend to have more positive attitudes
Attitudes more strongly related to beliefs about
masculinity and femininity than to beliefs about equality
of sexes
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Demographic Variables on Attitudes

(Religion)
Religious persons are more prejudiced against homosexuality compared to
non-religious
Type of religion or religious denomination
Fundamentalist and evangelical protestant have the most negative
attitudes
Young religious group are no more homophobic than young non-religious, but
the older are having more negative attitudes
The person religiosity (go to church more often)
Not applicable to more secular countries (e.g. Australia)

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Demographic Variables on Attitudes

(Place of Residence)
Residents of southern states of the US are the most
intolerant
Followed by mid-western
Pacific and north-eastern are the most tolerant
Residents in metropolitan and suburban are having
more positive attitudes than those who live in rural area

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Demographic Variables on Attitudes

(Political Ideology)
Liberal political ideology >> tolerant
Than Conservative political Ideology
Democrat and Republican
Age: Younger >> tolerant
Education: Higher education >> tolerant

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Important Notes
Sexual orientation is an important yet understudied
field because it is politically controversial.
Some studies indicate strong evidence; needs more
progressive studies
The studies in this area should be based on the
importance of the issue rather than certain political
interests
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References
1. Alfred Kinsey: A Brief Summary and Critique. (2014). Canon and Culture. Retrieved 6 July 2016,
from http://www.canonandculture.com/alfred-kinsey-a-brief-summary-and-critique/#_ ftn28
2. Association, U. (2014). Sexual Orientation & Gender Identity 101. UUA.org. Retrieved 6 July
2016, from http://www.uua.org/lgbtq/identityHomosexuality. (2016).
3. Bailey, J., Vasey, P., Diamond, L., Breedlove, S., Vilain, E., & Epprecht, M. (2016). Sexual
Orientation, Controversy, and Science. Psychological Science In The Public Interest, 17(2), 45101. http://dx.doi.org/10.1177/1529100616637616
4. Gates, G. (2011). How many people are lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender? The Williams
Institute. Retrieved from: http://
williamsinstitute.law.ucla.edu/wp-content/uploads/Gates-How-Many-People-LGBT-Apr-2011.pdf
5. Mason, G., & Barr, M. (2006). Attitudes Towards Homosexuality: A Literature Review. Sydney
Instiute of Criminology, University of Sydney. Retrieved from: https://
sydney.edu.au/law/criminology/ahcn/docs_pdfs/Mason_Barr_2006.pdf
6. Sexual Orientation | Psychology Today. (2016). Psychologytoday.com. Retrieved 6 July 2016,
from https://www.psychologytoday.com/basics/sexual-orientation
7. Wikipedia. Retrieved 6 July 2016, from https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Homosexuality

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