Okay but unironically I can't wait to see what the graph looks like when we get enough data about gen alpha. All the Gen A's I know are queer or genderfluid or both, in as much as you can be at that young age. I have a 5 year old nephew who will look you in your eyes and say "I'm okay with he but I like they more". They understand what they're saying completely. This viewpoint is common among the single digit age group.
Do you realize how much of a batshit insane lunatic you sound to anyone outside of your echo chamber?
No, no they fucking don't. Toddlers don't "understand completely" just because you desperately want them to. Assuming for a moment this actually happened, pretending a five year old child is expressing their "genderfluidity" instead of mindlessly repeating what they hear around them proves nothing other than your confirmation bias.
This viewpoint is common among the single digit age
No, it's not, and it shows how detached from reality you are that you think this is anywhere close to even happening at all let alone a common occurrence. But who am I to doubt the unquestionable scientific reasoning of "All the Gen A's I know"?
My theory is that a lot if not most people are born with the propensity to be bisexual (like at least a Kinsey 1), but their environment growing up makes most of them default to being straight. Like a developing child or teen is going to understand that straight is the norm and just subconsciously dismiss any consideration of being bi. Once they've fully developed without considering or exploring, that propensity fades away.
But since being LGBT is not only normal and common but kind of celebrated in Gen Z, a lot more kids and teens now are likely to really consider it and end up activating that propensity. I expect Gen Alpha numbers to be even higher.
To put it a little more simply:
At one point there was a debate of "nature vs nurture". I think nature for most is bi, but nurture (their entire environment, not just parents) molds most into being straight.
tbf I am quite biased considering I'm bi myself, so I can't really understand why people wouldn't like both. But the numbers are pointing to it.
I label myself as straight, but I agree with that theory.
Sexuality being a scale, I believe very few people are 100% straight or gay. That means that identifying as bi is for many a matter of societal context and expectations shaping one's perception. Say you on occasion find someone whose gender is not your preferred one attractive: you could either dismiss it as "I'm just noticing they're attractive, nothing more", or consider you might be somewhat bi.
What I find most amusing (and in a way very sad too) are those bigots that claim homosexuality or bisexuality to be a choice because, as they say, "everyone finds people of the same sex attractive, but you have to resist the temptation". Like, dude, you're super gay, just accept and enjoy it.
This was me as a teenager. I didn't get why people wouldn't just choose to be straight - I made that choice every day that I repressed my attraction towards men!
But now it's like, "Wait holy shit there are people who are categorically not attracted to an entire sex?". That's way more wild to me than the idea that people would be attracted to people of the same sex. Imagine seeing a hot guy/gal (tastes accounted for) and just not being into that. Damn.
In my soc101 years ago our lesson on sexuality featured a number of studies showing that people act bisexual far more than they identity, for both straight and gay people. People will identity as straight on the survey, but than admit to multiple same sex partners lol.
Captain Jack Harkness (doctor who, multiple seasons starting with season 2-3 or so of the 2008 reboot) is the media embodiment of this hypothesis.
They spell out very clearly that the time he comes from, they don’t have hang ups over gender and sex, they just do whatever’s good. So he’s very very openly bisexual and a bit of a slut with lax boundaries, because why not? Do what’s good. But he’s still masculine and appealing and a great character all around.
That's kinda why it took me so long to figure out I'm bi. Growing up I was told homosexuality was rare and bisexuality was not mentioned, I figured since I was a boy and I liked girls that I was straight and didn't really examine it further for years. When I found out about bisexuality later I was jealous because it's the best of both worlds, which in hindsight should have been a clue but I got there eventually
It was basically the same for me. Very late bi-bloomer due to adolescence in the incredibly homophobic 1990s. As you say, the word bisexuality was just not said in popular culture. I liked girls, therefore I was straight, right?
But the signs were there. How many 12-year-old boys have "Rocky Horror Picture Show" as their favourite movie? I wasn't obsessing over Brad because I thought he was hot, I just admired him for becoming adventurous. I didn't do everything I could to get out of gym classes for high school because I was afraid of going into a panic in a locker room full of cute boys not wearing much, I was just not interested in sports.
I was very good at rationalizations.
Well, better late than never! Covid taught me to not put things off. I'm making up for lost time now. Not in a slutty way, but definitely in a more adventurous way.
sorry i didnt mean the LGBT boomers/silent specifically, just the generation in general. but i can see how it sounded like i meant that. that's my bad.
I don't know much about trans history, but it's interesting that there seems to be a higher percentage of trans people in the silent generation than the boomers.
Maybe age is a factor? The older you get the "don't give a fuck" factor tends to get higher on all sorts of issues.
Maybe not boomers, though. They seem to harbor very strong "keeping up with the Joneses" feelings. Maybe in a decade some of them will chill the fuck out and admit who they are.
I bet there are all kinds of vectors for attraction that the straight/gay spectrum just doesn't fit, and I bet in some far flung future we'll recognize just how arbitrary a lot of it is
Hell I'm not even for titties, my gf is flat chested and I'm perfectly ok with it, and even I have a bigger ass than her (but to be fair proportionally it's about the same, I am like +/- 10 cm taller and weigh more than her, and to avoid potential confusion I'm a guy)
I just want to say I value a lot more who the person is rather than tittles
I love that the world has become at least mostly accepting of people being gay, lesbian, or bi to the point where people can be this open with themselves. We've come a long way from everyone using "gay" as a pejorative.
I'm glad that I was able to eventually come to terms with the fact that I'm pan. Makes finding potential partners really simple by taking gender out of the equation.
I love that the world has become at least mostly accepting of people being gay, lesbian, or bi to the point where people can be this open with themselves. We've come a long way from everyone using "gay" as a pejorative.
That's why us cis folks need to step up and defend our trans friends. Not just in big demonstrative marches every Pride month, but also in all the casual little daily interactions we have with less-enlightened people.
The millennial graph looks like a middle finger. Which as a millennial queer I say that's pretty accurate. I'm attracted to whoever the fuck I want to be attracted to, boomers don't get a say. Waving my queer polyam middle finger around in the faces of boomers is one of my favorite hobbies.
I’ve always thought everyone is at least a little bi. Historically, it seems fairly common and includes the likes of Alexander the Great, numerous Chinese emperors, numerous Roman emperors, etc. it seemed to only “disappear” with the spread of Christendom.
Or maybe someone else has made a similar point. The point has probably been made elsewhere in the book Sex At Dawn, anyway. If you search porn websites for things like big dick or cumpilation, you're doing it because the dick and the cumming turns you on, and that's a little gay.
Of course, I would think everyone is a little gay
I've also found women to be a lot more honest about themselves, less internalised homophobia.
Makes sense. I think most people are bisexual to some degree. Our local indigenous group considers it to be the default and don’t even have a special category for it like they do for homosexuals or trans individuals.
It’s a good sign as it shows zoomers are more open to being out. Less than 5% of boomers identified as lgbt and barely any bi. Man those 75% of straight zoomers tho are scary as fuck. An incoherent left makes room for a fascism and some of thsee zoomers scare me man.
I get being against generational politics but if anyone reporting this comment can't be bothered to elaborate further why they think it should be removed I'm not lifting a finger.
If trans is including NB here I definitely believe it. A lot of people have a gender expression that's not that far away from their assigned gender, but don't strongly identify with it, don't believe in a binary, and would say NB on an anonymous survey.
Also, it is possible that the increased visibility of trans people means that people who would have identified as gay before ends up in the trans category today.
I’m curious how much exposure to PFAS/forever chemicals/microplastics in childhood may have contributed to this trend…
I’m all for people being attracted to whoever they want to be attracted to and identifying sexually with their preferred gender… but the graph here kinda illustrates what I mean by the numbers go way up around the same time 3M was pushing(and lying about) forever chemicals so we could have rain proof clothing (scotch guard)