Straight men who think homosexuality is a choice

[Louie Crew <lcrew@ANDROMEDA.RUTGERS.EDU>]

Kinsey said 33% of males have experienced orgasm with a same-sex partner at
least once, while only 10% turn out to be predominately gay male on Kinsey's
scale over a life-time.  Do the math.

I wrote an article about the "Silent Twenty-Three Percent" in The Voice of
Integrity 9.1 (Spring 1999): 7, 25.  Several "straight" friends came out to
me as a result of reading it, and seemed glad to have an opportunity to talk
about their gay experiences.

Some of those in the 23% develop a healthy wholeness and are not threatened
by others.  Many, as you note, are so busy with projection that they cannot
see gay people as we are, only as projections of themselves.  Many are
frightened far more by the stigma we carry than by same-sex experiences.

Kinsey did not treat lesbians in his initial pioneering study, so I have
used his gender specific pronouns in my  comment on his conclusions.  I hope
lesbians will tell whether the dynamic for lesbians differs.  Are lesbians
any more likely than gay men to perceive their sexual orientation as a
choice rather than as a given?   For those who do consider it more of a
choice, is that as much or more a part of responding to the patriarchy than
responding to a fixed sexual orientation?

In one of his essays, James Baldwin looks at the Manhattan skyline at night
and does some arithmetic on how many of the rooms are likely at that moment
scenes of sexual congress.  His own frustration with sexual identity seems
to pale as he contemplates the millions in their passion.  We all face
biological imperatives.  Why get terribly worked up over what consenting
adults are doing in private?

Louie


Louie Crew, 377 S. Harrison St., 12d, East Orange, NJ 07018.  973-395-1068
http://andromeda.rutgers.edu/~lcrew