CDC: Plenty Of Straight Men Have Had Gay Sex

Trending News: CDC Report Finds That Lots Of Straight Guys Have Had Gay Sex

Why Is This Important?

Because human sexuality remains fluid.

Long Story Short

A CDC study finds that among both women and men who identify as 100% heterosexual, a small but surprising percentage report having had sexual contact with a member of the same sex.

Long Story

A recently released CDC study of sexuality in America reveals some not-so-surprising things about us. For instance, most Americans of both genders identify as straight, and likewise report attraction only to members of the opposite sex (casting doubt on the theory that most women are at least bisexual). Also not surprising: Most people have had sex, of varying kinds. But then, buried down at the bottom, there's this: 2.8% of self-proclaimed heterosexual men have had sex with another man.

CDC

The reporting is similar for men who claim to be only attracted to the opposite sex. Women, as people seem to kind of assume, appear more fluid, with 12.6% of all heterosexual women having had same-sex sexual contact. But then again, the disparity may be in the details. For women, the CDC defines it as oral sex or "any sexual experience" — whether or not that includes making out at the bar with their friends for free drinks is unclear. But for men, the scope is limited to either oral or anal sex. Handies don't even count. All told, there's about a 1 in 50 chance that one of your straight friends has done something, at some point, with another dude.

Of course, this doesn't really mean anything other than to reinforce the notion that human sexuality is weird, wonderful and incredibly fluid. As people we're keen on fitting ourselves (and others, more specifically) into neat boxes, but that's just not how we work. Here, nearly 50,000 men identify as attracted to only the opposite sex, yet a small number of them own up to experimenting otherwise. Sure, you can probably safely assume that closeted gay men trying to will themselves straight can account for some of it, but there's no way that's all of it. Some people just want to see how the other half lives, or get caught up in a moment or are just genuinely curious.

This isn't all that important to you or me, but data like this is extremely valuable for therapists and similar workers who are faced with the sisyphean task of trying to determine what is — and what isn't — "normal" sexual behavior.

Own The Conversation

Ask The Big Question

Why are some people compelled to experiment?

Disrupt Your Feed

This doesn't surprise me, adolescence is a weird time.

Drop This Fact

Women who identify as "mostly" attracted to the opposite sex are more likely to have had anal.