A surprising number of people who identify as straight have tried gay sex, according to a recent survey.

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention recently published an analysis of ‘sexual behaviour, sexual attraction, and sexual orientation among adults aged 18–44 in the United States’.

The study pulls data from the 2011–2013 National Survey of Family Growth, which polled 9,175 people across the US.

It found that “sexual attraction and sexual orientation correlate closely but not completely with reports of sexual behaviour” – or in other words, sometimes straight people try gay sex and gay people try straight sex.

It found that “among women and men who reported themselves as heterosexual or straight… 12.6% of women and 2.8%

of men had ever had same-sex sexual contact.”

The study also notes that among people who identify as gay or bisexual, 89.7% of women and 67.9% have had opposite-sex sexual contact – unsurprising given many ‘assume’ they are straight before coming out.

In total, 17.4% of young women reported same-sex sexual contact in their lifetime, compared to just 6.2% of men.

Men were also more likely to insist they have feelings of attraction “only to the opposite sex”, with 92.1% of women but just 81.0% of men defining as such.

Looking at race: “Hispanic women (11.2%) were less likely than either non-Hispanic white women (19.6%) or non-Hispanic black women (19.4%) to have had same-sex sexual contact.

“For men, the percentage having had same-sex sexual contact did not differ significantly across Hispanic origin and race groups.”

Last year, a study found that half of all young people in the UK do not identify as 100% straight.