Are young people turning gay?

not gene.

Gen 16-25.

Auto correct for some reason

I totally agree glorianny but the survey was comparing choices of both gene and baby boomers today.
As I said in my first post it would have been valid to ask the baby boomers about how they regarded their sexuality when they were in their teens/twenties and to have compared that to the current generation.

That would have given an valid indication of change in attitude and practice. But the comparison made made between the generations as they are today with one set with limited life experience and the other with extensive life experience only tells you (and not very accurately) that most people become more assured of their sexuality as they become older and more experienced.

Stonewall haven’t said, as far as I know, what they were aiming to find out from the survey. Every valid survey has to have a focus, a reason for undertaking it. This survey seems to have none.

I think it is important because the generation 16-25 are the first to grow up with completely equal legislation about gay relationships. Even though we may believe that gay people were accepted once sex was not illegal, there were still difficulties over the age of consent and the position of same sex partners. The importance of normalising and equalising same sex relationships has to have had some effect.

JaneJudge

I think for some minority groups who have been isolated and discriminated against, being part of their 'community' is something that is safe. I don't think it should be criticised. This obviously doesn't just apply to LBGT groups

JaneJudge I did not express myself well. I just think it is sad that using the community terms are necessary. I did not mean to criticise those who feel it necessary to have to belong to something that is safe. I did say that I felt it depended on the context.

Yes and vice versa. Most gay people will tell you that they “experimented” with being heterosexual in their teens and early twenties before settling.

That’s the glory and the agony of being young. Finding out who you really are. Gosh how we change and veer back and forth. Not just sexually, in all kinds of things.Or I did at least.

Did I want children at twenty? Definitely not.
Was I religious? Deeply.
Did I know what career I wanted. Definitely.
Was I in love. Irrevocably.

All changed by the time I was thirty. And yet we think that children can make enormous, life-changing decisions so much earlier than that even.

Rosina I quite agree with you. under the circumstances it is surprising that it was only 25%, I would have thought most adolescents nowadays, when so much more is known about sexuality and its variations, have at least a couple of weeks when they convince themselves that they are not heterosexual, but most realise fairly soon that they are mistaken, which as a number of people have pointed out is why the numbers identifying as being covered by all those initials falls as people get older.

It is a normal stage of development for a young teenager to feel a strong attraction to someone of the same sex, usually older. A kind of 'hero worship' - feeling strongly about a person who appears to have all the qualities you hope to have, or looks as you wish to look. This is what truly worries me about gender clinics, 'Mermaid' and similar groups and organisations - how many teenagers are being convinced that they are gay when they are passing through a recognised stage of puberty and development? I have yet to see this normal stage being mentioned, much less acknowledged.

You need to remember why Stone Wall didnthe survey, this is why I am deeply suspicious of it.

Less than a year ago they were in the accendant. Everyone was in thrall to them. Even government departments were signing up to their various causes and signing agreements about how people will be treated in the work place..

Then the worm turned and it began to be realised that Stone Wall, had moved well away from its origins and was in the hands of people who had quite extreme views on gender relationships. Follow-up on their coureses showed they served no useful purpose and their corporate supporters began cancelling their courses and questioning many of the principles they believed in.

They are an organisation like a manufacturer who claims that 90% of the population are tired every morning because they haven't drunk their special elixir the previous night, when the question they asked was not 'Do you feel tired in the morning?' but 'Have you ever felt tired in the morning?

The whole premise of the survey is faulty and any “findings” have no meaning. I really can’t see what it shows except that we change and become more settled in knowing what we want as we advance in life.

Yes, but it was meant to prove a point and and it doesn’t, except for those who already thought that without a survey.

The thing is, it’s a bit of a pointless survey because it doesn’t really tell you anything except that people who’ve lived for a long time ave different lives to people who are just beginning life, in ways that you would totally expect.

Similar results would be achieved by asking whether 16 -25 year olds have children compared to 60 -79 year olds
Or own a house
Or have chosen a career
Or have a committed relationship
Or have received medical treatment for chronic illness

Or any of the many things that become part of life as you get older.

The whole premise of the survey is faulty and any “findings” have no meaning. I really can’t see what it shows except that we change and become more settled in knowing what we want as we advance in life.

Stone Wall has had its moment of glory and now it is being looked at more carefully.

I would not believe the result of this study until I had seen the design brief given to the fully accredited professional firm of pollsters whom they commissioned to undertake the survey, the wording of the questions and how they were interpreted.

I think it comes under the heading of "dont6think knock it till you've tried it" for a lot of people nowadays.

Farzanah
There is a great deal of misunderstanding about gender and sexuality.
Many don’t understand that one is a biological fact and the other a social construct.
The threat comes, not from all who use the social construct, but from those who use it for their own detrimental purpose, e.g. to harm young people, or threaten or discriminate against females.

I expect that if the environment had been more open when we were teenagers we might have explored a lot more. It was just not something that was possible. Sex with the opposite sex was not acceptable never mind the same sex or coming out as trans.

If it had been allowed many may have explored with same sex encounters and some may have done so in secret.

Experimenting doesn't mean you are one thing or another... humans are naturally curious.

I think more people might be bi than we think.

And yes, a person doesn't become gay... they just are. And why does it matter to anyone else who you want to have sex with/love? And what about polyamorous relationships? Another tabu.

Galaxy
Yes I agree with that.
Social Media is definitely one thing I’m happy I didn’t have to cope with in my teenage years.

I think young women in particular still experience an enormous amount of judging and pressure, relating to social media, porn etc.

Farzanah
I’m a little surprised to hear that, my older grandchildren seem to be growing up in a world where nothing shocks or surprises.
I love that they are so accepting and tolerant.
But accept that I’m only seeing a small snapshot of what is happening out there.

Farzanah

I agree that this generation has greater sexual freedom, and social climate is definitely changing, which can only be a good thing, but there are plenty of people around still judging I’m afraid.
There is a great deal of misunderstanding about gender and sexuality, and it is obvious that many feel threatened by it. You only have to look at social media, including GN to be aware of this.

Yes, I agree... I think when people don't understand something it often breeds fear and colours their opinions in a very negative way.

Hopefully things will keep improving

I think you're right that there is a lot of misunderstanding about gender and sexuality. I don't see how other people's sexuality can threaten anyone, but the insistence that people can choose a so-called 'gender' is dangerous when it allows free access to women's spaces and the erosion of our rights.

I agree that this generation has greater sexual freedom, and social climate is definitely changing, which can only be a good thing, but there are plenty of people around still judging I’m afraid.
There is a great deal of misunderstanding about gender and sexuality, and it is obvious that many feel threatened by it. You only have to look at social media, including GN to be aware of this.

I envy this generation their sexual freedom.
It must be great to experiment, with no one judging you.

Grammaretto

The the young student staying with me has just written a paper on gender difference in conversation
This rather made me chuckle. How many times do men interrupt? Are women less likely to interrupt? Are men or women more agreeable?
???
I could do a similar study off the top of my head on the different ways ks1 children interrupt. Despite all the lessons on politeness and consideration we teach, in PSHE (+ an increasing number of letters), when I’m talking to a child or an adult, a larger % of girls come in twos and dance round me, then one says “X wants to ask . . .”
Whereas a larger % of boys tap me on the arm or the back and ask their own questions.

On the rare occasions I'm out and about in town late in the evening I have noticed more same sex young couples holding hands etc. I suppose that must mean there are more LGBTQ people around. Young people have grown up without all the condemnation that was around in our youth and are free to choose for themselves.

I tend to take these surveys with the equivalent of a small Siberian salt mine. 'More Or Less' - Radio 4 - crunched the numbers on a recent survey suggesting 1 in 3 under 18 year olds had been offered anti-depressants.

If it wasn't such a serious subject it would have been laughable : they were very polite to a very shift 'Charity' CEO who clearly felt data, verifiability and reliability needn't necessarily live in the same space.

Macadia

I don't think young people are turning gay. I think that they are allowed to be intimate with any human they love whereas our generation was only allowed to choose a person who was opposite sex of our own due to parental, societal or religious rules.

I love this Macadia!